Is it possible for a book to be compact, illuminating, admirable and yet also poetically, insistently, too-much-overwritten?
Why, yes. And here it is, Charles Foran’s retelling of the remarkable life and career of Maurice Richard—hockey legend, icon of yesteryear, champion of a people, forgotten hero, fulcrum of history, etc. Brace yourselves.
“To skate fast and hard, pushing into that rasping wind, inhaling air so crisp the lungs first rejected it, was to be a wild, free creature, unafraid of the fierce climate—leaning into it, almost, anxious to be part of the land.”
Yes, we get the idea. When he was a youngster the Rocket played shinny on outdoor ice in really cold weather. It is a cliché, but let’s put that aside to consider the construction of the...
Christopher Dornan teaches in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University. He contributed chapters to the first two volumes of the How Canadians Communicate series.
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