Details Books As Once a Runner
| Original Title: | Once a Runner |
| ISBN: | 0915297019 (ISBN13: 9780915297016) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | United States of America Florida(United States) |
Present Of Books Once a Runner
| Title | : | Once a Runner |
| Author | : | John L. Parker Jr. |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 226 pages |
| Published | : | May 1st 1999 by Cedarwinds (first published 1978) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Sports. Fitness |
Interpretation To Books Once a Runner
Once a Runner captures the essence of what it means to be a competitive runner; to devote your entire existence to a single-minded pursuit of excellence. It has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever written. Originally self-published in 1978 and sold at road races out of the trunk of the author’s car, reading the book became a rite of passage for many runners, and tattered copies were handed down like sacred texts from generation to generation.
Once a Runner is the story of Quenton Cassidy, a collegiate runner at fictional Southeastern University whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the political and cultural turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his school’s athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletes’ protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team. Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life: a head-to-head match with the greatest miler in history. This audiobook is a rare insider’s account of the incredibly intense lives of elite distance runners; an inspiring, funny, and spot-on tale of one man’s quest to become a champion.
Rating Of Books Once a Runner
Ratings: 4.07 From 12141 Users | 1084 ReviewsAssess Of Books Once a Runner
This was actually a really awful book. I was quite excited to dig into it after reading all the accolades: "The best piece of running fiction around"... "There are parts of "Once A Runner" that are pure poetry"... "So inspiring it could be banned as a performance-enhancing drug"...Bullhonkey. This book read like a high school writing assignment. Belabored dialogue, cardboard characters, clunky prose. The two chapters on racing at the end were exciting and contained the true heart of the book,Wow! A great book about running, written by a runner who can write. I've known (heard) about this book for years, and finally got around to reading it. I wish I had read this when I was younger and was running strong. It inspires me to go out and hit the roads again today; I can only imagine how much it would have inspired me then. This is a fictional account of a runner (loosely based upon the author's college experience), and his quest to break the magical 4-minute mile. Its full of wisdom,
I am not totally sure how I feel about this book as a whole - but I loved the last quarter of it. The beginning nearly killed me with the authors seemingly needful sense to try to impress us with his constant use of obscure words. It nearly handicapped the book as each sentence read as though he used a book of synonyms to replace simpler everyday language to build up his writing? I very nearly gave up and just walked away.However, if you can plow through his obscure writing structure (and
I'd heard of this book but never really had the urge to pick it up until I got a copy for free & figured "Eh, what the heck." 12 chapters in I was convinced it was about the stupidest book I'd ever read. The writing was cliche & forced, & the dialogue was unbelievable and frankly hard to follow (though I'm sure that's at least partly to do with the time period). I couldn't relate to the characters, and the jumpy, meandering style of storytelling made the main story line difficult to
I put off reading this book for the longest time because frankly, I thought that a book about running would be quite boring--this despite the fact that I'm currently pursuing my own collegiate running career. That being said, this book lived up to the hype, although if you aren't a runner it might be hard to fully appreciate. The book describes the emotional, mental, and physical experience of a competitive runner with astonishing accuracy and it is those details that set Once a Runner apart
I was looking for running inspiration for my two half marathons this year. I also needed to read this before the sequel on my shelves, Again to Carthage. After receiving it from interlibrary loan, I excitedly began reading. I was a little letdown. I believe the blurbs overhyped it a tad with the promises of "best novel ever written about running" and also that it could "inspire a couch potato to run". Both are lofty statements and didn't quite hit the mark for me. I think this is relatable to
The history of this book is more interesting than its contents.The former Dallas Baptist University cross country runner who loaned it to me said it was a "cult running book". I was eager to see what type of book runners would form a hidden fan base around.Unfortunately, and quite predictably, the running enthusiast's choice of fiction is a book that enthuses about running. A book that describes running accurately and compares most everything in life to running, and features characters who run
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