Individula Entry #1 Summary: So far in the book, I have meet the characters Charles Howard, Tom Smith, Irwin, Fitzsimmons, and Seabiscuit. In the first chapter you learn alot about Charles Howard. He used to own a bicycle repair shop and then became the biggest car producer in the west. He worked for Buibk and GM. Charles always had a love for horses and eventually gave up his car business and went to live on his ranch. (This happened after the death of one of his sons.) He becomes interested in hore racing and buys several horses. He eventually ends up with Seabiscuit. In chapter 2 you learn about Tom Smith, a horse trainer who understands horses better than he understands people. His first job was at Colorado's Unaweep Cattle Range and he was a foreman. But since cars were taking the jobs of horses he lost his job and drifted to Wyoming, where he worked for rodeos and relay races. All his horses ended up winning, and a man named Irwin noticed this. Irwin offered Tom a job as foreman and he accepted. Tom was good at his job because he understood every horse and could supply what they needed. But because of the Depression, Irwin could not longer pay his workers, which included Tom. Tom continued to work for no pay but after two months he asked Irwin for the horse Knighthood, and he trained him. After knighthood won a race Irwin saw what Tom had done and hired him as a horse trainer, and he turned Irwin's luck around. in 1934 Irwin died and Tom Sith continued to train some of Irwin's horses, but ended up working for Henry Walters, an old rodeo trick rider turned trainer. Walters then retired putting Tom out of work again. But he gave Tom a horse named Oriley. (a lame horse) Oriley began winning races, but Tom was still very poor and he had no clients. But Howard took in Tom Smith as a new trainer.They worked well together. In 1936 Howard sent Smith to find a new horse. In June, Smith met Seabiscuit a "weedy three-year-old bay." Seabiscuit had bad knees that could not straighten all the way, but still he was lightning fast. You learn how Seabiscuit was trained by Fitzsimmons and you learn that Seabiscuit was the son of a great horse named Hard Tack. Seabiscuit was lazy, but when whipped he was extremely fast. Fitzsimmons became preoccupied with other horses and pushes Seabiscuit to the side. Howard and Tom Smith bought Seabiscuitin August of 1936.
My expectations of this book is to learn about the history of horse racing. Horses play a key part in America's history and I would like to learn about it. I would also like to see how "work and class" relate to horse races. I choose this book because I saw the movie and loved it. My Dad also read this book and has told me to read it a few times. Also, I don't really read books like Seabiscuit, and i want to see if this gere will interest me.
So far in "Seabiscuit" the theme of work is represented often. In fact, the first two chapters talk mostly about the different jobs you can have that relate to horses. For example, Tom Smith was a foreman and a trainer, but he still was very poor. Charles Howard started off as an owner of a bicycle repair shop and then turned into a dealer of Buick cars and worked with GM. he went from being poor to extremely rich. this represents how you can move form classes, even though it is very difficult.
So far I think that "Seabiscuit" is a good book because it is easy to read. Although it starts off boring because all it talks about is work, I think it will get alot better once Seabiscuit become the center of attention.. the horse isnt really in the story yet. But, i am getting anxious to see how the story will evolve and to see what seabiscuit will accomplish. I think this is an extremely important book because it teaches you about the history of America during the early 1900s. It shows you what it was like to live during those times. You see how cars become a kep part of people's lives and how horses are pushed to the side. But then you see how horses give people jobs and how important they are to society. I is very interesting and I can't wait to keep reading.
Mary: So far in this book we got to know Charles Howard, a bicycle mechanic turned multi-millionaire car salesman who married his sons sister-in-law, Tom Smith, a genius horse trainer who's sometimes misunderstood because he feels he can relate to horses better, Irwin, Tom's boss who hired, fired, and then rehired Tom again, and of course Seabiscuit, a horse with bad knees but huge potential. in chapter one we met Charles Howard who turned twenty-one cents into millions overnight by becoming a car salesman. At first his business did not succeed but with perseverance, luck, and great advertising and media attention he soon had a booming business, even taking over the Buick branch of General Motors. In chapter two we learn how Tom Smith's genius talents in horse conditioning and training were left undiscovered until misfortune turned into a life changing experience for him. Before the depression Tom Smith was working for a horse breeder and owner Irwin when the Great Depression hit and he lost his job. Although he was fired he continued to help out around the stables without pay until one day he trained a horse that one a race and his talent for training was discovered by Irwin and he hired Tom as a horse trainer. When Irwin died Tom continued to train horses at the stable until he teamed up with Charles Howard and trained horses. One day while looking for a future race horses for Howard Tom stumbled upon Seabiscuit. Although his knees and legs were deformed Fitzsimmons was able to train and condition Seabiscuit to become extremely fast.
I chose to read this book because it is one of my all time favorite movies but now I wish I would have read the book prior to seeing the movie because the way the book flows I am much more into the story than in the movie and I have a much better understanding of the characters such as Charles Howard. I also wish I would have read the book before because I know what is going to happen in the story and it makes it hard to build up suspense while reading, which is one of my favorite things about reading. My expectations for this book were not only that it would be a great story and that I would learn some history while reading it but that the actual writing itself would be very good and so far all of my expectations have been met. So far I have been captivated by this story and can barley put the book down when I am reading. I have also learned some history about the car industry and the great depression. The style in which Laura Hillenbrand wrote the book is also very artistic and flowing which makes reading it much more enjoyable.
The themes work and class greatly relate to this story because it already showed how three people have overcome poverty, especially in the great depression and these people are Charles Howard, Charles Strub, and Tom Smith. Howard overcame class and poverty to become a millionaire and the car sales industry. With only twenty-one cents in his pocket he was able to drastically change his life and the lives of the people in California by making the use of automobiles very popular. Strub overcame losing everything in the depression by perseveringly going from door to door asking people for money loans to build a three million dollar race track, which he succeeded in when he found Charles Howard who along with Bing Crosby and other investors was able to make Strub's vision a reality. Although Smith is still relatively poor he now has a steady job, under the direction of Howard, in finding, training, and conditioning race horses. These three men are all defying the class structure in America by continually moving higher in it and are the definition of the American working class.
So far I have enjoyed this book very much. It is definitely a page turner and I can barely put it down. This book is of great social value because it teaches the lesson of turning misfortunes and bad luck into great fortune and good luck through perseverance which basically describes the working class in one word. This book is written very artistically yet I am not confused at all which is definitely a good sign because I think it is more important for a book to have a good story and be understandable than to sound good.
Summary: In chapters four,five, and six we are introduced to two aspiring and very talented jockeys named Red Pollard, nicknamed the Cougar for his intensity in the boxing ring and on the racetrack, and George Woolf, nicknamed the iceman. Both these men overcame poverty to become some of the greatest jockeys of their time. Red Pollard grew up in Canada in a town his father created by opening his own brick factory. The factory started out a success and the town was booming when a flash flood destroyed the factory and everything around it. After searching many months for bank loans to build a new factory his father went bankrupt and lost everything but his home. Barely able to feed his family Pollard's father had to work many ill-paying jobs. One day his father brought home a horse for Red as a present and Red soon fell in love with riding. Red started to hang around stables trading labor for a chance to ride and he soon left home to learn to be a jockey with a close family friend. After his family friend left him, he was all on his own and was traded through many trainers and eventually made it to the top when he started winning races with big purses. George Woolf was also born in Canada and was always around horses growing up. When he became a teenager he began racing competitively on small tracks in Canada when to men, Johnson and McGirr, signed a contract for him. Woolf was then spotted by a man named Whitey who was a big time racehorse owner. Whitey brought Woolf down to Tijuana and watched as he won race after race without easing up at all. Although Woolf journey to fame could be argued easier than Pollard's they were both exceptional riders. In the next chapters we are introduced to the dangers, bad eating habbits, and the "pleasures" of being a jockey. In "Seabiscuit" Hillenbrand explains how many Jockeys who were not born with a thin physique went to outrageous extremes to stay light. These extremes included starvation, bullimia, homemade and stoor bought concoctions, and even the swallowing of tapeworms, which would eat aways at one's intenstines and nutrients. Jockeys also exercized wearing rubber suits and layers upon layers of clothes. These extremes did not pay off in the long run and caused many Jockeys to live a short life because of their malnutrition. Hillenbrand also says how these extremes caused fatigue, aches, fainting, and other conditions. I also learned how if the malnutrition did not kill or seriously injure you there was a very good chance the horse would. the dangers of riding a one ton animal included being bucked off the back, being trampled by other horses, or being launched off the front, getting trampled by you own horse. I also learned that a kid grew up much faster when they became a jockey when they visited the Molino Rojo, which faced the Tijuana Racetrack. This building was filled with prostitutes that even the young jockeys paid for.
Expectations: So far my expectations for this book have not been met. I find it very hard to read though the book without dosing off. When I first chose the book I thought it would be a more flowing story about a horse rising from failure to greatness but so far the only thing I have read about the horse is his bloodline, that he is untrainable (according to some), and that his legs are short and his knees like baseball mitts. I feel like the story is all over the place and once I finally get to know a character and are interseted in the story we jump to a new character with a different story. I am having alot of trouble writing the summary and I end up looking in the book to make sure everything I write is correct because I can not keep the characters and stories straight.
Theme: The themes of work and class are truly resonating through this book when we are introduced to the hardships and lifetyles of the early twentieth century. The hardships, as the author explains, are malnutrition, inadequte medical help for when they get injured which is very often, the emotional strains such as bottling fear up inside not even letting themselves recognize their own personal fear, and the extremely busy and demanding work schedule, which in most cases they have to agree to or risk being fired. This lifestlyes of the jockeys basically define the working class because not only is their work manual and requires long hours it also does not pay adequatly. That is how the themes of work and class have emerged so far in the book.
Quality: Because I am extremly bored by this book so far it doesn's even matter that it is written well. Although it is important for a book to be well written, if it is not a good story it doesnt matter how sophisticated the writing style of the book is to me and for me "Seabiscuit" is a classic example of this. So far i dred turning the next page in this book fearing the possibility of another character whith an even more confusing life story than the last. Although I do not particularly like this book it is of very social and cultural value seeing that it gives us an insight into the hardships of a particular occupation of the working class in America during the Great Depression which had its greatest effects on the american working class.
Individual Entry #1 In the first three Chapters of the book, Charles Howard, Tom Smith, "10 ton" Irwin, James Fitzsimmons, and Seabiscut are the main characters shown. Charles Howard was a cavalryman during the Spanish American War. After that, he went out west with only cents in his pocket, and with some luck was able to start a bicycle repair shop. It was the turn of the century and the automobile was a luxury, so many of the eccentrics in San Francisco had one, which turned out to be a hassle. Automobile repair shops didn't exist, so some turned to Howard to repair them. When he was able to make them better then they were his career took off. He became a member of Buick, and eventually took over for sales in the western United States. After an earthquake, his store was destroyed but this put no hamper on his progress. When his business seemed to be soaring, his son died in an automobile accident, which left him scarred for life. He decided to sell his business and take up the hobby of racing horses and living off of his Ranch. Eventually he comes to buy Seabiscut through his trainer Tom Smith. Smith was a true westerner, and had his horse handling skills honed by the wild west of the late 1800's. After working on a cattle farm, he found his way to work under Ten Ton Irwin, a ruthless and skilled businessman. Smith worked his way up the ropes of Irwin's racing and Circus enterprise, because of his unrivaled talent of raising horses. When the depression hit things got tight, and even tighter when Irwin died in a car accident. Soon after he lost his job and eventually drifted into being the trainer for Charles Howard. Soon After he met Seabiscut, a stocky built horse with bad knees that somehow still let him run fast. In the next chapter it talks of how Fitzsimmons, a trainer, had Seabiscut previously, who descended from Man O'War and the Sire Hard Tack. After some success with Seabiscut, Fitzsimmons pushed him aside until he was bought by Tom Smith for Howard.
So far the book has met some of my expectations, but has managed to keep me wanting to read more. The expectations I have are to learn what was involved in racing horses back in the 1930's, along with what revolved around the business of racing. The reason why I chose this book is because my family is involved small time in the horse racing business, and it would be interesting to learn more about this.
So far the book has mainly focused on how people from the middle or lower classes can rise up through hard times and become self proclaimed successes in their own fields. Even with the decline of the horse because of the automobile, many people still made their living around them by using their talents to their advantage. Howard, Smith, and Fitzsimmons relied on horses throughout most of their lives and they shaped each persons career and life differently.
This book is well written, because it flows reasonably and almost always holds my attention. It makes me consider the racing today in Ohio, compared to what racing in the 20's and 30's was like. It seems to be of cultural value, because to me it captures the essence of what is really involved with horse racing, then and even now. Even though the book was only written seven years ago, it captures a time lost to memory and should stand the test of time for its literary contribution to society.
Group Entry #1 Our group discussion for the first half of the book mainly focused on the themes of money and hardships in the working class. We all noticed a constant theme of money affectting the workig class in the book. Some examples of this theme are Howards risng from less than a dollar to a millionaire almost over night, the efffects of the great depression on the working class, and the meager wages of jockeys and the importance of winning races with big prizes. From the book we were able see that the Great Depression had its greatest effect on the working class. We were able to determine this because when the Great Depression hit, Howards, a millionaire, was still able to run his buisness and live well while trainer Tom Smith, a working class man, was barely able to find food and shelter and at one point was working for no pay at all. Another example of the importance of money as a theme was the stress placed on the jockeys by their owners and themselves to win high stake races with big payoffs. For example one purse was worth $100,000. We all agreed that the hardships of the working class was also a major theme in this book. This theme was portrayed through the jockeys whom experienced harships such as low salaries, life threatening work, and ill-treatment by owners and fellow workers. In our discussion we brought up how jockeys were basically treated worse than the horses because while many of the horses were properly cared for in order to insure wins, jockeys were treated as livestock being sold with out their notification, they did not receive proper medical care when injured, and recieved wages that were unjust and unfair according to their working conditions. We also discussed many of the characters and their stories in order to better understand the book because all of us were confused about what charcter went with what story so we needed some clarification in that particular area. We also started to discuss what we thought would happen in the future of the book but because we had all seen the movie we all pretty much know what is going to happen so that area of the discussion did not have a very significant impact in the discussion.
Individual Entry #1 Summary:in the first part of the book we have been introduced to multiple characters. these main characters are Charles Howard,Seabiscuits owner, Tom Smith,Seabiscuits trainer, and Seabiscuit himself. all three of these characters go from something small to something great in a short period of time. charles howard was originally a bicycle mechanic who didnt make very much money. he soon got into the car business as a member of GM. he soon started to make a ton of money from selling cars. people were starting to buy more and more cars and they were in great demand. charles howard was described as very personable, understanding, and smart. to be able to make the fortune that he did, he must have been smart. he became very upset after his son died in a car accident. his sons death hung over him for years and years. he eventually got out of the car business, moved to his ranch and bought a couple of horses. he was interested in racing horses and was looking for a trainer. this is when he came upon Tom Smith. tom smith grew up around horses and knew everything there was to know about them. he felt as if he were closer to the horses than to actual people. this love for horses is why he always had jobs where he had to deal with horses. he was able to work with any horse no matter what their problem. charles howard saw that he could work with any horse and turn any horse into a winner, so he hired him. the last character is seabiscuit. seabiscuit comes from a winning horse named hard tack. seabiscuit wasnt like most horses beacause he was very lazy, although when he was pushed he could be very fast.
i chose to read this book because not only have i heard many good things about it, but my dad recommended it to me. my dad knows im not a huge reader, but he usually knows when i would be interested in a book. every book he has ever recommended to me i have loved. so i was hoping this book would be the same way.
when i first started reading this book i thought it was going to be very interesting from the first page to the last, but i was wrong. so far its just an ok book. the book just reiterates over and over again about the peoples life stories and how they came from nothing into something big. the book is definately interesting, but it just gets repetitive at times. im sure that in a chapter or two the book will pick up and i wont be able to put it down.
Mary, Since you said that you have seen the movie before, I was wondering what some of the main differences are so far in the book compared to the movie. Are there any that are really contrasting?
Summary: Since my last blog, I have met the characters of Red Pollard and George Woolf. Red Pollard had once been one of the greatest jockies, but at the mean time he was one of the worst. Red had no money or no home, he lived entirely on the road. His real name is Johnny and as a child he was restless and out of control. He had six brothers and sister, but Red was the most clever. he loved to read. His family was very wealthy due to owning a brick factory, but in 1915 the factory collapsed due to a flash flood. Red then discovered a gift for riding, so when he was 15 he left his family to pursue a career in racing. He started his career in the bush leagues, which was a rough place to start, but Red could handle it. He learned alot but he never one a race. In need of money, he started boxing. He got the nickname Cougar. Years passed, and he still did not win a race. But he eventually got a break with a trainer named "Acey" who signed him to ride a few horses. He was a bug boy. With the help of Acey, Pollard began to find himself. Pollard's small success was noticed by Freddie Johnson, and he was bought. Pollard had a rare skill, he was able to work with nervous horses.In 1927, Red saw Woolf, a handsom, spectacular man. Woolf began racing in his mid-teens. He was agreat jockey and won everything. He worked for Whitey. Red and Woolf became quick friends in 1927. It was the start of a friendship that would go down in history. If you were not born thin, you somehow had to get thin. Riders would go to extremes just to stay thin. Red was one of these riders. In order to ride you had to be less than 115 pounds, and getting there was extremely hard. Men would starve themselves, be bulimic, or even insert tape worms into their stomachs. The would wear rubber suits in sweltering heat and run around just so they could loose weight. In short term, this was very effective because they would shed pounds quickly. But the long term effect was greater, They would die. Molino Rojo was the building across from the race track in Tijuana. It was a place where the jockeys went to feel at ease. All types of women worked there, and each man got their pick. Pollard and Woolf went there often. In 1928 both Pollard and Woolf were very successful, winning many races. in 1934 Pollard and Woolf come back to the US because racing is legalized. Woolf did well, Pollard did not. But Tom Smith and Pollard meet and Pollard is hired. This is where Pollard, Smith, Howard, and Seabiscuit start their story.
Expectations: Right now this book is not meeting my expectations. I thought it would be a lot better than it is. I saw the movie and the movie was great, but this book talks alot about the characters and not about Seabiscuit and the races. I think that this will change as I keep reading, and then I believe that I will like the book alot more.
Themes: Work is demonstrated in "Seabiscuit" because the author really shows you in detail what it is like to have a job. Whether its a jockey or a trainer, you feel like your are the occupation that she is describing. So you really get a full view of what the work is like back dduring the depression and how the need of work is so high. People are literally desperate for any job. This ties in with the theme of class because you feel like you are a part of the working class. Also the author compares the working class with the homeowner. You get a good sense of how lucky the homeowners are.
Analysis: The book is a pretty good read, it has great description. At the moment, "SEabiscuit" ir really boring because I have not gotten to the actual races yet. I am anxious to get to the good parts of this book. Seabiscuit has a cultural value because it talks about the Great Depression. It captures the feeling of how important racing was to the people.
Group Entry #2 In our second group discussion we talked briefly about the plot of the book. The main thing we talked about was what Seabiscuit represents. We all agree that Seabiscuit represents the working class because he was always the underdog, because he was smaller than the rest of the race horses. Seabiscuit shows that with hardwork and perserverance you can achieve anything. We don't know exactly what he achieves, but we are guessing that he achieves greatness. He is a symbol to the working class, and if they work hard like he did, they can restart their lives. Also, we talked about the themes and we discussed how work is showed on every page of the book. People are desperate for money, and will do anything for work. The book also shows and describes the types of work. Lastly, we discussed whether we liked the book. We all think that it has a slow beginning, but we know that something exciting is going to happen. We can't wait to read about what Seabiscuit achieves and how he does it! We really want to know if something will happen between Red and Woolf. Also, we wonder if Seabiscuit will become the greatest horse in the country. We want to compare the book to the movie. (Only two o us have seen the movie.)
Individual #3 Summary: I am now in Part 2 of the book, and this part seems to talk more about Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit is a restless horse, and people fear him. people wondered what Smith saw in him because he was impatient, wrestless, chronically tired, and 200 pounds underweight. But Smith loved the horse and showed him affection and attention. he wanted Seabiscuit to be happy. Seabiscuit gets the companion, Pumpkin. Smith then fixes Seabiscuits sore legs and gives him enough food/fuel so he can gain some weight. Seabiscuit has a great life with SMith. Seabiscuit could not run and would not run. he liked to make the rider mad. he did not focus on winning, but on annoying his rider. This he was good at. But Smith got Seabiscuit to listen and enjoy racing. Pollard became the rider and he understood Seabiscuit. He knew that Seabiscuit did not like the whip. SMith taught biscuit to stay away from the rail and to time himself but make sure he was ahead of everyone before a certain wire. These three was a great team. After two weeks of training and a structure life, Seabiscuit was ready for the races. he got 4th place on in his first race in Detroit. Seabiscuit was a smart horse and had what it took to win. He won the next couple of races. Howard wanted more for the horse. While training Seabiscuit, Smith realized that Biscuit was one of the fastest horses around. he wanted to keep this a secret so that he could surprise people. But when word got out, it spread fast and biscuit got publicity. This is what Smith feared the most.
Themes: The theme that is demonstrated the most is hard work. Smith works hard to break Seabiscuit out of his bad habits and to get him ready for the races. Seabiscuit and Pollard worked hard to win. I learned that in order to succeed you need to work hard.
Expectations: This part of the book is really meeting my expectations. It talks about Seabiscuit and racing, and that is what i thought the book would be about. I can't wait to keep reading because i know the book will only get better and it is starting to become similar to the movie! It is starting to teach me how important racing was to the people and I can see why.
Analysis: I am starting to really enjoy this book. I love reading about Seabiscuit and his races. i cant wait to continue reading because i want to hear about his success and his failure. i can't put the book down. i am reaaly glad I choose this book and that i stuck with it. Before this book was boring, but now it has the perfect mix of history and entertainment. i think that it will stand at the test of time because it shows in great deals what the Great depression was like and how people survived. it shows how racing played a key part in peoples' lives,
individual entry #2 in this part of the book we i learned a lot about the jockeys lives. going into this book i didnt think very much about the jockeys and their lives. i just assumed that they would practice riding the horses and that was the end of it, but it takes much more than that. to be a jockey you have to maintain a certain weight. to maintain this small frame the jockeys would do all sorts of different things such as, starve themselves, become belimic, and even take gross shakes that are sopposed to help them keep their weight down. after a while of doing this the jockeys ran into problems such as malnutrition, and broken bones due to this malnutrition. although the jockeys would suffer these injuries, and be suffering from malnutrition, they would still ride through the pain. they are jockeys for the love of the sport, and they would do anything to keep riding. the rider that i was introduced to in this chapter was Red Pollard. he is going to be seabiscuits jockey. red grew up a as a wealthy kid, but when his families business was closed they lost their money. from there he found the sport of racing. he became a jockey and participated in many races although he didnt start off very good. he lost just about every one of his races in the begining. eventually though, he worked his way up and became a great jockey. but, once again he went back on the decline and eventually lost all of his money. he wasnt going to give up his dreams though, so he stuck with racing. he was eventually hired as seabiscuits jockey. this part of the book really shows you how hard the jockeys have it. most people think they just go out there and ride like its nothing, but in reality there is a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into it. it wears down on you not only physically but mentally. the book started off very slow, but it is definately picking up right now. it is getting closer and closer to the actual races, which i am very excited to read about.
individual entry #3 the last couple of chapters i have read have been much better than the earlier chapters. they are talking more about seabiscuit as a horse and they are getting into the racing. this is what i have been waiting for. seabiscuit is a very intelligent horse, who has a bit of an attitude problem. in his early races he wasnt worried at all about how he run, but instead all he wanted to do was be stubborn for the jockeys. the more and more he was whipped, the worse he ran. smith was very good with seabiscuit and worked really hard with him. smith taught seabiscuit how to run races and to become a more disciplined runner. they worked hard with hard with seabiscuit, got him a friend horse to play with, and fed him a good amount of food so he could get his weight up to par with some of the other horses. seabiscuit was clearly a much happier horse after all this. smith knew seabiscuit would be great. he knew that he was one of the fastest horses around, and if trained right could be tough to stop. this part of the book is mainly about perseverence. seabiscuit has to work really hard at racing, and work his way through obstacles such as, his weight and sore muscles. he pushes through these pains everyday and works hard to become a great racing horse.
this book is getting much more interesting. the fact that it is talking about the actual races makes me not want to put the book down. the book started off really slow, but i am really getting into it now.i cant wait til i finish the book.
Group Entry #3 we started off the group discussion by talking about how seabiscuit represents the lower class, and how with some perseverance you can acheive any goal that you set for yourself. we talked about these things in our last group discussion, but we saw it as such an important and common theme that we had to bring it up again. seabiscuit has to work really hard and come from nothing to get where he eventually does. seabiscuit takes victory over war admiral. this race was huge in seabiscuits career and helped solidify him as one of the greatest race horses of all time.
we also discussed how we all liked the book. we got mixed reactions from this question, although everyone agreed that the book starts off really slow. we all said that the book was repetitive in the begining and it took to much time to introduce each character. mary and hannah liked the book overall, but they didnt love it. they disliked the begining but once they started racing and theaction started they liked it a lot more. ryan all around wasnt very impressed by the book. he already knew a little bit about racing, so he didnt learn anything new in that regard. he said the book just didnt interest him all that much. i, on the other hand, was in between what ryan said and what mary and hannah said. i thought the ending of the book and the racing parts were good, but they werent great. i had much higher expectations than what the book actually was.
Individual Entry #4 the final part of the book talks a lot about seabiscuits races, and what it is like after Red wasnt able to race him anymore. seabiscuit was one of the greatest race horses ever. he set many different records, and won a crazy amount of races. he basically dominated the sport of horse racing. the book deals a lot with the theme of work and class. it mainly deals with seabiscuit coming from a nothing and being looked down upon to being a huge deal and being idolized. at a time when the war and the great depression were happening he allowed people to believe that you can do anything as long as you really work at it. this is exactly what the country needed. not only did seabiscuit beat his opponents, but he beat them while having to wear an "impost", or the weight assigned to the faster horses. this should have slowed him down and made it so he couldnt win as many races but instead he dominated even while wearing the imposts. overall i would rate this book with a B-. it wasnt a great or even in my top books of all time, but it was a little better than average. one of the reasons why i think it probably wasnt as good as i thought was because i had very high expectations for it. my dad hyped it up a lot so i thought i was going to love it. i went into it thinking it would be a great book that i loved from begining to end, but instead i hated the begining and middle and enjoyed the end. if the book didnt start off so slow i think i would have liked it a lot more than i did.
Individual Entry #2 In the final chapters of Part 1, we are introduced to two new characters: Red Pollard and George Woolf. Both of them were jockeys and grew up in Canada, surrounded by horses. Red Pollard was born into a rich family, as his father owned a brick factory on the frontier. In 1915 a flood destroyed the factory, and the Pollards lost almost everything. Red had 6 brothers and sisters, things became tough for their family. When he entered his teens, Red wanted to be a jockey more than anything else. After much persistence, his father agreed and sent a family friend with Red to watch over him. Shortly after arriving at their destination, Red's guardian disappeared, stranding him without food or money, which forced Pollard to work for trainers in bad conditions. The trainers, all had bug boys, which were beginner jockeys, and were traded like cards between the trainers. Bug boys were treated almost inhumanly by some trainers, only saw them as ways to earn money. After many attempts, Red finally began to have some wins and after a couple of years he was good enough to race in more challenging races. he finally became the jockey he wanted to be. He was noticed by Freddie Johnson, for his rare talent in handling nervous and unordinary horses. George Woolf was an expert rider from the beginning and throughout his racing career won almost every race that came at him. When he as found and bought by a Man named Whitey, they went down to Tijuana where he won every race he was entered in. In 1927, Red and George met, and became lifelong friends. In these chapters, Hillenbrand shows many of the challenges involved in becoming a jockey, and that only the best and the skinniest come out on top. Jockeys who were over 100 pounds had to go on extreme diets that involved bulimia, starving oneself, eating tapeworms, and constant running in rubber suits to keep their weight to a minimum, What this did is caused many of the jockeys to be malnourished, and had weak bones because of this. My expectations for this book are coming closer to being met, but things still aren’t picking up much pace. They are still focusing on the days before seabiscuit became a legend in horse racing, which is basically describing all the characters involved in seabiscuit's career. It has showed me a lot of the aspects involved in racing horses in the 1930's, and my interest in reading is still there. The book is a good read, but it still is only describing things that occurred before seabiscuit's time. I am still waiting to see what happens to seabiscuit, and it definitely captures the time period of the 1920's and 30's.
18 comments:
Individula Entry #1
Summary: So far in the book, I have meet the characters Charles Howard, Tom Smith, Irwin, Fitzsimmons, and Seabiscuit. In the first chapter you learn alot about Charles Howard. He used to own a bicycle repair shop and then became the biggest car producer in the west. He worked for Buibk and GM. Charles always had a love for horses and eventually gave up his car business and went to live on his ranch. (This happened after the death of one of his sons.) He becomes interested in hore racing and buys several horses. He eventually ends up with Seabiscuit. In chapter 2 you learn about Tom Smith, a horse trainer who understands horses better than he understands people. His first job was at Colorado's Unaweep Cattle Range and he was a foreman. But since cars were taking the jobs of horses he lost his job and drifted to Wyoming, where he worked for rodeos and relay races. All his horses ended up winning, and a man named Irwin noticed this. Irwin offered Tom a job as foreman and he accepted. Tom was good at his job because he understood every horse and could supply what they needed. But because of the Depression, Irwin could not longer pay his workers, which included Tom. Tom continued to work for no pay but after two months he asked Irwin for the horse Knighthood, and he trained him. After knighthood won a race Irwin saw what Tom had done and hired him as a horse trainer, and he turned Irwin's luck around. in 1934 Irwin died and Tom Sith continued to train some of Irwin's horses, but ended up working for Henry Walters, an old rodeo trick rider turned trainer. Walters then retired putting Tom out of work again. But he gave Tom a horse named Oriley. (a lame horse) Oriley began winning races, but Tom was still very poor and he had no clients. But Howard took in Tom Smith as a new trainer.They worked well together. In 1936 Howard sent Smith to find a new horse. In June, Smith met Seabiscuit a "weedy three-year-old bay." Seabiscuit had bad knees that could not straighten all the way, but still he was lightning fast. You learn how Seabiscuit was trained by Fitzsimmons and you learn that Seabiscuit was the son of a great horse named Hard Tack. Seabiscuit was lazy, but when whipped he was extremely fast. Fitzsimmons became preoccupied with other horses and pushes Seabiscuit to the side. Howard and Tom Smith bought Seabiscuitin August of 1936.
My expectations of this book is to learn about the history of horse racing. Horses play a key part in America's history and I would like to learn about it. I would also like to see how "work and class" relate to horse races. I choose this book because I saw the movie and loved it. My Dad also read this book and has told me to read it a few times. Also, I don't really read books like Seabiscuit, and i want to see if this gere will interest me.
So far in "Seabiscuit" the theme of work is represented often. In fact, the first two chapters talk mostly about the different jobs you can have that relate to horses. For example, Tom Smith was a foreman and a trainer, but he still was very poor. Charles Howard started off as an owner of a bicycle repair shop and then turned into a dealer of Buick cars and worked with GM. he went from being poor to extremely rich. this represents how you can move form classes, even though it is very difficult.
So far I think that "Seabiscuit" is a good book because it is easy to read. Although it starts off boring because all it talks about is work, I think it will get alot better once Seabiscuit become the center of attention.. the horse isnt really in the story yet. But, i am getting anxious to see how the story will evolve and to see what seabiscuit will accomplish. I think this is an extremely important book because it teaches you about the history of America during the early 1900s. It shows you what it was like to live during those times. You see how cars become a kep part of people's lives and how horses are pushed to the side. But then you see how horses give people jobs and how important they are to society. I is very interesting and I can't wait to keep reading.
Hannah, how do you think the fact that the story takes place during the Great Depression will affect the rest of the book?
Mary:
So far in this book we got to know Charles Howard, a bicycle mechanic turned multi-millionaire car salesman who married his sons sister-in-law, Tom Smith, a genius horse trainer who's sometimes misunderstood because he feels he can relate to horses better, Irwin, Tom's boss who hired, fired, and then rehired Tom again, and of course Seabiscuit, a horse with bad knees but huge potential. in chapter one we met Charles Howard who turned twenty-one cents into millions overnight by becoming a car salesman. At first his business did not succeed but with perseverance, luck, and great advertising and media attention he soon had a booming business, even taking over the Buick branch of General Motors.
In chapter two we learn how Tom Smith's genius talents in horse conditioning and training were left undiscovered until misfortune turned into a life changing experience for him. Before the depression Tom Smith was working for a horse breeder and owner Irwin when the Great Depression hit and he lost his job. Although he was fired he continued to help out around the stables without pay until one day he trained a horse that one a race and his talent for training was discovered by Irwin and he hired Tom as a horse trainer. When Irwin died Tom continued to train horses at the stable until he teamed up with Charles Howard and trained horses. One day while looking for a future race horses for Howard Tom stumbled upon Seabiscuit. Although his knees and legs were deformed Fitzsimmons was able to train and condition Seabiscuit to become extremely fast.
I chose to read this book because it is one of my all time favorite movies but now I wish I would have read the book prior to seeing the movie because the way the book flows I am much more into the story than in the movie and I have a much better understanding of the characters such as Charles Howard. I also wish I would have read the book before because I know what is going to happen in the story and it makes it hard to build up suspense while reading, which is one of my favorite things about reading. My expectations for this book were not only that it would be a great story and that I would learn some history while reading it but that the actual writing itself would be very good and so far all of my expectations have been met. So far I have been captivated by this story and can barley put the book down when I am reading. I have also learned some history about the car industry and the great depression. The style in which Laura Hillenbrand wrote the book is also very artistic and flowing which makes reading it much more enjoyable.
The themes work and class greatly relate to this story because it already showed how three people have overcome poverty, especially in the great depression and these people are Charles Howard, Charles Strub, and Tom Smith. Howard overcame class and poverty to become a millionaire and the car sales industry. With only twenty-one cents in his pocket he was able to drastically change his life and the lives of the people in California by making the use of automobiles very popular. Strub overcame losing everything in the depression by perseveringly going from door to door asking people for money loans to build a three million dollar race track, which he succeeded in when he found Charles Howard who along with Bing Crosby and other investors was able to make Strub's vision a reality. Although Smith is still relatively poor he now has a steady job, under the direction of Howard, in finding, training, and conditioning race horses. These three men are all defying the class structure in America by continually moving higher in it and are the definition of the American working class.
So far I have enjoyed this book very much. It is definitely a page turner and I can barely put it down. This book is of great social value because it teaches the lesson of turning misfortunes and bad luck into great fortune and good luck through perseverance which basically describes the working class in one word. This book is written very artistically yet I am not confused at all which is definitely a good sign because I think it is more important for a book to have a good story and be understandable than to sound good.
Summary:
In chapters four,five, and six we are introduced to two aspiring and very talented jockeys named Red Pollard, nicknamed the Cougar for his intensity in the boxing ring and on the racetrack, and George Woolf, nicknamed the iceman. Both these men overcame poverty to become some of the greatest jockeys of their time. Red Pollard grew up in Canada in a town his father created by opening his own brick factory. The factory started out a success and the town was booming when a flash flood destroyed the factory and everything around it. After searching many months for bank loans to build a new factory his father went bankrupt and lost everything but his home. Barely able to feed his family Pollard's father had to work many ill-paying jobs. One day his father brought home a horse for Red as a present and Red soon fell in love with riding. Red started to hang around stables trading labor for a chance to ride and he soon left home to learn to be a jockey with a close family friend. After his family friend left him, he was all on his own and was traded through many trainers and eventually made it to the top when he started winning races with big purses. George Woolf was also born in Canada and was always around horses growing up. When he became a teenager he began racing competitively on small tracks in Canada when to men, Johnson and McGirr, signed a contract for him. Woolf was then spotted by a man named Whitey who was a big time racehorse owner. Whitey brought Woolf down to Tijuana and watched as he won race after race without easing up at all. Although Woolf journey to fame could be argued easier than Pollard's they were both exceptional riders. In the next chapters we are introduced to the dangers, bad eating habbits, and the "pleasures" of being a jockey. In "Seabiscuit" Hillenbrand explains how many Jockeys who were not born with a thin physique went to outrageous extremes to stay light. These extremes included starvation, bullimia, homemade and stoor bought concoctions, and even the swallowing of tapeworms, which would eat aways at one's intenstines and nutrients. Jockeys also exercized wearing rubber suits and layers upon layers of clothes. These extremes did not pay off in the long run and caused many Jockeys to live a short life because of their malnutrition. Hillenbrand also says how these extremes caused fatigue, aches, fainting, and other conditions. I also learned how if the malnutrition did not kill or seriously injure you there was a very good chance the horse would. the dangers of riding a one ton animal included being bucked off the back, being trampled by other horses, or being launched off the front, getting trampled by you own horse. I also learned that a kid grew up much faster when they became a jockey when they visited the Molino Rojo, which faced the Tijuana Racetrack. This building was filled with prostitutes that even the young jockeys paid for.
Expectations:
So far my expectations for this book have not been met. I find it very hard to read though the book without dosing off. When I first chose the book I thought it would be a more flowing story about a horse rising from failure to greatness but so far the only thing I have read about the horse is his bloodline, that he is untrainable (according to some), and that his legs are short and his knees like baseball mitts. I feel like the story is all over the place and once I finally get to know a character and are interseted in the story we jump to a new character with a different story. I am having alot of trouble writing the summary and I end up looking in the book to make sure everything I write is correct because I can not keep the characters and stories straight.
Theme:
The themes of work and class are truly resonating through this book when we are introduced to the hardships and lifetyles of the early twentieth century. The hardships, as the author explains, are malnutrition, inadequte medical help for when they get injured which is very often, the emotional strains such as bottling fear up inside not even letting themselves recognize their own personal fear, and the extremely busy and demanding work schedule, which in most cases they have to agree to or risk being fired. This lifestlyes of the jockeys basically define the working class because not only is their work manual and requires long hours it also does not pay adequatly. That is how the themes of work and class have emerged so far in the book.
Quality:
Because I am extremly bored by this book so far it doesn's even matter that it is written well. Although it is important for a book to be well written, if it is not a good story it doesnt matter how sophisticated the writing style of the book is to me and for me "Seabiscuit" is a classic example of this. So far i dred turning the next page in this book fearing the possibility of another character whith an even more confusing life story than the last. Although I do not particularly like this book it is of very social and cultural value seeing that it gives us an insight into the hardships of a particular occupation of the working class in America during the Great Depression which had its greatest effects on the american working class.
Individual Entry #1
In the first three Chapters of the book, Charles Howard, Tom Smith, "10 ton" Irwin, James Fitzsimmons, and Seabiscut are the main characters shown. Charles Howard was a cavalryman during the Spanish American War. After that, he went out west with only cents in his pocket, and with some luck was able to start a bicycle repair shop. It was the turn of the century and the automobile was a luxury, so many of the eccentrics in San Francisco had one, which turned out to be a hassle. Automobile repair shops didn't exist, so some turned to Howard to repair them. When he was able to make them better then they were his career took off. He became a member of Buick, and eventually took over for sales in the western United States. After an earthquake, his store was destroyed but this put no hamper on his progress. When his business seemed to be soaring, his son died in an automobile accident, which left him scarred for life. He decided to sell his business and take up the hobby of racing horses and living off of his Ranch. Eventually he comes to buy Seabiscut through his trainer Tom Smith. Smith was a true westerner, and had his horse handling skills honed by the wild west of the late 1800's. After working on a cattle farm, he found his way to work under Ten Ton Irwin, a ruthless and skilled businessman. Smith worked his way up the ropes of Irwin's racing and Circus enterprise, because of his unrivaled talent of raising horses. When the depression hit things got tight, and even tighter when Irwin died in a car accident. Soon after he lost his job and eventually drifted into being the trainer for Charles Howard. Soon After he met Seabiscut, a stocky built horse with bad knees that somehow still let him run fast. In the next chapter it talks of how Fitzsimmons, a trainer, had Seabiscut previously, who descended from Man O'War and the Sire Hard Tack. After some success with Seabiscut, Fitzsimmons pushed him aside until he was bought by Tom Smith for Howard.
So far the book has met some of my expectations, but has managed to keep me wanting to read more. The expectations I have are to learn what was involved in racing horses back in the 1930's, along with what revolved around the business of racing. The reason why I chose this book is because my family is involved small time in the horse racing business, and it would be interesting to learn more about this.
So far the book has mainly focused on how people from the middle or lower classes can rise up through hard times and become self proclaimed successes in their own fields. Even with the decline of the horse because of the automobile, many people still made their living around them by using their talents to their advantage. Howard, Smith, and Fitzsimmons relied on horses throughout most of their lives and they shaped each persons career and life differently.
This book is well written, because it flows reasonably and almost always holds my attention. It makes me consider the racing today in Ohio, compared to what racing in the 20's and 30's was like. It seems to be of cultural value, because to me it captures the essence of what is really involved with horse racing, then and even now. Even though the book was only written seven years ago, it captures a time lost to memory and should stand the test of time for its literary contribution to society.
Group Entry #1
Our group discussion for the first half of the book mainly focused on the themes of money and hardships in the working class. We all noticed a constant theme of money affectting the workig class in the book. Some examples of this theme are Howards risng from less than a dollar to a millionaire almost over night, the efffects of the great depression on the working class, and the meager wages of jockeys and the importance of winning races with big prizes. From the book we were able see that the Great Depression had its greatest effect on the working class. We were able to determine this because when the Great Depression hit, Howards, a millionaire, was still able to run his buisness and live well while trainer Tom Smith, a working class man, was barely able to find food and shelter and at one point was working for no pay at all. Another example of the importance of money as a theme was the stress placed on the jockeys by their owners and themselves to win high stake races with big payoffs. For example one purse was worth $100,000.
We all agreed that the hardships of the working class was also a major theme in this book. This theme was portrayed through the jockeys whom experienced harships such as low salaries, life threatening work, and ill-treatment by owners and fellow workers. In our discussion we brought up how jockeys were basically treated worse than the horses because while many of the horses were properly cared for in order to insure wins, jockeys were treated as livestock being sold with out their notification, they did not receive proper medical care when injured, and recieved wages that were unjust and unfair according to their working conditions. We also discussed many of the characters and their stories in order to better understand the book because all of us were confused about what charcter went with what story so we needed some clarification in that particular area. We also started to discuss what we thought would happen in the future of the book but because we had all seen the movie we all pretty much know what is going to happen so that area of the discussion did not have a very significant impact in the discussion.
Individual Entry #1
Summary:in the first part of the book we have been introduced to multiple characters. these main characters are Charles Howard,Seabiscuits owner, Tom Smith,Seabiscuits trainer, and Seabiscuit himself. all three of these characters go from something small to something great in a short period of time. charles howard was originally a bicycle mechanic who didnt make very much money. he soon got into the car business as a member of GM. he soon started to make a ton of money from selling cars. people were starting to buy more and more cars and they were in great demand. charles howard was described as very personable, understanding, and smart. to be able to make the fortune that he did, he must have been smart. he became very upset after his son died in a car accident. his sons death hung over him for years and years. he eventually got out of the car business, moved to his ranch and bought a couple of horses. he was interested in racing horses and was looking for a trainer. this is when he came upon Tom Smith. tom smith grew up around horses and knew everything there was to know about them. he felt as if he were closer to the horses than to actual people. this love for horses is why he always had jobs where he had to deal with horses. he was able to work with any horse no matter what their problem. charles howard saw that he could work with any horse and turn any horse into a winner, so he hired him. the last character is seabiscuit. seabiscuit comes from a winning horse named hard tack. seabiscuit wasnt like most horses beacause he was very lazy, although when he was pushed he could be very fast.
i chose to read this book because not only have i heard many good things about it, but my dad recommended it to me. my dad knows im not a huge reader, but he usually knows when i would be interested in a book. every book he has ever recommended to me i have loved. so i was hoping this book would be the same way.
when i first started reading this book i thought it was going to be very interesting from the first page to the last, but i was wrong. so far its just an ok book. the book just reiterates over and over again about the peoples life stories and how they came from nothing into something big. the book is definately interesting, but it just gets repetitive at times. im sure that in a chapter or two the book will pick up and i wont be able to put it down.
Mary,
Since you said that you have seen the movie before, I was wondering what some of the main differences are so far in the book compared to the movie. Are there any that are really contrasting?
Brian,
What do you think of the relationship between Tom Smith and Charles Howard?
Hannah Burke
Individual #2
Summary:
Since my last blog, I have met the characters of Red Pollard and George Woolf. Red Pollard had once been one of the greatest jockies, but at the mean time he was one of the worst. Red had no money or no home, he lived entirely on the road. His real name is Johnny and as a child he was restless and out of control. He had six brothers and sister, but Red was the most clever. he loved to read. His family was very wealthy due to owning a brick factory, but in 1915 the factory collapsed due to a flash flood. Red then discovered a gift for riding, so when he was 15 he left his family to pursue a career in racing. He started his career in the bush leagues, which was a rough place to start, but Red could handle it. He learned alot but he never one a race. In need of money, he started boxing. He got the nickname Cougar. Years passed, and he still did not win a race. But he eventually got a break with a trainer named "Acey" who signed him to ride a few horses. He was a bug boy. With the help of Acey, Pollard began to find himself. Pollard's small success was noticed by Freddie Johnson, and he was bought. Pollard had a rare skill, he was able to work with nervous horses.In 1927, Red saw Woolf, a handsom, spectacular man. Woolf began racing in his mid-teens. He was agreat jockey and won everything. He worked for Whitey. Red and Woolf became quick friends in 1927. It was the start of a friendship that would go down in history.
If you were not born thin, you somehow had to get thin. Riders would go to extremes just to stay thin. Red was one of these riders. In order to ride you had to be less than 115 pounds, and getting there was extremely hard. Men would starve themselves, be bulimic, or even insert tape worms into their stomachs. The would wear rubber suits in sweltering heat and run around just so they could loose weight. In short term, this was very effective because they would shed pounds quickly. But the long term effect was greater, They would die.
Molino Rojo was the building across from the race track in Tijuana. It was a place where the jockeys went to feel at ease. All types of women worked there, and each man got their pick. Pollard and Woolf went there often. In 1928 both Pollard and Woolf were very successful, winning many races. in 1934 Pollard and Woolf come back to the US because racing is legalized. Woolf did well, Pollard did not. But Tom Smith and Pollard meet and Pollard is hired. This is where Pollard, Smith, Howard, and Seabiscuit start their story.
Expectations:
Right now this book is not meeting my expectations. I thought it would be a lot better than it is. I saw the movie and the movie was great, but this book talks alot about the characters and not about Seabiscuit and the races. I think that this will change as I keep reading, and then I believe that I will like the book alot more.
Themes:
Work is demonstrated in "Seabiscuit" because the author really shows you in detail what it is like to have a job. Whether its a jockey or a trainer, you feel like your are the occupation that she is describing. So you really get a full view of what the work is like back dduring the depression and how the need of work is so high. People are literally desperate for any job. This ties in with the theme of class because you feel like you are a part of the working class. Also the author compares the working class with the homeowner. You get a good sense of how lucky the homeowners are.
Analysis:
The book is a pretty good read, it has great description. At the moment, "SEabiscuit" ir really boring because I have not gotten to the actual races yet. I am anxious to get to the good parts of this book. Seabiscuit has a cultural value because it talks about the Great Depression. It captures the feeling of how important racing was to the people.
Group Entry #2
In our second group discussion we talked briefly about the plot of the book. The main thing we talked about was what Seabiscuit represents. We all agree that Seabiscuit represents the working class because he was always the underdog, because he was smaller than the rest of the race horses. Seabiscuit shows that with hardwork and perserverance you can achieve anything. We don't know exactly what he achieves, but we are guessing that he achieves greatness. He is a symbol to the working class, and if they work hard like he did, they can restart their lives. Also, we talked about the themes and we discussed how work is showed on every page of the book. People are desperate for money, and will do anything for work. The book also shows and describes the types of work.
Lastly, we discussed whether we liked the book. We all think that it has a slow beginning, but we know that something exciting is going to happen. We can't wait to read about what Seabiscuit achieves and how he does it! We really want to know if something will happen between Red and Woolf. Also, we wonder if Seabiscuit will become the greatest horse in the country. We want to compare the book to the movie. (Only two o us have seen the movie.)
Individual #3
Summary:
I am now in Part 2 of the book, and this part seems to talk more about Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit is a restless horse, and people fear him. people wondered what Smith saw in him because he was impatient, wrestless, chronically tired, and 200 pounds underweight. But Smith loved the horse and showed him affection and attention. he wanted Seabiscuit to be happy. Seabiscuit gets the companion, Pumpkin. Smith then fixes Seabiscuits sore legs and gives him enough food/fuel so he can gain some weight. Seabiscuit has a great life with SMith.
Seabiscuit could not run and would not run. he liked to make the rider mad. he did not focus on winning, but on annoying his rider. This he was good at. But Smith got Seabiscuit to listen and enjoy racing. Pollard became the rider and he understood Seabiscuit. He knew that Seabiscuit did not like the whip. SMith taught biscuit to stay away from the rail and to time himself but make sure he was ahead of everyone before a certain wire. These three was a great team. After two weeks of training and a structure life, Seabiscuit was ready for the races. he got 4th place on in his first race in Detroit. Seabiscuit was a smart horse and had what it took to win. He won the next couple of races. Howard wanted more for the horse.
While training Seabiscuit, Smith realized that Biscuit was one of the fastest horses around. he wanted to keep this a secret so that he could surprise people. But when word got out, it spread fast and biscuit got publicity. This is what Smith feared the most.
Themes:
The theme that is demonstrated the most is hard work. Smith works hard to break Seabiscuit out of his bad habits and to get him ready for the races. Seabiscuit and Pollard worked hard to win. I learned that in order to succeed you need to work hard.
Expectations:
This part of the book is really meeting my expectations. It talks about Seabiscuit and racing, and that is what i thought the book would be about. I can't wait to keep reading because i know the book will only get better and it is starting to become similar to the movie! It is starting to teach me how important racing was to the people and I can see why.
Analysis:
I am starting to really enjoy this book. I love reading about Seabiscuit and his races. i cant wait to continue reading because i want to hear about his success and his failure. i can't put the book down. i am reaaly glad I choose this book and that i stuck with it. Before this book was boring, but now it has the perfect mix of history and entertainment. i think that it will stand at the test of time because it shows in great deals what the Great depression was like and how people survived. it shows how racing played a key part in peoples' lives,
individual entry #2
in this part of the book we i learned a lot about the jockeys lives. going into this book i didnt think very much about the jockeys and their lives. i just assumed that they would practice riding the horses and that was the end of it, but it takes much more than that. to be a jockey you have to maintain a certain weight. to maintain this small frame the jockeys would do all sorts of different things such as, starve themselves, become belimic, and even take gross shakes that are sopposed to help them keep their weight down. after a while of doing this the jockeys ran into problems such as malnutrition, and broken bones due to this malnutrition. although the jockeys would suffer these injuries, and be suffering from malnutrition, they would still ride through the pain. they are jockeys for the love of the sport, and they would do anything to keep riding. the rider that i was introduced to in this chapter was Red Pollard. he is going to be seabiscuits jockey. red grew up a as a wealthy kid, but when his families business was closed they lost their money. from there he found the sport of racing. he became a jockey and participated in many races although he didnt start off very good. he lost just about every one of his races in the begining. eventually though, he worked his way up and became a great jockey. but, once again he went back on the decline and eventually lost all of his money. he wasnt going to give up his dreams though, so he stuck with racing. he was eventually hired as seabiscuits jockey.
this part of the book really shows you how hard the jockeys have it. most people think they just go out there and ride like its nothing, but in reality there is a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into it. it wears down on you not only physically but mentally. the book started off very slow, but it is definately picking up right now. it is getting closer and closer to the actual races, which i am very excited to read about.
individual entry #3
the last couple of chapters i have read have been much better than the earlier chapters. they are talking more about seabiscuit as a horse and they are getting into the racing. this is what i have been waiting for. seabiscuit is a very intelligent horse, who has a bit of an attitude problem. in his early races he wasnt worried at all about how he run, but instead all he wanted to do was be stubborn for the jockeys. the more and more he was whipped, the worse he ran. smith was very good with seabiscuit and worked really hard with him. smith taught seabiscuit how to run races and to become a more disciplined runner. they worked hard with hard with seabiscuit, got him a friend horse to play with, and fed him a good amount of food so he could get his weight up to par with some of the other horses. seabiscuit was clearly a much happier horse after all this. smith knew seabiscuit would be great. he knew that he was one of the fastest horses around, and if trained right could be tough to stop.
this part of the book is mainly about perseverence. seabiscuit has to work really hard at racing, and work his way through obstacles such as, his weight and sore muscles. he pushes through these pains everyday and works hard to become a great racing horse.
this book is getting much more interesting. the fact that it is talking about the actual races makes me not want to put the book down. the book started off really slow, but i am really getting into it now.i cant wait til i finish the book.
Group Entry #3
we started off the group discussion by talking about how seabiscuit represents the lower class, and how with some perseverance you can acheive any goal that you set for yourself. we talked about these things in our last group discussion, but we saw it as such an important and common theme that we had to bring it up again. seabiscuit has to work really hard and come from nothing to get where he eventually does. seabiscuit takes victory over war admiral. this race was huge in seabiscuits career and helped solidify him as one of the greatest race horses of all time.
we also discussed how we all liked the book. we got mixed reactions from this question, although everyone agreed that the book starts off really slow. we all said that the book was repetitive in the begining and it took to much time to introduce each character. mary and hannah liked the book overall, but they didnt love it. they disliked the begining but once they started racing and theaction started they liked it a lot more. ryan all around wasnt very impressed by the book. he already knew a little bit about racing, so he didnt learn anything new in that regard. he said the book just didnt interest him all that much. i, on the other hand, was in between what ryan said and what mary and hannah said. i thought the ending of the book and the racing parts were good, but they werent great. i had much higher expectations than what the book actually was.
Individual Entry #4
the final part of the book talks a lot about seabiscuits races, and what it is like after Red wasnt able to race him anymore. seabiscuit was one of the greatest race horses ever. he set many different records, and won a crazy amount of races. he basically dominated the sport of horse racing. the book deals a lot with the theme of work and class. it mainly deals with seabiscuit coming from a nothing and being looked down upon to being a huge deal and being idolized. at a time when the war and the great depression were happening he allowed people to believe that you can do anything as long as you really work at it. this is exactly what the country needed. not only did seabiscuit beat his opponents, but he beat them while having to wear an "impost", or the weight assigned to the faster horses. this should have slowed him down and made it so he couldnt win as many races but instead he dominated even while wearing the imposts.
overall i would rate this book with a B-. it wasnt a great or even in my top books of all time, but it was a little better than average. one of the reasons why i think it probably wasnt as good as i thought was because i had very high expectations for it. my dad hyped it up a lot so i thought i was going to love it. i went into it thinking it would be a great book that i loved from begining to end, but instead i hated the begining and middle and enjoyed the end. if the book didnt start off so slow i think i would have liked it a lot more than i did.
Individual Entry #2
In the final chapters of Part 1, we are introduced to two new characters: Red Pollard and George Woolf. Both of them were jockeys and grew up in Canada, surrounded by horses. Red Pollard was born into a rich family, as his father owned a brick factory on the frontier. In 1915 a flood destroyed the factory, and the Pollards lost almost everything. Red had 6 brothers and sisters, things became tough for their family. When he entered his teens, Red wanted to be a jockey more than anything else. After much persistence, his father agreed and sent a family friend with Red to watch over him. Shortly after arriving at their destination, Red's guardian disappeared, stranding him without food or money, which forced Pollard to work for trainers in bad conditions. The trainers, all had bug boys, which were beginner jockeys, and were traded like cards between the trainers. Bug boys were treated almost inhumanly by some trainers, only saw them as ways to earn money. After many attempts, Red finally began to have some wins and after a couple of years he was good enough to race in more challenging races. he finally became the jockey he wanted to be. He was noticed by Freddie Johnson, for his rare talent in handling nervous and unordinary horses.
George Woolf was an expert rider from the beginning and throughout his racing career won almost every race that came at him. When he as found and bought by a Man named Whitey, they went down to Tijuana where he won every race he was entered in. In 1927, Red and George met, and became lifelong friends.
In these chapters, Hillenbrand shows many of the challenges involved in becoming a jockey, and that only the best and the skinniest come out on top. Jockeys who were over 100 pounds had to go on extreme diets that involved bulimia, starving oneself, eating tapeworms, and constant running in rubber suits to keep their weight to a minimum, What this did is caused many of the jockeys to be malnourished, and had weak bones because of this.
My expectations for this book are coming closer to being met, but things still aren’t picking up much pace. They are still focusing on the days before seabiscuit became a legend in horse racing, which is basically describing all the characters involved in seabiscuit's career. It has showed me a lot of the aspects involved in racing horses in the 1930's, and my interest in reading is still there.
The book is a good read, but it still is only describing things that occurred before seabiscuit's time. I am still waiting to see what happens to seabiscuit, and it definitely captures the time period of the 1920's and 30's.
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