EN
This last apparently was an add-on when, as he admitted in a private email, he was told by an agent that he needed a bit more variety and even then it was unlikely to find a publisher. Undaunted, he went ahead and published it himself, via amazon, where you can find it.
So, it’s a curious mix, but no less entertaining for that. Weaver is a lively, inventive writer with, as befits a TEFL teacher, an excellent command of the English language. He is also clearly a huge Ovett fan, to the extent that he adopts the name as his alter-ego; but that doesn’t mean he short-changes Seb Coe, and he even gives Peter Coe a bit part in the intercalated spy story.
I have a few caveats to my overall appreciation. Maybe it’s my failing eyesight, but some of the alternate script (the spy story) was in too faint a print, therefore difficult to read. The initial detailed accounts of his races work very well, and are inventively written, but they become too many. Like Weaver I’ve been running for far too long, and after the initial glow of recognition of a fellow obsessive, I grew weary of the over-elaborate repetition. An astute editor would have trimmed a lot of text. There are only so many trucks of quick-drying cement one can apply as a simile for a sea of lactic acid in the finishing straight.
That said, the subsidiary spy story is intriguing, mostly because unlike the 800 and 1500 metres in Moscow 1980, which are used a framework for the tale, we don’t know the outcome. That part of the story is also larded with relatively arcane detail, which suggests that Weaver has done a lot of research outside his speciality as a middle distance runner. On that score, I do admire his gall in suggesting he is going to finish in the top three, if not win the World Master’s 800 metres title. So convincing was this, I had to look up the results after I finished the book; with a smile on my face!
But, ultimately it’s the spy story that’s the winner. And that’s the seam that Weaver should mine in future. There’s a far bigger market for spies than for middle-aged middle distance runners. On the other hand, the latter should find plenty to enjoy in reading Once Upon A Time in Moscow!
Pat Butchers Blog
£11.99 paperback; £5.99 on Kindle; free on Kindle Unlimited.
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