Thursday, March 17, 2005

The power of a good book

I have to admit, my writing has suffered over the past few days, and for that, I blame The Cheltenham Festival. Not adverse to the odd flutter, I've been waylaid by one of the greatest horse racing events in the calendar. During the meeting, I recalled one of the earliest books I remember buying from the school book shop, 'Mylor, The Most Powerful Horse In The World' by Michael Maguire. The book concerned a group of inventors racing to create a robot horse that could win the Grand National without being detected as being a robot. The story has stuck with me to this day, and it reminds me how powerful and long-lasting fiction can be, especially to a young, impressionable mind.

I still have the book, tucked away in a box somewhere (our house grows more like a bookshop by the day). When my my two-year-old son's old enough to read books on his own, I will open my treasure-chest, and I hope that he too will be as enchanted as I was when I discovered the power of a good book.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Re Mylor - me too, it's stuck in my head since I was 10! Do wish I could track down a copy now.

Shaun said...

Yes, I still have my copy tucked away somewhere. When my son's old enough, I'll pass it on to him, and hope that he enjoys it as much as I did.

Alison said...

Okay, I know this is almost 18 months out of date, but I just got on the internet today to try and find the title of this book--I read it many years ago, and hve never forgotten it, but couldn't remember the title! Thank you!

Shaun said...

Hi Alison,

The strange thing is, I left this book at my mother's house when I left home almost twenty years ago, and only yesterday when I was visiting her, I rummaged through some old belongings and found it! It may be watermarked now and stained, but I brought it home to read it to my young son. Glad I could be of help to you.