Again to Carthage vs Once a Runner

I personally enjoyed them both even though they are not all that similar in the least. I realize too that it did seem a little bit long to get into the training but I think that was exactly his point. That sometimes our lives can go in different directions but if you truly love running you will always be drawn back in. However, I can agree that this is not the follow-up book most Once a Runner fans were expecting.

There's more to life than running, much more. Why would anyone want to read a book about just Cassidy's training runs? If you take the books as a look into Cassidy as a character and not a "how to" of training and inspiration, their value is evident. What did you expect the sequel to OAR to be about besides his life?

Now if only Parker had hired an adequate editor to fix his typos...

Dizzle wrote:

Did anyone else think it took forever to get to the training and running and then just ending in an anticlimax, unlike Once a runner?

Do you think that ONCE A RUNNER is about running?

The ending of AGAIN TO CARTHAGE is preposterous. The entire trial scene and description of the race, ugh.

The first half of this book I enjoyed a bit. I re-read OAR and that does have some fantastic bits in it.

I felt the same way. Although, when they got to the running part I realized that all the other parts were necessary. It could have been longer- all of a sudden he was a runner again.

The training parts made we want to run, I loved it.

I loved the race but could have done without the attack.

He never told us why or what it was about.

He could have had the drama and pain of a marathon without that.

It does end abruptly.

Is there a third? A pro career? Marraige?

I think if I find fault it is that he leaves things- he never dealt with the aftermath of the race in the first book nad never talked about the goons attacking him in the marathon.

I just felt that the running part was not in balance with the rest of the book, I would not omit any of it I just thought the running part could have been elaborated on a bit more. And no I don't think that OAR and ATC is just about running but that is definetly why I keep reading OAR time and time again.

The editing of ATC was horrendous. If Breakaway Books reissues OAR, as has been reported, expect them to ADD typos and dropped words. You can expect that when you self publish, but not if a publishing house assigns an editor to your work. So amateurish.

ATC has continuity problems too, like Parker just threw in most of his own life experiences whether it advanced the plot or not. I don't mid the obsessive description – of fishing or lawyering, whatever – but it seemed to relegate the marathoning to an afterthought.

I just started ATC and have only read to where Miz gets it but have already caught a sentence that missed the word "to" in it. And I'm not a very good reader.

Look more closely, there are a number of spelling mistakes and dropped words in this book, but I found just as many in OAR and I have about 5 copies from different publishing years. I didn't find it that much of a problem, but I did think it made the overall experience of the book seem a bit amateurish.

The ATC book was not as inspiring as OAR in terms of training and running in general. Also, if one had never read OAR, they would find ATC rather boring and uninteresting. I struggled to get through the mid section of the book. While reading ATC, I picked up a copy of "Duel in the Sun" which I thought was a great read and much better written. In summary, ATC did not come close to meeting my expectations - a 6 out of 10.

I have read "Duel in the Sun" and Staying the Course, I enjoyed Dick Beardsley's staying the course more entertaining than Duel in the sun and a decent retelling of the Boston Race. I just found in Duel in the Sun Alberto's section too boring. Beardsley's story was far more entertaining.

I have not read ATC. Does he shed any light on whether Mizner was gay?