keyser soze wrote:
Beyond a Boundary - CLR James
A great book by Trinidadian marxist historian and cricket journalist CLR James. It's reputation is very high and deservedly so. John Arlott wrote in Wisden: "1963 has been marked by the publication of a cricket book so outstanding as to compel any reviewer to check his adjectives several times before he describes it and, since he is likely to be dealing in superlatives, to measure them carefully to avoid over-praise – which this book does not need … in the opinion of the reviewer, it is the finest book written about the game of cricket."
But it's much, much more than a book about cricket theory and history. It's about how the game is lived, how it is shaped by social development and vice vera. It also is threaded with English literature (Hazlitt, Thackery etc.), Black national contiousness, a discussion on what is art and why cricket qualifies as a true art, memoir, and more.
A truly great read.
One of the best books I've ever read.