Chris Cleave - Gold

This book was written in 2011 and published in the UK in July 2012, right on time for the London Olympics. It feels as though Chris Cleave decided, in the lead-up to the Olympics, to write a book about elite athletes that would tug at the heartstrings of anyone who watched or raced or otherwise participated in any of the Olympic events (that is to say, virtually everyone in the world).

Admittedly the highs and lows of professional athletes training for the highest order of competition make for fascinating subject matter, and I can see how this would have seemed like a very good idea at the time, both commercially and as a writer.

But - the book simply doesn't work.

I am so disappointed. I absolutely loved Cleave's earlier books - Little Bee (also published as The Other Hand) in particular still gives me shivers when I think about it, but Incendiary was also extraordinary.

Could it be that Cleave is simply out of ideas? Or that there was commercial pressure on him to release another book before he was truly ready? Or has he just succumbed to the drive which characterises the writing of more typical genre authors, prioritising commercial subject matter over quality?

For me, I think the problem with Gold is this: Cleave chose to tell the story in the wrong way.

Gold falls prey to one of the common pitfalls of writing - too much exposition throughout slows the story, to the point where at times I was so bored I was reluctant to keep reading. More than reluctant - I had to force myself to keep reading. Instead of telling the story of three athletes chronologically, starting from the moment they all met as teenagers and following them from race to race and drama to drama so that we as readers are given a chance to become attached to them and absorbed in the story and eager to find out what happens next, Cleave chooses to tell almost all of this as back-story and flashbacks. The actual plot of the current story takes place over a very short period of time: it is a snapshot, really, of the qualifying race for the cycling sprint event at the London Olympics, and of the lives of the two female cyclists vying for that one qualifying spot.

Zoe and Kate are competitors and best friends. Jack, Kate's husband, is an Olympic gold medalist himself, and Sophie, the daughter of Kate and Jack, is suffering from a relapse of childhood leukaemia, complicating Kate's preparation for the biggest race of her life. The only other character in the novel is Tom, the girls' cycling coach, who has a slightly creepy affection for Zoe. Over time we gradually learn that the connections between the characters are less-straightforward than first portrayed - Zoe and Jack have themselves had various romantic dalliances, for example.

I think the story, taken as a whole, has the potential to be gripping, particularly because Cleave's descriptions of the world of cycling and the intense anxiety and adrenalin of each race are excellent. But because crucial plot points are leaked out of order in dribs and drabs throughout the book, we don't have a chance early enough in the story to develop attachments to any of the characters. And that renders the reading dull. It forces us to view the life events of the characters objectively, instead of allowing us to get swept up in them. Even the moment of Sophie's leukaemia diagnosis lacks emotional impact - both because we have known about it since the beginning of the book, and because Cleave returns immediately to describing the present lives of the characters, which removes any opportunity for us as readers to dwell on the diagnosis, or to feel anything about it. This technique is used so consistently throughout the book that I can't help but think the objective reading that is thrust upon us was deliberate - that maybe he wants us to view these athletes impartially, and as fixed in the current moment, so that when we actually watch the Olympics, having read the book, we will see each athlete as a whole person who may well have this kind of backstory. In other words, the point is not that we develop an attachment to these characters in particular, but rather that we become more emotionally connected to the Olympics as a whole.

Whether or not this was his desired outcome, for me the tactic failed - at least in terms of my enjoyment of the book itself. Because there was insufficient forward movement I groaned inwardly each time we were subjected to yet another flashback of childhood experience or teenage drama. I wanted something to happen, already! Let them race, for heaven's sakes!

By the end, when the backstory had finally caught up with the here and now, and the characters were finally put in positions of current conflict with one another, I warmed to the story.

However, I was still removed enough to be unusually aware of and frustrated by the flaws of some of the characters. The love triangle between Kate, Jack and Zoe is reminiscent of the one in Gone with the Wind between Scarlett O'Hara, Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton-Wilkes (if we pretend Rhett doesn't exist - Tom is no Rhett Butler). Kate is as unrealistically saintly as Melanie in the face of repeated betrayals by her husband and friend. I rolled my eyes when she forgave them again and again - Jack appearing to get off without so much as a scolding. To me, her actions came across as weak and vaguely pathetic and I consequently found it hard to believe that she was an athlete capable of challenging for an Olympic gold medal. In contrast, Zoe came across as so extraordinarily selfish (especially in certain scenes at the end) that I didn't understand why Kate would have continued to consider her a friend at all, let alone a best friend. And Jack... dimwitted, fickle, indecisive Jack. What is it that makes him so irresistible to both of these women, save for the fact that he is the only man under 60 they spend any regular time with? I don't get the appeal.

Also - and I know I am on a bit of a rant - Cleave's references to sex come across like the awkward jokes made by a feeble, faintly creepy uncle. Comments about Zoe's breasts, or about Tom's peculiar feelings for her, made me cringe. This does not feel like natural territory for Cleave. For example, an early comparison of the promiscuous 'men of today' to Dyson vacuum cleaners was particularly odd:

"He didn't see how Zoe could ever find love with this new breed of men with cyclonic souls that sucked like Dysons and never needed their bag changed in order to keep on and on sucking."

In spite of these faults, had the story unfolded in a different way, I might have loved this book and forgiven the character flaws. The story itself is one with the potential to evoke tears, both out of sadness and joy. What a pity that Cleave chose a story-telling strategy which prevents either reaction.

Overall assessment: two out of five.

Pros: Cleave's writing is still, for the most part, excellent. Some passages are quite beautiful, and in particular his descriptions of the cycling races themselves are thrilling. Also, as discussed above - there is a good story buried in here. I wanted to care more about the characters. Told in a different way, this might have been a heartbreaking tale.

Cons: It doesn't work. Too much exposition. Too slow in the unfolding. Readers are treated as objective spectators.