Films and books about Figure Skating

[daphenaxa]

Hey I was wondering if any of yous had good recommendations concerning books or movies involving FS.

I saw "Blades of Glory" and "The Cutting Edge" but these are quite BAD
And when I was a bit younger, I read the children/teenage book "Skating on thin ice" by Nicholas Walker and loved it.

Are there others? I am talking mainly about FICTION here.

BUT if you have a good non-fic book/movie please feel free to share. (of these I wanna read "The Second Mark" by Joy Goodwin and I saw the "Be Good Johnny Weir" TV series)

Thanks

 

[Layback11]

Hey I was wondering if any of yous had good recommendations concerning books or movies involving FS.

I saw "Blades of Glory" and "The Cutting Edge" but these are quite BAD
And when I was a bit younger, I read the children/teenage book "Skating on thin ice" by Nicholas Walker and loved it.

Are there others? I am talking mainly about FICTION here.

BUT if you have a good non-fic book/movie please feel free to share. (of these I wanna read "The Second Mark" by Joy Goodwin and I saw the "Be Good Johnny Weir" TV series)

Thanks

I honestly have no idea, although I have a skating coffee table book (published in 1999) called "Inside Figure Skating" by Alina Sivorinovsky that I found at a thrift store. It has some really gorgeous photos in it, and since I wasn't a fan yet when the 6.0 system was expelled, it's an interesting look at a system I have no personal knowledge of. The Amazon reviews said the writing was biased, but I must have no taste because I honestly couldn't tell. I wouldn't go super out of my way to get it, but if they have it at your local library (or, as I did, you find it in a thrift store), it might make an interesting read.

 

[andromache]

I've watched all 3 (or maybe it's 4?) of The Cutting Edge movies. They are indeed the worst. Why do the "Olympics" have exhibition-style lighting?? Why couldn't they get someone who actually knows things about figure skating to make those movies?? I'm all about cheesy romantic lovefests in a figure skating world, but man, those movies are bad. Not a fan of the Disney movie "Ice Princess" either. Because this girl who has just started skating knows science, she's suddenly able to do a triple?? Nah.

I would kill for a halfway decent skating movie. There's certainly enough potential drama to make it compelling without making it completely unrealistic.

Coming off of finals and looking for some easy reading, this week I read Christine Brennan's two nonfiction books Inside Edge and Edge of Glory which really fed my nostalgia for skating in the 90s. Last night I finished The Second Mark, which I remember reading for the first time when it was first published. I'm not sure how "reliable" these nonfiction books are, but the authors appeared to have extensively interviewed their subjects about the eras that the books cover, which is very valuable and fascinating. Getting to read about legendary coaches like Moskvina and Yao Bin really sold me on The Second Mark in particular. I'm not a fan of Brennan's treatment of many of the skaters she covers (she's not unbiased, it's pretty clear) but The Second Mark seemed to be relatively unbiased in its coverage of a controversy that a lot of people had very strong opinions about. Although I was disappointed that Goodwin went so in-depth into the long programs of the top 3 pairs in 2002 but spent zero time at all discussing their short programs, which was an annoying oversight.

Thinking about reading Dick Button's book next because it seems pretty hilarious.

 

[daphenaxa]

thanks guys
and yeah the exhibition lightning at the olympics FS is just :sarcasm:

 

[karne]

I quite like Blades of Glory, because it's openly a parody and doesn't try to be serious. Cutting Edge, Ice Castles, Ice Princess, Go Figure? I loathe them.

 

[Imagine]

I remember when I was really young (only knew one skater back then, Michelle Kwan, and was not really a fan of the sport yet), there was this movie called Snow on Ice or something, that featured a female skater, a baldish male skater, and a skating snowman (I know, I know...) Anyway, young me thought it was pretty good, and I swear somewhere in the garage I still have a plush of that snowman (it had a plaid scarf and maybe a hat). I dunno, that movie probably sucks but it was entertaining to me back then and this thread actually made me remember.

 

[Barb]

I love Blades of glory, it is very funny.

I only read (Frozen teardrop) from Lucinda Ruh and I love it. http://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Teardrop-Tragedy-Triumph-Skatings/dp/1590792130

 

[cruzceleste]

Yuzuru, Akiko and Daisuke all have books.

 

[Barb]

Yuzuru, Akiko and Daisuke all have books.

they have english version?, Mao has some books too, but all in japanese

 

[plushyfan]

Plushenko also had reallity shows. Two series are on Youtube: Live с Плющенко 1_1 сезон 2007-2008 MTV Plushenko
Plushenko has biography and exist english version.

In my language there are many fan fictions about him. Those were written some years ago when he wasn't merried in his peak time. Most of them are romantic stories and some of them even more.....: And we are a little nation, little country we aren't too big figure skating fans.
Those people who think he is ugly will be surprised. Many girls thought he is deadly sexy and fell in love with him


I know fan fictions about him existed in english language, too.

 

[NanaPat]

Alina Adams wrote a series of 5 figure-skating mysteries. She also wrote a biography of Sarah Hughes. I liked the figure skating mysteries, though I don't know if I've read them all.

 

[anyanka]

Only one line from The Cutting Edge nails it for me every time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCnMh0M5H9E

 

[anyanka]

Apparently Moskvina has been working on her autobiography. When is that being published and will it be in English???

 

[andromache]

Apparently Moskvina has been working on her autobiography. When is that being published and will it be in English???

I would pay a lot of money (that I do not have ) for a Moskvina autobiography in English. I doubt we'll be so lucky though...though perhaps she/her pairs are popular enough countries besides Russia to make an English translation the best way to reach a wider international audience? I can dream!

There are a lot of skater autobiographies but I'm hesitant about them. One of my favorite books as a kid was Tara Lipinski's autobiography, and looking back, it was just a piece of Tara propaganda. Not that it was inaccurate, but I didn't really learn much. Now I'm way more interested in the ins and outs of the skating world, politics, techniques, etc., than I am in a narrative that's invested in glorifying one skater. I think an autobiography of a coach (especially a genius like Moskvina) would be much more insightful. I'm also hoping for autobiographies from Carroll, Nicks, Mishin, and Yao Bin someday .

 

[silverfoxes]

There is an author I follow on Twitter, Jennifer Comeaux, who writes skating romance novels. I have never read one (totally not my cup of tea), so I can't speak for the quality. But out of curiosity, I looked her up on Amazon & it brings up a bunch of similar books by other authors - apparently there is an entire genre of the stuff. I wonder if any of them are thinly veiled fan-fiction like some other popular books (no shade...if I could figure out how to make $$$ doing that, I would).

Her blog has some excerpts:

http://jennifercomeaux.blogspot.com/

I'm a nonfiction person, and would definitely like more bios/memoirs in English. But if I'm not mistaken, you can't even get Brian Orser's recent book in English...only Japanese. Will it ever come out in North America?

 

[daphenaxa]

Plushenko also had reallity shows. Two series are on Youtube: Live с Плющенко 1_1 сезон 2007-2008 MTV Plushenko
Plushenko has biography and exist english version.

In my language there are many fan fictions about him. Those were written some years ago when he wasn't merried in his peak time. Most of them are romantic stories and some of them even more.....: And we are a little nation, little country we aren't too big figure skating fans.
Those people who think he is ugly will be surprised. Many girls thought he is deadly sexy and fell in love with him


I know fan fictions about him existed in english language, too.

Is the reality show the one where at one moment he is on a scooter with Edwin Marton and asks him to "take him to the moon"? Because that was a hilarious show.
For fanfics I am not sure I think I would be too uncomfortable reading about Plushy's romantic (or more) adventures lol

 

[karne]

Is the reality show the one where at one moment he is on a scooter with Edwin Marton and asks him to "take him to the moon"? Because that was a hilarious show.

Yes And Plushy the exhibitionist. He didn't seem to care if there was a camera around when it was time to get changed. There were actually lots of really hilarious moments.

The one book I would pay any money to get my hands on an official English translation of would be Mishin's books about jump technique.

 

[Buttercup]

My favorite non-fiction skating book is The Second Mark. It's not quite mistake-free, but it's clear that Joy Goodwin did a lot of research and there's plenty of interesting information about the 2002 Olympic pairs medalists.

Lucinda Ruh's autobiography borders on the unreadable.

Fiction - a friend of mine read Elizabeth Harmon's romance Pairing Off and liked it. Harmon has posted a bit on FSU and I know that she's a recreational skater and follows the sport, so I assume she gets most of the details right.

There is an author I follow on Twitter, Jennifer Comeaux, who writes skating romance novels. I have never read one (totally not my cup of tea), so I can't speak for the quality. But out of curiosity, I looked her up on Amazon & it brings up a bunch of similar books by other authors - apparently there is an entire genre of the stuff. I wonder if any of them are thinly veiled fan-fiction like some other popular books (no shade...if I could figure out how to make $$$ doing that, I would).

Sports romance is a successful sub-genre, but there aren't that many skating books, comparatively speaking. AFAIK Comeaux writes New Adult and contemporary romance without explicit love scenes, so people who are uncomfortable with that aspect of the romance genre might find her books more to their liking.

 

[Rinchan]

If you're a comic and manga fan give a try to kiss and never cry by Yayoi Ogawa. Its really well done and it's about ice dancing

 

[cruzceleste]

they have english version?, Mao has some books too, but all in japanese

Don't think so, I thought Mao gave up on her book, at least is what her wikipedia says.

Daisuke has 2 actually.