The Life of a Legend (The Life of Senna - Tom Rubython)

Member Name: jane08

Product:	The Life of Senna - Tom Rubython
Date:	06/08/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A thorough chronology of Senna's life with insight from people who knew him best

Disadvantages: A little repetitive and a few chapters are unnecessary

Any Formula 1 fan should know the name of Aryton Senna. He was one of the best, if not the greatest, racing driver of all time. He was a sensation that captured the hearts of his native Brazillians and many millions of fans around the world. His tragic death, along with fellow driver Roland Ratzenberger, at Imola in 1994 was arguably one of the worst weekends in motorsport history but it was also the cause of massive changes for the world of F1.

This book chronicles the life of Senna from birth to the tragic end. However, the early years of his childhood are not described in great detail, the majority of the text focuses on his racing career and his many tempestuous relationships. For the most part it's an insightful and entertaining read which can be enjoyed by novices to the sport but also die hard fans like myself.

There are however faults. There are times when the writer(s) repeats himself quite noticably which could have been prevented with better editing. There is also the rather harrowing chapter describing the details of Senna's death which I should note is in quite gruesome detail. A very large chapter is also dedicated the the trial which followed the events at Imola which may be interesting to some readers but I personally found rather unnecessary and quite dull. However both can be skipped without any trouble.

The introduction is written by Gerhard Berger who was arguably one of Senna's closest friends and team mates, quite an exclusive position to hold in Senna's life as he was a man of few close friends and even fewer friendly team mates.

This is a definitely a book I would recommend for any fan interested in the 'life of Senna' but it's not perfect.

Summary: Well worth a read.