Riding is a pretty interesting book. At first I was wondering what I got myself into but then I realized I was reading the prologue,OOPS! Anyway I can appreciate the writing.It’s actually kind of poetic,With phrases like “Long hair,Short Patience” as a man thinks back on what he was like in his youth just starting a new career.
That man is Mario and this is partly his story. Covering 30 years we see Mario grow into a Husband and Father.
This is also the story of Elizabeth as she meets and marries Mario, how her life changes as she becomes a Wife and Mother.
But mostly this is the story of Andre. How he changes the lives of everyone around him.
In a sense this is a history book. A history of the Olympics from 1984 to 2012 and onto the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.I loved the behind the scenes happenings as we see what it actually take for these cities to put on such a massive undertaking.How the Olympics benefit the city and people that live there. We see how the security has changed over the years especially after 9/11 and now as I write this two days after the attacks in Paris we can see how hard it really is to keep these huge undertakings safe.
This is a story of strength and determination. We see it in Elizabeth in her challenges as a mother and all she goes through as her Husband must travel the world while she must raise her son.How gets involved in the world of para-athletes.
But mostly we have ANDRE . We first see him as an ordinary child dealing with normal everyday challenges of growing up.
Soon we see he is not an ordinary child. Not because he was born handicapped but because we get to see what an extraordinary young man he grows into.How he learns about life and how he uses rejection to motivate himself and give him the strength it takes to become an Olympic caliber athlete.
How he brings meaning to those around him.
The book was a little slow in the beginning but well worth it.So stick with. The main characters stories are interesting and full. The author has given them some very well written supporting characters.If you are interested in the strength of Olympic athletes or the Olympics themselves this book is for you.
If you like a novel about family and relationships this one is for you.
When he is born, Andre propels his mother’s life in a new direction. His father, an executive who organizes Olympic competitions around the world and doesn’t know when to come back home, strives to make him a worldly citizen. Cycling, his life acquires purpose: becoming an Olympic para-athlete.
Amidst real events and landscapes, men and women like us wander the cities we inhabit, rehearsing happier lives in the pages of this motivational narrative. From each one, destiny took a part to make them perfect.
Together with his friends, he experiences disappointments and new beginnings. A doctor that builds robots, the daughter of a lonely teenager, and a retired athlete teach André how to overcome his limits and live his dream.
Set in Curitiba with breaks in Los Angeles, Seoul, Johannesburg and Soweto, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London, the narrative ends in 2012, in Rio de Janeiro.
As a tribute to all those who choose to sign the next episodes of their lives, this book is about overcoming one’s self amid achievements, obstacles, love and heroism, written behind the scenes of life.
Riding on AMAZON
Cassia Cassitas made her career in technology. She has remained in academics both as a teacher and as a student, working on innovative projects including those that involve prospects.
She specialized in philosophy and existence, information engineering, and college didactics. Currently she studies French, due to her husband’s influence, and English to enlarge her world.
Mother to two adolescents who devour books, Cassia published her first work, Sunday, The Game, in 2010, a digital best seller in Brazil. Cassia Cassitas lives with her family in Curitiba, where her dreams prosper under the eyes of her readers.
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