XC skiing books for
Christmas - 5 (Morton)
Date first posted on eCommunity - 23
November 2008
A
MEDAL OF HONOR
By John Morton
(Second edition)
Discover History LLC, 29 Dec 2005
ISBN-10: 1929401043
ISBN-13: 978-1929401048
Very few novels about cross-country skiing have been written in
English, so John Morton's story of elite biathlon racing deserves
attention on grounds of rarity alone. But - as a bonus - it's also a
very good read.
A Medal of Honor tells the story of Matt
Johnson, a young
biathlete
from Vermont whose sporting ability brings him to the attention of
the US Biathlon Team. He is invited to participate in the National
Championships at Lake Placid, does well, and is therefore asked to
attend a US Biathlon Team summer camp a few months later. At this
camp the Team members are subjected to "the most comprehensive
physiological testing ever administered to American biathletes".
Matt Johnson
again does well and gains selection to the team. And,
as is proper in a good sporting tale, that selection catapults him
into a hectic programme of travel to exotic locations: Alaska, Norway and the Alps. Training and racing become the overwhelming
focus of the young man's life. But they are not the only focus, for
there is also family conflict; there is romance; and there is
personal rivalry within the team. And - especially towards the end
of the tale, by which time Johnson is representing his country in a
fictional Winter Olympic Games in the Italian Dolomites - there is
the seductive distraction of corporate sponsorship and there is the
ever-present temptation to use illicit methods of enhancing
performance.
The tale is well constructed and well told. This was John Morton's
first novel - but it doesn't have the uncertain feel of a first
novel. Perhaps this is because Morton had served his apprenticeship
as a writer some years before embarking upon A Medal of Honor. The
earlier book, called Don't Look Back (1990) was a non-fiction guide
to cross country skiing and racing. It had drawn heavily on Morton's
own skiing career - a distinguished career which he summarises thus:
"I've had the amazing good fortune to have participated in seven
Winter Olympic Games as an athlete, a coach, the U.S. Biathlon Team
Leader, or most recently at Salt Lake, as Chief of Course for the
Biathlon events. I've attended scores of National Championships,
World Championships, Biathlon World Cup competitions, and the World
University Games."
A Medal of Honour also draws richly upon that background; and into
his tale Morton weaves details of training schedules, information
about physiological testing, and even guidance on how to zero a
biathlon rifle in windy conditions. In the main this factual
material fits nicely into the narrative and makes the story more
credible and more interesting.
Now and again - it has to be said - the storyline errs somewhat on
the side of hard-to-credit, but most skiers will forgive Morton for
that and will simply enjoy the yarn.
Perhaps less easy to forgive - certainly quite difficult to
understand - are the loose ends that remain at the end of the tale.
Mainly these concern the hero's family life which, as described at
length in the early chapters, has a dark and mysterious side. His
father had died just before the story opens, in a road accident that
suggested suicide, and some of the family suspect a link to the old
man's military service in Vietnam. However, this strand in the story
simply peters out.
My own feeling is that Morton is too savvy a writer to have left
these loose ends by mistake. And I guess all would have been
revealed in a sequel that was to have been called The Heroes of
Muju, in which Matt Johnson was to have represented the US in the
Winter Olympics in Korea, while at the same time completing his own
military service.
But it looks like we'll never know. The Heroes of Muju was
scheduled for publication in 2007 but I think the publisher dropped
it. I can't find it in any catalogue. Pity.
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