Clifford Narinesingh's Lara: the Untamed Spirit comes vigorously alive in its analysis of Lara's place in the batsmanship stakes of international cricket, Lara's leadership of the WI, his human frailties, how the society both condemned and at the same time contributed to his missteps by blind hero-worship, and an epilogue in which the future of West Indian cricket is explored with quality insights from Webster and Beckles.
The book is rich with Narine-singh's literary flourishes, his frequent use of the insights of cricket writers, past and contemporary cricketers, academics such as historian Hilary Beckles, and politician Michael Manly and others who give cameo observations on Lara's skill and craftsmanship and his mental capacity to conquer bowlers and situations.
As the basis for his assessment, Narinesingh uses the strategy of revisiting the matches and series in which Lara featured.
The recounting of the matches and series is done in the fashion of reportage with quotes on the significant elements of the games and occurrences. However, the recency of the events of the last couple decades does not provide the mystique and discovery of history to the reader familiar with the happenings of the last couple decades in WI cricket.
Indeed, the decline, disgrace and constant humiliation are painful realities for the West Indian cricket fan to confront in reading the recounting.
That Lara's genius, personal achievements and occasions of inspired leadership were not able to contribute to the emergence of another great era in West Indian cricket make the recounting even more painful to digest.
In this regard, the book strikes the similarities between Lara and the first of the truly great WI batsmen, George Headley, both having to play in teams without support in bowling or batting (the occasional flurry by Constantine the exception) and this in contrast to the "three Ws," Sobers, Kanhai, Richards, Greenidge and Lloyd who all had great bowlers and batsmen in support.
Nevertheless, as depicted in the book, Lara, by sheer force of his overpowering will and the brilliance of his strokeplay, overcame the odds and demonstrated how great a player he has been (it is painful to talk about him in the distant past tense) as in the instance of the 153 no against Australia in Barbados; well captured by the book.
It is perhaps an unintended consequence of the recounting that makes the reader feel oh so pained that this brilliant and imaginative strokeplayer who dared and defied convention and at times technique simply to demonstrate that mankind does not have to give in to stereotypical logic and the stultifying strictures is no longer on the field.
No longer will we see his adept footwork, his pure savagery, the incandescence of his strokeplay and, most of all, his daring, his refused to be tied to conventional wisdom on batting, his "untamed spirit."
One really important observation of the book, though not explored in detail, is its recognition that Lara was not merely a gifted strokeplayer endowed with good hand-eye coordination and blessed by sun-kissed limbs, the traditional tra la la of writers from Britain, but that he was a thinker and it was because of this capacity that he was able to dissect and savage the two great spinners of the age, Muralitharan and Warne.
So while the recounting of the first two-thirds of the book does not have historical depth on its side, it reminds of the brilliance and mental capacity of Lara.
The most historically significant chapter of the book is Narine-singh's grounding of Lara in the history of WI cricket: its rise to Test status and Lara's ancestral umbilical links to Constantine, Martindale, Headley, the "three Ws," Sobers, Kanhai and Richards. This brief interlude has especial significance for those who do not fully appreciate historical development and its contribution to the contemporary.
One deficiency of the book is that it does not delve into the personal circumstances and forces which created Lara; the kind of analysis which is needed to fully appreciate and understand Lara, why he emerged and those factors which created his brilliance as well as his shortcomings.
Conversely, one of the strongest elements of the book is Narine-singh's comparison and contrast of Lara with Tendulkar and how the two relate to Bradman. The assessment of Lara and Tendulkar is done in reference to bowling attacks faced by both, the conditions of batting and the game, courage and spirit of play, flamboyance and dominance of strokeplay.
Alas, however, Narinesingh is perhaps too sensible, too diplomatic and conservative and a little bit timid, not willing to separate one from the other and settling for the notion that comparisons are odious.
But if cricket, the appreciation of batsmanship and bowling, is not passionate and given to opinionating and national spirit then it is nothing, more like the Twenty20, bloodless commercial thing now passing for cricket.
Old timers of a different era went to their graves refusing to countenance the thought that the young Bradman even approached Trumper in skill and daring.
In our midst today, there are those who will swear that not one of the moderns measures up to the incomparable Headley; and so too are there those who are sure that the brutal Weekes or the silky Worrell, the dominant Sobers, and or the ruthless Richards is without peer. But that's the nature of the game and definitive positions only contribute to the appeal of cricket lore.
Narinesingh though too easily concludes, without sufficient vigorous analysis, that Lara's "prodigious harvest and stylistic flourishes of execution make it difficult to relegate him behind other West Indian batsmen, knowing the pace and spin encountered." Those who live by Headley, Sobers and Richards will disagree vehemently.
The book is not the definitive word on Lara, as in addition is the absence of a deep personality sketch which would give a wholesome picture of the Untamed Spirit.
Also, the author stays away from a technical analysis of Lara's batting, but Narinesingh does engage in a deep analysis of Lara's leadership skill and style and assembles a few views outside of his own on the subject.
Overall, the book is one other necessary step towards a full appreciation of Lara and is well worth reading.