Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner by F.X. Toole – Knuckles and Tales

F.X. Toole (the nom de plume of boxing trainer Jerry Boyd) writes compassionate tales about boxing, of all things. Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner (2000) is collection of short stories republished as Million Dollar Baby after the movie version directed by Clint Eastwood. I’m sure those of you who saw the movie Million Dollar Baby will have the image of Hillary Swank imprinted on your retinas. She certainly manages to get across the same mule-headed stubbornness that is portrayed in the story with the same title. But there is more to this collection than Hillary Swank sweating with just a bra on.

Ok. Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Boxing. The cruel and archaic practice in which two grown men pummel each other to a pulp for no obvious reason that we can grasp (except of course money) and that we as spectators should be appalled by. There. It is a crude form of entertainment not unlike the gladiatorial games, so of course we watch and remain fascinated by the general violence and raw physicality of it all.

Toole’s stories has some of that guts and gore aspect, but more than that I think these are stories that try to convey what boxing means to the fighters. Toole talks about the magic of fighting, the camaraderie between the boxers, the way nobody really makes any money and all the other nasty aspects of rigged fights and broken bodies with compassion and a deep understanding. The narrating voice is that of a “cut man”, i.e. the person who’s job it is to in his own words “stop the blood so the fighter can see enough to keep on fighting”. The point of view presented is a ringside one, sure, but very compassionate. It is the perspective of someone who has lived close to the world of boxing, but who has not allowed himself to be hit on the head so many times he has lost the ability to speak about it.

I like the general grittiness and black-and-white feel of it. The stories have the flavour of a film noir from the forties. I like the fact that some of the characters are drawn well enough that you want them to do well and when they don’t you feel sorry for them. Even if you don’t like boxing these short stories are worth a read. One of the stories, Frozen Water, is written largely in dialect for instance and it’s executed with style and precision.

Mule