To read on larepubliquedeslivres:
Of mind and soul in their encounter with muscles
by Pierre Assouline, January 13, 2024
When it comes to culture, the reputation of athletes has been settled for a long time: they don’t read. Neither about sport, nor about their own discipline, nor even about its glorious history. Nothing, nada, nothing Otherwise The team in the best case or richly illustrated albums on football. This unfortunate reputation, admittedly hardly contradicted by the figures, encourages publishers to refrain from taking any risks in this area despite the quality of the books by seasoned sports columnists such as Vincent Duluc, Denis Lalanne, Bernard Morlino. 2024, the French Olympic year, will perhaps bring us some surprises, we can’t swear by anything.
It is true that even on a purely literary level, writers have hardly ventured there, from Jean Echenoz to the runner Emil Zátopek (Run2008) to Luc Lang on martial arts (The story of the fight, 2023) via Olivier Guez (In praise of dodging, 2014), Eric Fottorino (I leave tomorrow, 2001), Jean-Philippe Toussaint (Football, 2015), Paul Fournel (Need a bike, 2001), Jean Hatzfeld (Where is the night, 2011, Robert Mitchum is not coming back2013, Two meters ten, 2018) to say nothing of Jean-Paul Dubois whose work is crossed by a passion for rugby. But we don’t see much here of the magnitude of The Amateurs (1985) dedicated by David Halbsertam to the American Olympic rowing team, or Great American novel (1980) by Philip Roth on baseball or even End Zone (2023) by Don DeLillo on US football. However, there is material for novels, stories and biographies in the stadiums, on the pitches, on the dirt track, in the rings, in the dojos, in the locker rooms, to say nothing of the inexhaustible pool of characters. But no, it’s decreed, the athletes don’t want it; As for readers, it is said that they have difficulty identifying when it comes to a sport that they have never practiced. All the more reason to focus on those who defy the cliché and question sport, even in the most baroque way possible.
And first of all, a book which owes nothing to literature and everything to a passion for sport mixed with expertise in mathematics and physics. Why do cyclists, equestrians, motorcyclists, skiers, skaters, runners lean in turns? Why does a 100 meter sprinter decelerate two-thirds of the way through the race as he approaches the wire? Why do basketball players look like they’re hanging when they know? Why do we jump higher fosbury flop dorsal than in scissors? Why is a golf ball pierced with dimples, between 250 and 500 of all shapes and depths? Why is the football made of hexagons and pentagons? Why does a spoiler keep a racing car from flying off the road? Why shouldn’t you lower your head too much when leaning over the handlebars of your bike? Is there a law of evolution of records etc. It’s true, after all: why?
The answers can be found in Why are we leaning in turns? (165 pages, 20 euros, CNRS éditions) a very clever book, with a practical and educational vocation. […]
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(Illustr.: Alfred Jarry on a bicycle)
2024-01-14 14:05:11
#mind #soul #encounter #muscles #Pierre #Assouline #larepubliquedeslivres.com
