I was looking for running inspiration for my two half marathons this year. I also needed to read this before the sequel on my shelves, Again to Carthage. After receiving it from interlibrary loan, I excitedly began reading. I was a little letdown. I believe the blurbs overhyped it a tad with the promises of "best novel ever written about running" and also that it could "inspire a couch potato to run". Both are lofty statements and didn't quite hit the mark for me.
I think this is relatable to a small group of super elite competitive runners who are all-consumed with achieving excellence in this field. The anecdotes of eccentric characters, the breaking down phenomenon, the runner's high, and self-care were interesting from an outsider perspective, but most was truly insider baseball (perfectly phrased by David's The Poptimist's review on Goodreads). I love the feeling and joy that comes after a long run, and I also love a challenge. I was looking forward to vicariously experiencing the power of feet pounding the pavement, and not as interested in the reading about seconds shaved off a mile. I understand this is just a reader preference, and not a fault of the book. This was more technical training, male group dynamics, and commentary on the good ol' boy network of a college campus in the 1970's.
Parker was discussing odd behaviors and personalities that can occasionally come with people who have a singular pursuit, but the style was slightly snarky and show off-y. I tried really hard to connect to the runners and their endeavors, but there seemed to be a wall I couldn't get past (like Andrea, Cassidy's girlfriend in the book!) I'm going to give this three stars because I do think it has value to a select few, but not for this amateur runner. I would definitely be curious to hear what regular marathoners and ultra-marathoners think of this work.
No comments:
Post a Comment