One Good Run: The Legend of Burt Munro by Tim Hanna
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Book Reviews of One Good Run: The Legend of Burt Munro
Book Review: Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Delivery was timely as promised. The item was the exact quality promised. I would not hesitate to purchase from this seller again.Book Review: One Good Run: The Legend of Burt Munro
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband loved this book! He was thrilled to know more about this amazing man than the movie reviled.Book Review: `The God of Speed never did have a more faithful servant than Burt Munro.'
Summary: 4 Stars
Burt Munro (1899 - 1978) was a man with a single-minded passion. Burt had an Indian Scout motorcycle bought in 1920 which he rebuilt and modified into a unique speed machine he called the `Munro Special'. Burt's ambition was to see how fast it would really go and his pursuit of that aim took him from Invercargill in New Zealand to the Bonneville salt flats in Utah.
Burt Munro was 68 years old and was riding a 47 year old machine when he set his last record (183.586mph (295.453km/h) at Bonneville on 26 August 1967). I read this book after watching `The World's Fastest Indian', starring Anthony Hopkins.
This book is both interesting and frustrating. It provides a good sense of Burt's achievements, his sense of adventure, his inventiveness and his dogged persistence in pursuit of his objective. Why then did I find the book frustrating? In short, because while I found the `how', the `what' and the `where' fascinating I would have liked to have known more about the `why'. I would have liked, as well, to have had some greater insight into the intuitive processes that enabled Burt to see possibilities where others saw junk and have the courage and self-assurance to follow through. I suspect that Burt Munro himself would have little time for such introspection: his interests were primarily in how to extract maximum horsepower from a particular motorcycle, not in what motivated men like him to do so.
I admire the spirit of Burt Munro, and of those people like him who set goals (albeit generally in different fields) for others to aspire to. If you are interested in one of the original speed freaks and have not yet read this book, I recommend it. My own knowledge and interest in this area is limited and generally relates to car racing. If you are not interested in speed at all, you may still find this book worth reading: I found it, in its own way, inspirational.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Book Review: Good story about a unique man
Summary: 4 Stars
If you've seen, and loved, The World's Fastest Indian, you might want to think twice about reading this book. Despite a good deal of romantization on the part of author Tim Hanna, the Burt Munroe depicted here is not exactly the kindly old coot seen in the movie. The real Munroe was a single-minded, often difficult, man who, in truth, abandoned his family, and ignored a good many social graces in order to pursue his one interest single mindedly.
But then, history is rarely made by gentle, accomodating people, and in this regard, the real Burt Munroe does not disappoint. While the movie is charming in its depiction of the kindly innocent abroad, the real story is much more complex, and in the end, much more interesting. Munroe was anything but the naiive innocent abroad on his first (of many) trips to America. He'd lived in Australia, travelled to England and much of the continent, and was quite the sophisticated traveller when he arrived at Bonneville. His knowledge of engineering was indeed largely self taught, but he also took advantage of the wisdom and experience (and good graces) of many others who advised him along his way.
Hanna does a very good job of telling Munroe's story- although he is perhaps a bit too eager to recreate conversations and internal monologues for my tastes. Still, it does help to move the narration along. And he does treat Munroe's relationship with his family rather perfunctorily, although I suppose it could be argued that it's not really the aspect of his life that people are most interested in.
Fans of motor racing and motorcycles will find much to enjoy here, particularly as George Begg's biography of Munroe (which Hanna acknowledges was a major source) is no longer in print.
Book Review: Enjoyed this book
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed reading about the life of Burt Munro. I felt that by reading this, I have a better understanding of who he was versus watching the movie (don't get me wrong, I loved the movie too). This book told of the sacrafices he made and his obsession with speed. It showed a little more of a selfish, stubborn womanizer than the movie did. The other great thing about this book, was the author was very detailed in describing how Burt built his various contraptions. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Burt Munro and racing in general.