Taking on the World : A Sailor's Extraordinary Solo Race Around the Globe

Rating:
Summary: Worth your while
Review: I read the recent article in National Geographic Adventure magazine and then I needed the book to get the full story. I thought the book was very good. It really showed the drive and dedication required, and the path a person needs to take to achieve something in her mid twenties that most pro sailers are lucky to do at the top of their game. Inspirational! My only wish was that more of the inter-personal side was revealed.

Rating:
Summary: Worth your while
Review: I read the recent article in National Geographic Adventure magazine and then I needed the book to get the full story. I thought the book was very good. It really showed the drive and dedication required, and the path a person needs to take to achieve something in her mid twenties that most pro sailers are lucky to do at the top of their game. Inspirational! My only wish was that more of the inter-personal side was revealed.

Rating:
Summary: a most remarkable woman
Review: This was an eagerly awaited book for fans of Ellen Macarthur. She is a paradigm for what a person can achieve who follows her dream. Her tenacious determination and courage are an inspiration to anyone of any sex. That she achieved what she has achieved as a young woman 5'3" tall and "only nine stone" is extraordinary. This 350 page autobiographical book lays out her childhood and sailing career culminating in her second place finish in the 2001 Vendee Globe singlehanded yachting race. Unfortunately, the book was obviously rushed to publication and Rowland White , her editor has done a terrible job with her manuscript. Ironically some of the best and most thrilling writing in the book are the unedited emails sent by Ellen from her various races . The book is replete with excessive use of strident histrionic superlatives and by the end of the book the reader is exhausted from beaten over the head with the likes of "Incredible!" and "Fantastic!".The book is laden with unnecessary and pointless details that just bore the reader and clog the narrative. Ellen Macarthur stated early in the book that she has always wanted to write and by the end of the book the reader is convinced that this is a woman who could do anything she put her mind to achieve. Her flashes of brilliant narration demonstrate real talent but this jejeune book does not do justice to her as yet unrealized potential. The book is well illustrated and the last quarter of the book dealing with the Vendee Globe race is hard to put down. I along with other reviewers would have preferred a more thoughtful book evincing insight into the life of this doughty Derbyshire lass.

Rating:
Summary: a most remarkable woman
Review: This was an eagerly awaited book for fans of Ellen Macarthur. She is a paradigm for what a person can achieve who follows her dream. Her tenacious determination and courage are an inspiration to anyone of any sex. That she achieved what she has achieved as a young woman 5'3" tall and "only nine stone" is extraordinary. This 350 page autobiographical book lays out her childhood and sailing career culminating in her second place finish in the 2001 Vendee Globe singlehanded yachting race. Unfortunately, the book was obviously rushed to publication and Rowland White , her editor has done a terrible job with her manuscript. Ironically some of the best and most thrilling writing in the book are the unedited emails sent by Ellen from her various races . The book is replete with excessive use of strident histrionic superlatives and by the end of the book the reader is exhausted from beaten over the head with the likes of "Incredible!" and "Fantastic!".The book is laden with unnecessary and pointless details that just bore the reader and clog the narrative. Ellen Macarthur stated early in the book that she has always wanted to write and by the end of the book the reader is convinced that this is a woman who could do anything she put her mind to achieve. Her flashes of brilliant narration demonstrate real talent but this jejeune book does not do justice to her as yet unrealized potential. The book is well illustrated and the last quarter of the book dealing with the Vendee Globe race is hard to put down. I along with other reviewers would have preferred a more thoughtful book evincing insight into the life of this doughty Derbyshire lass.