The Bone Cage

This is the story of two olympic atheletes: distance swimmer Sadie Jorgenson and wrestler Tom "Digger" Stapleton. The story begins as they qualify for Canada's olympic team and follows their lives up to just before the Olympics begin.

Sadie and Digger are not "young" athletes, as both are nearing 30. The author does an excellent job of portraying their lives: the pain of training and overusing your "bone cage" (body); living at home with no job and no boyfriend at 26; living in a small apartment trying to make do on a government subsidy for elite athletes; how Sadie and Digger's very identities are wrapped up in what they do. As the Olympics approach, both realize this will be their last shot and then....what? Swimmer, wrestler: this show more isn't what they do, it's who they are. When they become friends, even the boundaries of that friendship are defined by preparing for the Olympics.

This book is very well written and I found myself completely absorbed in Sadie's and Digger's lives -- cheering them on most of the time, and some of the time marvelling at their drive and the all-consuming goals driving them. show less

I was blown away by this book, and am very glad that the Canada Reads competition brought it to my attention. We all watch in awe every four years as Olympic athletes compete to be the best in the world. But do we ever think of the years of self-sacrifice to get to that level - the pain, the injuries, the hours of daily practice for years on end, the lost childhoods and early adulthood? And do we give a thought to the majority of athletes who return home without a medal in spite of all that hard work and sacrifice of personal life? The Bone Cage takes you right inside the minds of two very interesting characters: Sadie, a long-distance swimmer, and Digger, a wrestler, after they qualify for Canada's Olympic team and continue to train in show more Calgary for the final push before heading off to the Sydney Olympics. The best books often let you experience things far removed from your own life, and Sadie and Digger will stay with you long after the book is finished. show less

I am in awe of athletes, particularly athletes who make it to the Olympics. This is a book about two Olympians from Calgary. It is a novel but I believe it accurately reflects the reality of the hard work and sacrifices such elite athletes must perform.

Sadie is a swimmer. She has a degree in English literature but she continues to live with her parents, work part-time at the university gym and train full time as a competitive swimmer. She has qualified in the 800 metre freestyle event to represent Canada at the Sydney Olympics. Now she has seven months to hone her style and reduce her time. Except life throws roadblocks in her way and she struggles to stay on course. The death of her beloved grandmother really throws her for a loop; she show more stops going to practices for a while but then gets back into the routine so she can keep her promise to her grandmother to win a medal at the Olympics.

Digger is a wrestler. He also has trained and sacrificed a lot and has missed qualifying for the Olympics twice. Now at 30 the Sydney Olympics is probably his last chance so he is delighted to qualify in his weight class. His teammates from Calgary did not make it and one has a hard time accepting that. Digger just keeps training and working out and he is sure that this is his chance.

Since both Sadie and Digger train at the University of Calgary it is inevitable that they will meet after they join the small group of Olympians from that facility. They recognize something in each other and soon are helping each other train. There could be a sexual attraction as well but that is just put on hold until after the Olympics. There is no time for anything but preparing for the Olympics. Until there is an accident and one of them has nothing but time.

This book really gave me insight into how hard these elite athletes work to climb to the top of the heap. I will never achieve anything close to this and I don't think I would be willing to make the sacrifices even if I had the natural ability. Society asks a lot of the people who represent us at the Olympics and I don't think they ever get repaid. show less

Sadie is a swimmer; Digger is a wrestler. They are both training in Calgary for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. They are both at the end of their careers, so this Olympics will be their last shot. In addition to the training, they have things going on in their personal lives and about half-way through the book, they do meet.

This was probably good timing to be reading this, just after the Rio Olympics. I'm not that much “into” sports, so I wasn't sure how much I'd like this one, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it so much. The author is a swimmer, so she could go into behind-the-scenes details most of us wouldn't know. The chapters are told from alternating viewpoints and I enjoyed the personal stories of Sadie and Digger, show more particularly Sadie. Since the book was mostly set in the city I live, it's always fun to read about places you know, as well. show less

An engaging novel about two athletes preparing for the Olympics. The chapters flip between the wrestler and swimmer, and of course their stories connect about half way. At that point the book was a bit nature YA romance-y for my taste, but the theme of dedicating one's life to a short-lived profession and what life will or won't be afterwards was poignant. It is also a good look at high-level amateur sports in Canada, so anyone thinking about that life might be interested in this novel.
Well written enough, too.

Even as a non-sport person (I only found out last year that hockey had three periods and no halftime like football), I thought that this book did an excellent job of detailing both the swimming and wrestling areas of the novel. Abdou definitely didn't talk down or over-explain about the sports, nor did she rely too heavily on cliches as is often the case when discussing sports (give 110%, no pain no gain, etc.).

But while the first two thirds flow quickly, the third act of the novel starts to drag, not enough to ruin the story, but enough that I wished that Abdou had used a different, less overused trope, for Sadie.

"I really liked how the characters were established independently in alternating chapters. At one point I found myself wondering if they ever meet, but I was glad that Angie Abdou waited so long to introduce them to each other.

Abdou�Äôs imagery and writing was perfect; succinct but illustrative with the right balance of narrative and description. It never felt over-written but never left me creating details myself.

I found the entire book very enlightening to the athletic mentality as well as the aftermath. The title is perfect too.

Read my full review: http://www.monniblog.com/2011/02/the-bone-cage-by-angie-abdou/"