Review about Once A Runner on Amazon

yeah that review is kind of annoying to read

I love OAR, but would like an abridged version. Same for ATC. The "story" chapters and sections need to GO!

Have always said the book sucked.

I never understood what all the hype was about.

But his heartbeat was shaking the bed!

(Yes, it is drivel)

I really enjoy oar and disagree with this review. I enjoy the parts about his life. Its about being a college athlete, not just an athlete. Sorry that it doesn't have cell phones, letsrun.com, pseudoscience, and facebook - those weren't around in the 70s, but the college experience is still applicable. Its also not a training manual and if you are looking for stride by stride descriptions of intervals you aren't going to enjoy it. Now I do think the first third or so of Again to Carthage was a bit slow.

Once a Runner is the most overrated book on this forum. Anyone with a reading comprehension level more advanced than a sixth grader would be extremely bored with the book.

I was just going to ask for this book. Is "The Purple Runner" a better read?

What's the consensus on Born to Run? I started it (chapter three) and it appears it's going to lecture me about running technique and how modern shoes are the problem. Not exactly an original premise.

If I'm wrong, I'll be surprised.

Reading that book as a 15 yr old XC runner would be great.

Reading that book as a 35 yr old runner was pathetic.

Boring, dated, and simple are the first few words that come to mind.

jenapharm wrote:

Have always said the book sucked.

I never understood what all the hype was about.

If you're the goofy looking kid who can't get a date, you are going to fall head over heels for the first girl who pays any attention to you. If you participate in the sport that no one cares about, you will fall in love with the first remotely acceptable piece of literature that is written about your hobby. When you don't get much attention, the attention you do get will be extra exciting. I think that this is the explanation for OAR's cult following. There just aren't many books about running, so the one semi-decent piece of fiction gets a lot of attention.

If legit fiction writers wrote about running, OAR would look terrible by comparison. If Jack Kerouac and Thomas Pynchon had been avid runners and had each written a book or two about the sport, OAR would never have been taken seriously by anyone. As it stands, the lack of running fiction makes OAR stand out.

I liked the book as well as the sequel.

This thread is just another example of the self-loathing you so often see on these boards.

aquafina wrote:

Reading that book as a 15 yr old XC runner would be great.

Reading that book as a 35 yr old runner was pathetic.

Boring, dated, and simple are the first few words that come to mind.

Then you obviously don't understand what it's like to be a slave to the mileage. You can get defensive and act like you really do, but you don't.

I'm not saying the book is perfect, or that it couldn't of been written better. But, for a collegiate athlete that puts in consistently 100+ mile weeks. It couldn't describe that scenario better

drugs work bro wrote:

I liked the book as well as the sequel.

This thread is just another example of the self-loathing you so often see on these boards.

+1. And LOL at the person who compared OAR unfavorably with Jack Kerouac; talk about overhyped!

Sartor Resartus wrote:

drugs work bro wrote:

I liked the book as well as the sequel.

This thread is just another example of the self-loathing you so often see on these boards.

+1. And LOL at the person who compared OAR unfavorably with Jack Kerouac; talk about overhyped!

Explain how any of the comments on this thread demonstrate self-loathing.

I agree with several others in saying that OAR is enormously overrated within the running community. Unlike some others, I actually enjoy the story and have no real complaints about the plot. I didn't think it was at all boring. The problem is just that it's so poorly written. I remember someone describing Parker's writing style as "an eighth grader going through his Beat phase," and I think it's a pretty accurate description. He seems to write with a thesaurus next to him at all times, looking up the longest and smartest-sounding synonym for every other word when it's completely unnecessary and just ends sounding awkward and forced.

I still enjoyed the book, and there are a lot of great descriptions and motivational sections about what it's like to compete at a high level. Still, I constantly cringe at the writing style. Overall, it's not a terrible novel and deserves some attention, but definitely gets treated like more of a masterpiece than it is.

It was never meant to be great literature. It was meant to get into our heads. It does that uncannily well.

ATC had too much fishing BS in there.

I dug it and I didn't read it until I was in my mid-40's. Not many fiction books about running and beggars can't be choosers and all that..

I thought the book was great and captured what it's like to be a runner better than any other book I've read (though I haven't read much running fiction). It was a story about a guy; it was never intended to be a story primarily about running specifically. The low amount of writing on the actual racing parts is absolutely perfect because that's how real running is: you train for months for a single race. The book was also intended for all runners, not just intellectual runners, which is another thing that makes it so great and appreciated. No need to compare it to famous writers heralded for their supreme literature. It's like saying "The Hangover" was a crappy movie because the story wasn't as captivating as "Gone with the Wind." Give me a break.

I'm as literary as the next overeducated upper west sider...I loved OAR.

the writing has a simple honesty that works. It isn't fancy literary writing - it is slightly elevated straight talk. Which fits the story.

Parker gets a little fancy with the girl-boy stuff and the metaphysical running scenes, but only a little.

The 60 x 400 scene is just right, the time he runs to the next town to see the girl is moving an perfect, when Denton touches his achilles and it dents is very well done.

it's not a joke book. I think it sits up with other respected sports fiction.

Not high art - but a simple story simply told with a little more grace than you'd expect.