Book Review: A Life Too Short
The Tragedy of Robert Enke
by Ronald Reng


On 10 November 2009 Robert Enke ended his life. It was a tragic end to a harrowing battle with depression that had consumed from the inside out and transformed him both as a footballer and as a person. Enke and the author of the book, Ronald Reng, had intended on penning his life story together. Instead Reng was forced to do so alone.

The marks of Reng's close friendship with Enke are all over this biography. It is written very much from a friend's perspective; careful, sensitive and above all incredibly detailed. As such Reng's story flows effortlessly from the pages with a feel of authenticity. The detail in which the story is told is remarkable. From Enke's childhood in former East Germany to the highs of being Germany's national goalkeeper and every aspect of his personal life in between Reng   regales tales of his gentle, assured, simple demeanor. We get a picture of a man unimpressed by the trappings of wealth and flashiness that accompanies his chosen profession, happier instead with his wife Theresa, their countless dogs and later their children. Professionally Enke's career took him from Bundesliga protégé, to Benfica starlet, Barcelona reject and eventually, via loan spells at Fenerbache and Tenerife in the Spanish Segunda División, full circle with redemption in his home country at Hannover 96. He was courted too by the likes of Manchester United,  Manchester City and Schalke. Rumours late in his career even abounded that Bayern Munich were interested. It was a career that promised to reach the very heights of the professional game yet somehow seemed to be dragged back at every turn. Just as his stellar performances with Hannover had earned him a place in the national squad, and subsequently as first choice keeper- the pinnacle of his career- the scourge of depression that had first afflicted him in Barcelona returned. This time it would prove too much to overcome.


Perhaps most remarkable about 'A Life Too Short' is its ability to transcend the ever lurking finale of Enke's death for much of the book, making it read and feel like any other sport's biography. Until the culminating chapters the book retains its balance between the two main narratives of football and depression, it is the Enke the Goalkeeper and Enke the Husband we are most familiar with throughout. Enke the Depressive only appears intermittently. 


Early in his career Enke found himself uncomfortably in the middle ground of the goalkeeping fraternity; not so cautious and spectacular of those who remained rooted to the goal line like German hero Oliver Kahn, yet no so advanced as the '11th Outfielder' in the ilk of Edwin Van der Sar and the 'radicals'. Eventually though he carved his own niche; assured, decisive, unspectacular but ultimately comfortable in his own skin. The same too may be said of 'A Life Too Short'. There is nothing of the 'typical footballer' in the story, but more of the 'professional' seen in the likes of Eamon Dunphy's 'It's Only A Game'. In his epilogue Reng writes "his style of play went unacknowledged because he wasn't a fierce goalkeeper who trod a solitary and reckless path. Robert was something better...a goalkeeper...who didn't make a spectacle of his virtues and who firmly believed that ambition could be realised politely and respectfully." If Enke didn't enjoy the acknowledgment he felt he deserved at least the same will not be said of his story. The book will remain a fitting testament to a fine goalkeeper and a beloved friend. It's finest achievement may be in further eroding the stigma of mental illness that is attached to professional athletes, and pave the way for greater understanding and acceptance. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay Reng's work is my unusual dependency on the Backspace key in writing this review; 'Enke' not 'Robert' I had to remind myself. Somehow I too felt as if I'd known the man. 


Buy, Borrow or Burn?


Beautifully simplistic in its delivery, devastatingly sad in its message, 'A Life Too Short' has wrestled itself into the top drawer....


Buy!