The Love Of A Good Hockey Book

Risto Pakarinen had just a wonderful post on his website about his first and still favorite hockey book in his collection - Valeri Kharlamov's 1979 autobiography, written in Finnish.

First, he made it clear how much he truly loved this book:

It’s dog-eared, it’s underlined, it’s been photocopied and plagiarized (in my school essays), it’s been with me from breakfast to bedtime and back in a day, it’s got food stains and other smudge, I’ve read it as a pre-teen, a teen, a young adult, and as a grown man – and I’ll be reading it again and again in the future. I’ve had it with me on the bus and to the gym, I’ve studied it, memorized it, and lived it.

Then, he answered his friend's question as to whether he would sell it to him, for any price.

"Not for 20, 30, or 100 euro. A hundred euro is not enough because 500 is not enough. Sure, 500 euro might get me a trip to New York City, or buy me that Lego Star Wars Death Star I’ve been saving for, but I can’t ask a guy to pay 500 euro for an old book. That would be just ridiculous. And if he wouldn’t pay 500 euro, then he wouldn’t pay 5000 which wouldn’t be enough, anyway.

"Some things just aren’t for sale" 

Give the whole post a read. Risto is one of the best writers out there. Also check out his own book he wrote - Off The Post -  a whimsical and fun read hockey fans on both sides of the Atlantic can surely enjoy.

Also, join me on Twitter @HockeyLegends and tell me your favorite hockey book you woul never part with.