The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

[shirley hewitt]

I just love this book and the hero..Smithson Ide. I have listened to my friends views on this book and no one agrees with the other. Some thought it was too repetitive ,some thought it was boring while some loved it as I do. By the way one would not read it as he "Didn't like the cover"!!!!I would like to know what members think.

[Seiichi]

Smithson Ide's life so far has led him nowhere. He's forty-three years old, weighs too much, and keeps himself numb with food and alcohol. His only emotioinal ties are to his parents and to the memory of his older sister, Bethany, who has been missing for twenty years. Then his parents die in a car crash and he learns of Bethany's death in LA County. Suddenly there isn't enough beer in the world to keep Smithy from his feelings.

 

Drunk and bereft, he takes his old Raleigh bicycle and starts cycling. Once he starts, he finds he can't stop and then he's riding acros America to revover his sister. Along the way he meets all sorts of people who help or hinder him. He hears the confession of a priest; he rescues a boy from a snow storm; he has a gun pointed in his face; he's hit by a truck and helps a man dying of AIDS.

 

Smithy's ride is an extraordinary quest, to rediscover the past and memories of Bethany, but it's also his journey back to life and love.

It's amazing what they will write in a blurb to dress up a novel. Take that last paragraph. It couldn't be more deceptive. Smithy doesn't actually set out to rediscover his past and memories, and neither does he know he's actually embarked on a quest---it's his childhood friend and neighbour who theorises that he's on a quest. In fact, he doesn't even know what he's looking for when he embarks on his journey, or even what he's doing.

 

There are two threads in the story: the primary one dealing with current events, the secondary with the past. One hundred and fifty pages into the book and I had had enough of the writing. The narrative structure was choppy, not helped by the fact that the writer adhered to the rigid structure of presenting past and present in alternating chapters. There's nothing wrong with this, as long as the writer can maintain a natural flow in both narratives. Unfortunately, the focus on the past was unclear and I sometimes wondered where the narrative was going. It wasn't until later that I realised that Smithson was trying to tell Bethany's story albeit in his clumsy voice. The book did become easier to read, but by that time I had lost interest and decided to speed read the last two hundred and fifty pages. I honestly don't think I missed much by doing so.

 

On the dust jacket fo my copy, the Philadelphia Inquirer states: "Smithson Ide is one of the sweetest, most endearing losers in literature." If Smithson Ide is endearing then I must be doing something wrong in my life. Maybe I should take a leaf out of his book and begin viewing woman solely terms of their bust size and shape. Why even bother about personality? And that question can be asked about the majority of the characters that Smithson meets on his magical quest---a quest where he encounters the spectre of his deceased sister at various stages of her life. This isn't a question of whether the characters are simple and non-complex. The way the characters are written make them less engaging than they could be, nevermind the fact that some of them are walking clich

[Ruth]

I was disappointed in this novel. Here is a short review I wrote after reading it some time ago:

 

"I was a little underwhelmed by this book. Not that I didn't enjoy it on some level, but it was far less enjoyable than I was expecting.

 

Smithson Ide is a vastly overweight, middle aged loner, who numbs his pain with alcohol and food. As the beginning of the book, his parents get killed in a road accident, and shortly afterwards, he finds that his sister, who disappeared years previously, has also died. Smithson takes his old Raleigh bicycle, and just starts pedalling. And then he just carries on.

 

I have a feeling that this is supposed to be one of those 'life affirming books' that makes you feel good. It isn't, and it doesn't. I actually found it quite depressing, and the main character is really not all that likeable.

 

Not awful, but I won't be reading anything else by this author."

[corina]

I actually loved this book. It just reminded me of another similar book "Everything must Go" by Elizabeth Flock.

 

It is a bit depressing Ruth, and I wouldn't call it life changing. Real though.