Feet in the Clouds review.

[manothemoors]

I think that means "field".

[Bob]

Sort of - it means a clearing, usually in a wood or rough/waste ground.

[Martyn P]

It does? Cheers ... I will be watching my Thwaites from now on!

Martyn

[plodding bear]

I think 'thwaite' is saxon in origin, though...

[Bob]

No, it's from old Norse - thveit

[ZootHornRollo]

You're welcome. It's a brilliant place. I happened upon it when they ran an obituary for a dear chum of mine a couple of years ago and have visited every day since to see what gems lay in wait. It's possible to spend hours meandering through its pages. How come the Nordic "fjell"?

Yes, it's a good site - been going there for a few years - and a very fair and thoughtful review, I thought.

[Stolly]

I like the review also... although I'm not so sure I like Feet in the Clouds any more, and certainly not as much as I once did. I've read the book 3 times and nowadays find it more a book about obsession (with the BG) rather than anything else. I guess I like his stories of all the training, preperation and the actual races he ran but all the history and chatting to great fell runners of yore less so. The Bob Graham thing has probably made the Bob Graham Round too well known for its own good.

[manothemoors]

Thank you both for the kind words. I don't really "get" the Bob Graham thing myself but I thought the author's quest anchored the book in the personal story, with the more general and historical content built around it. This may be a key to the book's success as the broader public will be able to connect with the nature of "obsession" even if they don't understand why someone would want to run up and down hills in the middle of the night. The BG thing seems to me to be more about becoming the member of an exclusive club than anything else...getting the T Shirt, so to speak. I know that isn't necessarily going to be a widely held view.