Again to Carthage

It's solid. Not quite as good, it has a slightly different tone. Guys who are out of college will identify with it more. Worth the read either way.

If you've read OAR, its worth reading. Its very slow though. The whole first almost half the book is just Cassidy fishing, working, going to a party with an occasional run for the hell of it. It brings closure to some of the unresolved issues in OAR and there are some spectacular training scenes.

The second half is definitely the better half. I like the first couple chapters. Whichever one has Quentin and Bruce running is good then I skip to whatever chapter begins with "Roland, you drove the Martin!" and go to the chapter after that one.

Good read? wrote:

I know I'm kind of late to the party but is John L Parker's sequel an interesting read? My friend has a copy and I was thinking of reading it over the holidays.

it's a different book - it's more about getting old and dealing with lost youth and lost dreams than about running - there's no running for a long time - you keep waiting, but instead you learn about mountain culture and fishing.

that said, I thought it was profoundly moving in the end- I think of it all the time.

I think Parker wrote the second one as a way to get out all the things he has thought about his life...he probably wasn't sure he'd get to write another novel with a wide readership, so the threw everything he knew into this one.

I think it works really well - but don't expect the same kind of kinetic movement as OAR.

This book has received some hate on here in the past, but I think it is unwarranted. I enjoyed it as much as OAR. I like his writing style. Granted it was a little slow in the beginning but definitely worth reading.

as a book is fine, better than fine in some cases. Takes a loooooong time to get to the real running/training though.

Anyone remember the hysteria when the book was finally released?

Most people here probably read it in a couple days even though the first half hardly has any running. I'm pretty sure it topped the NYT bestseller list for a few weeks.

Again to Carthage used to be a joke for something that was never going to happen, sort of like the Winds of Winter today.

At one point, once a runner wasn't even in print and copies were going for over $100 on ebay. I had a teammate who sold a copy and turned it into a pair of spikes. Before ATC, OAR was considered a runner's bible. Maybe not here, because letsrunners like to bash everything, but I digress.

I'm amazed that not one person on this thread has bashed it yet. I'm not going to be the first. I enjoyed the book. Worth reading if you've read OAR.