Title: Born to Run

Author: Christopher McDougall

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 296

Rating: 4/5

I picked this book up because I’m a keen runner and I’m always looking to learn more about the sport, and from a runner’s point of view, I was kind of disappointed. Sure, running is central to the story, but in the same way that transportation is central to On the Road. The book wouldn’t exist without it, but it’s also largely incidental.

Instead, it’s more about the disappearance of cultures and ways of life, and the way that cisgender Caucasians tend to bulldoze their way through whatever they find, even when they do so with the best of intentions. For example, Christian missionaries introduced all sorts of diseases to the Tarahumara Indians, the tribe that McDougall sets out to find at the start of the book.

This, then, is the story of his adventure into uncharted territory as he tries to track down these elusive super-runners, but it’s more about the journey than the destination. That’s why there’s less about running in this than I was expecting.

With that said, I still enjoyed reading it, and it’s the kind of narrative non-fiction that could appeal to a lot of readers, especially if they’re fans of writers like Bill Bryson. If it was only about running then it wouldn’t have been as widely read, and that means that I wouldn’t have found it going cheap in a charity shop.

And so all in all, I think Born to Run is worth reading, but if you’re looking for something on the philosophy and act of running then you’re going to want to look somewhere else. That’s fine, just know what you’re letting yourself in for.

Learn more about Born to Run.

Title: Mussolini: His Part in my Downfall

Author: Spike Milligan

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 288

Rating: 3.5/5

This is part four in Spike Milligan’s series of Second World War memoirs, which I’ve always found to be super readable. Perhaps it helps that I’m fascinated by the war, but I also love Milligan’s writing style and his idiosyncratic sense of humour, which means that there’s plenty here for me to enjoy.

As you can probably guess from the title, this book focusses specifically on Milligan’s time in Italy, which wasn’t the best for me because the Italian front is probably the area of the Second World War that I’m the least interested in. With that said, it’s more about the people and the effects of the war than about any particular incident, anyway.

One thing that stood out to me in particular is the way in which Milligan is able to juxtapose humour with horror, often on the same page. He had some super moving lines where he talked about the effect that the war has had on young people, who are being forced to mature way too quickly. And of course, he also had a ton of stuff on the senselessness of it all.

I can’t help wondering what Viktor E. Frankl would have made of Spike Milligan, because I think that Milligan’s ability to find humour in even the toughest of situations tallies nicely with Frankl’s thoughts on man and his search for meaning. Milligan certainly found meaning in humour throughout the war.

All in all, this surprised me by being one of Milligan’s better war memoirs, although they’re all good and well worth a read.

Learn more about Mussolini: His Part in my Downfall.