Itemize Books Toward The Memory of Running
| Original Title: | The Memory of Running |
| ISBN: | 0143036688 (ISBN13: 9780143036685) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Smithy Ide, Norma, Bethany, Mom & Pop |
Ron McLarty
Paperback | Pages: 384 pages Rating: 3.76 | 11069 Users | 1524 Reviews
List Of Books The Memory of Running
| Title | : | The Memory of Running |
| Author | : | Ron McLarty |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 384 pages |
| Published | : | December 27th 2005 by Penguin Books (first published 2004) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Contemporary. Novels. Audiobook. Adult Fiction. Book Club. Mental Health. Mental Illness |
Narrative Conducive To Books The Memory of Running
Every decade seems to produce a novel that captures the public's imagination with a story that sweeps readers up and takes them on a thrilling, unforgettable ride.Ron McLarty's The Memory of Running is this decade's novel. By all accounts, especially his own, Smithson "Smithy" Ide is a loser. An overweight, friendless, chain-smoking, forty-three-year-old drunk, Smithy's life becomes completely unhinged when he loses his parents and long-lost sister within the span of one week.
Rolling down the driveway of his parents' house in Rhode Island on his old Raleigh bicycle to escape his grief, the emotionally bereft Smithy embarks on an epic, hilarious, luminous, and extraordinary journey of discovery and redemption. (From the publisher.)
Rating Of Books The Memory of Running
Ratings: 3.76 From 11069 Users | 1524 ReviewsColumn Of Books The Memory of Running
The Memory of RunningThere's a point in this book where the principal character describes the hot dogs he has eaten. He has spent all his money on hot dogs and eaten them and while he reflects that hot dogs are not good food, they feel like they should be good food. Hot dogs are food made by someone who cooks a lot but has no real concept of nutrition. This book is a novel written by someone who knows how to write a novel but doesn't seem to have a very good concept of how people work.But maybeA sympathetic tale about a lonely, passive blob of a man who sits around, drinks, has a dead-end job and answers most questions with "I don't know." Smithy is haunted by memories of his schizophrenic sister who disappeared long ago and for a long-time he has just been biding time. With the death of both parents in a single car crash, Smithy is jolted into action. He takes off on his childhood Raleigh with just the clothes on his back on what turns out to be a cross-country journey. He encounters
In "Flowers for Algernon" Charley goes from handicapped, low IQ guy to super genius guy and then back again. There are similar emotions created in "The Memory of Running." A 43 year old Viet Nam veteran has had a series of difficult things hit him hard including 20 bullets and a tragically flawed and beautiful, but mentally ill sister's disappearance. And so, he is has become overweight, a heavy smoker and drinker with a minimal job, kind of a slob with no real friends, no real life.I won't take
Yes.
This book surprised me. I bought it for .50 cents at a thrift store and took it on a trip to Mexico. I was touched by the simplicity of the main character and the overall discussion of mental illness--how horribly tragic and devastating it can be and how those with depression or other disorders suffer and how their loved ones suffer (and ache to heal them).
This was a great read, which is a surprise because I don't typically like such a passive main character. Yes, Smithy is a loser (as the cover copy so cheerfully trumpets), but that's mostly an aspect of his passivity. He lets life pass him by. Or has done. The novel really picks up once Smithy's life falls apart, jolting Smithy out of his rut(s). But even before then, McLarty does a fantastic job keeping the reader engaged by giving us flashbacks to the boy that Smithy was and the disaster that
I almost never randomly read books I don't know anything about due to the fact I have such a long list of books I already know I want to read. This book was an exception to that rule. It was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the idea of the story and some of the scenes were poignant but there was also a lot that could have been cut out and some of the dialogue felt extremely tedious. In the end, I appreciate the story McLarty told and it was a quick and easy read.
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