Book info

• Title
• Author Chris Cleave
• Year
• Genres

Thoughts

I remember hearing an interview with the author of Gold a long while ago and thought it sounded interesting, particularly as Olympics fever was gripping the nation. I didn’t get round to reading it until now, but the Winter Olympics are on at the moment, so perhaps that can be my excuse!

I found this to be one of those books you just can’t put down. If you break it down, it’s just a love triangle drama but there’s so much more to it than that. Throw in the battle for Olympic supremacy, the fight against your own body for fitness and against ageing, plus plenty to get you thinking about illness in childhood and the vast extremes of life and death.

At first, the writing felt stilted and it took a while to get used to. Short, sharp sentences. But then it was clear that this was the world they were living in, these Olympic cyclists who just went at a higher pace than the rest of the world. The story was told in short bursts, cycling back and forth in time, and it unravelled beautifully to a fitting conclusion. I really loved it.

Rating: Unrated