Do NOT tell me everything about yourself...
Reading biographies, especially autobiographies, is a dangerous business. The experience can affect your perception of the subject permanently and there is no coming back from there. I generally do not read non-fiction, and rarely read biographies, but three autobiographies - Open (Andre Agassi), Rafa (Rafael Nadal) and Playing It My Way (Sachin Tendulkar) (see a pattern here?) - invoked very different feelings in me. And taught me a few lessons as well.
Open, Andre Agassi
I was never a big fan of Agassi. Growing up in the 90s you supported either Sampras or Agassi. And I was - still am - a Sampras girl, through and through. Agassi had earned my wrath when he defeated Goran Ivanisevic, another huge favorite, in the Wimbledon finals of 1992. His flashy personality and his tennis rivalry with Pete Sampras did not help matters. For me, marrying Steffi Graf was the only decent thing he did (for himself, that is), and maybe, winning all the four grand slams… So I was not expecting to fall in love with him after reading his life story. And I did not. I did learn a lot about tennis and the physical aspects of the game. I found his character assassination of Sampras unnecessary and petty. His ‘confession’ of being aware of consuming a laced product and lying about it to the ATP might have been a bold decision, and it definitely helped the sale of his book, but my respect for the fellow diminished further. Open only strengthened my prejudice against Agassi. I felt vindicated about never quite liking him.
Rafa, Rafael Nadal
I started supporting Nadal in the mid-2000s, more to oppose Federer. My liking for him came slowly over a period of time. Nadal could never become my most favorite tennis player - see above - but I feel emotionally involved in his tennis career. When I read Rafa, my respect for him went way up. In the book, he has literally given us access to his soul! He has been brutally honest about his shortcomings, his strengths, his strategies against each player and even his complicated relation with his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal. He started losing a lot after his book came out and my theory was it was because of the book and all the information he has provided in his book. And I still think so. However, after reading the book I understood why he felt the need to pen down about his journey while he was still actively competing. It was risky, yet he did it because he felt it was important at that time. This book was an inspirational read for me. I plan to revisit it every few years just to get motivated. Nadal came across as a very genuine person and I started genuinely liking him.
Playing It My Way, Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar can easily be the most influential ‘semi-fictional’ personality in my life. From 1991 to 2014-15, I had made it my business to know everything there was to know about the man. So chances of finding something new in his autobiography were rather slim. But there it exceeded my expectations! Not everything that I discovered was pleasant though. The book was a simple, easy read. However it was rather monotonous, one-sided and somewhat self-praising. Sachin Tendulkar, the man, came across as a petty, grudge holding person who felt victimized when things did not go his way. There were also many redeeming incidents in the book. But the damage was done. My respect for the cricketer went up, but I felt let down by the person. The book ended a wonderful dream on a sour note…
I have had a mixed bag of emotions from the autobiographies I have read so far. The stronger I felt about the person, the more affecting it was. The lesson learnt here is to not go prying into people’s lives you truly care about. Some things are best left a mystery…
posted by Ila @ 1:58 PM
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