I’d never heard of Musashi before. It was a complete revelation to me. It’s an adventure story set in early 17th-century Japan, a time of feudalism, samurai, and ronin.
What really struck me was how familiar the people all felt. They were all so human, so real, not foreign or alien at all. I learned how they lived, what they thought, how they felt, what they believed, and I emerged from Mushashi looking at my own world subtly differently than I had before. I had learned a bit about the Way of the Sword and the better parts of that philosophy now inform how I live my own life.
I don’t carry a physical sword but my spirit is just that much sharper. So Musashi not only entertained me for countless hours, but it taught me much too.
The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi was the child of an era when Japan was emerging from decades of civil strife. Lured to the great Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 by the hope of becoming a samurai-without really knowing what it meant-he regains consciousness after the battle to find himself lying defeated, dazed and wounded among thousands of the dead and dying. On his way home, he commits a rash act, becomes a fugitive and brings life in
I find gripping real-life adventures like this irresistible. Especially first-person accounts.
I hung on every word of Tanya’s story of her solo voyage around the world, some of it literally death-defying, especially while she was still mastering navigation and, later, traversing busy shipping zones populated by vessels much larger than hers.
It was reminiscent of another favourite, Robert Manry’s Tinkerbelle, a great sea-faring tale. Tania is so honest and transparent about her limitations and challenges. I enjoy reading about exploits I would never be brave enough to tackle myself.
Watching this teen-aged girl test her mettle while transforming herself into a responsible, capable young woman, I wondered how I would have managed in her place. Poorly, I expect. Better to live vicariously through the adventures of others, such as Tanya, I think.
In 1985 Tania Aebi was an 18-year-old working as a bike messenger in New York City and frequenting bars until late at night. It was then that her father offered her a college education, or a boat. However, if she chose the boat, she would have to sail around the world alone. This volume tells of her 27,000 mile voyage. When she left New York harbour in 1985, she had never sailed alone before and knew little about navigation or anchorage. What began as a quest for adventure became a spiritual test, and fight for survival.
Andy Summers is as good a writer as he is a guitar player. I’m a little jealous of that but it didn’t stop me from enjoying this book.
I loved his account of what it was like to be a guitar player back in the dawn of rock and roll, when guys like Andy (and Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton) were still figuring it all out. And then to go from rags to riches, to become an integral part of one of the biggest bands in the world at that time, The Police.
Andy doesn’t make it sound quite as attractive as I thought it might be, though he managed to have quite a bit fun. Maybe not everyone’s idea of fun, especially his long-suffering wife, Kate. But the music: playing alongside the likes of Sting and Stewart Copeland. That sure sounded like fun.
From his first guitar at age 13 and his early days on the Bournemouth music scene, to his relationships and encounters in London and the US with Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, John Belushi and Eric Burdon, among others, Andy Summers proves himself a master of telling detail and dramatic anecdote. But, of course, the early work is only part of the story, and Andy's account of his role as guitarist for The Police - a gig he almost didn't get, despite the wishes of bassist/singer Sting, until a chance encounter with drummer Stewart Copeland on…
Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio. It's for people who love CBC Radio, those interested in the history of Canadian Broadcasting, and for those who want to hear about close encounters with luminaries like Margaret Atwood, J. Michael Straczynski, Stuart McLean, Joni Mitchell, and more. And it's for people who want to know how to make radio.
Crafted with gentle humour and thoughtfulness, this is more than just a glimpse into the internal workings of CBC Radio. It's also a prose ode to the people and shows that make CBC Radio great.
