Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.
SUMMARY: Book is a classic in running fiction. But…I just didn’t get into it.
I had read raving reviews of this book. Many people listed it on the their top 5 or 10 running books. So I had to read it. The book is out of print, and kind of expensive, but if you are patient, a reasonably priced copy will show up on Amazon, or eBay. I had to wait a little bit, but I found a copy for under $20 which is a good price for this book.
When it came, I was in the middle of a few other books, but I finished them, I started Once A Runner.
I really expected to like it, but it was kind of slow. The book just didn’t grab me. I really didn’t care much about the characters. The writing style was ho hum. I am sure Mr Parker did the best he was capable of. It seems like he was trying to write a novel about running, like what Pat Conroy did with basketball in his novel The Lords Of Discipline. But unfortunately Parker just doesn’t have that level of writing skills of Pat Conroy. But just because I didn’t enjoy the book doesn’t mean you wont. As I said, many other people rated it highly. To each their own.
Read more…
John L. Parker is not a terribly gifted writer, however, that being said, he is probably the perfect writer for this story. There are many places in this novel that a hard-core runner will say, “he must be reading my mind!” One will not feel sympathy for most of the characters, but one will definitely come to understand the mind-set of the miniacly single minded elite runner.
Comment by Corey — November 30, 2006 @ 7:50 pm
Although at different schools and 5-10 years apart this story could have been written at running at Va Tech in mid to late 70’s. I knew many of the sayings before I ever picked up the book and the characters are somewhat universal.
Comment by JB Brown — December 23, 2006 @ 1:25 am
hi
i dont really know much about him but i have to do a author study on him so i need more information because it is really hard
kind regards
kelsey
Comment by kelsey — August 15, 2007 @ 2:56 am
do you still have the copy of the book? And since you didn’t like it would you be willing to part with it at a reasonable price?
Comment by Paul — January 20, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
Thanks, but I’ll keep it. Maybe I will re-read it and actually like it next time. But it is part of my book collection. I wouldn’t be surprised if they re-publish the book. I am actually surprised they haven’t considering they just published the sequel “Again To Carthage”. Personally, I thought The Long Road To Boston by Bruce Tuckman was a much more interesting read. But it is also hard to find.
Comment by Rob — January 20, 2008 @ 9:00 pm