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rumpfie's review against another edition
2.0
Could not get into at all. Last chapter was the best (as in most interesting-- not as in thank god it was over...although maybe that a little).
tiegongji's review against another edition
5.0
Great read! Makes me want to get out there and give her my all.
farahsarish's review against another edition
4.0
I struggled with the first half of this book, and almost didn’t finish it. Some of the language and references were dated, and the one-dimensional portrayal of women as people with sex appeal was frustrating and discouraging. But the second half was excellent, and made plowing through the first half worth it. The description of racing and training is so accurate and well-done, it’s hard not to feel like you’re in a track race while reading. I totally get why it’s considered canonical in the running community.
joshmgoetz's review against another edition
3.0
This book is as comprehensive of a look into the mind of a competitive distance runner as you will ever find. For those who were at one point in their lives part of a track team, this book will take you right back to your training days and likely stir up memories you’d forgotten you’d had. It really is a perfect representation of team racing and the mental and physical tolls of training (the trials of miles).
That said, for as much as I love the running portions of this book, I can’t overlook its obvious flaws. You’d be hard-pressed to find a female character in this novel whose purpose is anything other than fawning over one of the male characters. Andrea shows some depth and her inclusion furthers the reader’s understanding of Cassidy’s dedication, but outside of her minor character development the rest of the female cast spends most of their screen-time as one dimensional eye candy for their boyfriends and husbands.
This book also features (and I still have a hard time believing this) a homophobic rant that comes out of nowhere and doesn’t influence nor progress the story in any way. I have no idea why Parker felt the need to include this in the book and its only impact is to play into harmful stereotypes and invalidate the experiences of queer runners.
All in all, 271 of the 272 pages in this book are a fun read that’ll get your long dormant pre-race adrenaline flowing. I’d recommend it to any runner, but not without mentioning the two flaws above.
That said, for as much as I love the running portions of this book, I can’t overlook its obvious flaws. You’d be hard-pressed to find a female character in this novel whose purpose is anything other than fawning over one of the male characters. Andrea shows some depth and her inclusion furthers the reader’s understanding of Cassidy’s dedication, but outside of her minor character development the rest of the female cast spends most of their screen-time as one dimensional eye candy for their boyfriends and husbands.
This book also features (and I still have a hard time believing this) a homophobic rant that comes out of nowhere and doesn’t influence nor progress the story in any way. I have no idea why Parker felt the need to include this in the book and its only impact is to play into harmful stereotypes and invalidate the experiences of queer runners.
All in all, 271 of the 272 pages in this book are a fun read that’ll get your long dormant pre-race adrenaline flowing. I’d recommend it to any runner, but not without mentioning the two flaws above.
jolyon_l's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
As a runner myself I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Unpolished, rough around the edges, obviously not produced through traditional publishing, and yet Once a Runner possesses an inherent charm that showcases the author's passion for the sport. If you're a runner and want a good fun read, this is it, but don't expect a perfect package.
geert_leest's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Starts slow, but had me racing through the last half and crying at the end.
A gripping plot (at least the second half) about the monomaniacal life of a college mid-distance runner. It's easy to understand why this is a cult classic among competitive runners, because it beautifully describes the elite athlete's mindset of trying to be the best version of yourself, the pain of a gruelling workout, the nervousness before a race, the comraderie in the locker room, etc.
However, the prose is kind of childish and the characters are not well developed. Crucial moments like a break-up or a one-night stand are entirely skipped over, making the book feel like paging through a photo album. "Hey look, in this picture we were together! And in the next picture we had broken up and I was musing that we're better off this way!"
We never find out why the main character is so mono-maniacal and competitive (except we get a flash-back chapter about when the protagonist almost drowned when he was a kid that explains... what exactly?). Why didn't his relationship last? Why, for God's fucking sake, didn't he follow his then ex-girlfriend into her house (after he ran 17 miles through the rain in the middle of the night to see her? Really??).
The secondary characters are like NPCs in a video game, advancing the plot but not adding any emotional depth. There are some pretty sexist passages in there (this was published in the 1970s after all), that reveal the author's lack of talent more than anything. Here is the crucial passage when the protagonist decides to not enter his ex-girlfriend's house:
A gripping plot (at least the second half) about the monomaniacal life of a college mid-distance runner. It's easy to understand why this is a cult classic among competitive runners, because it beautifully describes the elite athlete's mindset of trying to be the best version of yourself, the pain of a gruelling workout, the nervousness before a race, the comraderie in the locker room, etc.
However, the prose is kind of childish and the characters are not well developed. Crucial moments like a break-up or a one-night stand are entirely skipped over, making the book feel like paging through a photo album. "Hey look, in this picture we were together! And in the next picture we had broken up and I was musing that we're better off this way!"
We never find out why the main character is so mono-maniacal and competitive (except we get a flash-back chapter about when the protagonist almost drowned when he was a kid that explains... what exactly?). Why didn't his relationship last? Why, for God's fucking sake, didn't he follow his then ex-girlfriend into her house (after he ran 17 miles through the rain in the middle of the night to see her? Really??).
The secondary characters are like NPCs in a video game, advancing the plot but not adding any emotional depth. There are some pretty sexist passages in there (this was published in the 1970s after all), that reveal the author's lack of talent more than anything. Here is the crucial passage when the protagonist decides to not enter his ex-girlfriend's house:
Then she did something that was not quite her and that did not work very well. It was a mistake and she knew it right away but it was such a precisely feminine gesture that it was perhaps dictated by some ancient genetic pattern she was helpless to control. With a pained little toss of the head she wrenched free and ran toward the porch; it was one of those shabby you’d-better-come-after-me-now gestures and she knew by the time she got to the porch that it was a bad show all the way around.
She turned to call, to try to take it back, perhaps.
But the runner had disappeared in the darkening rain.
Ah, if the NPC-girlfriend hadn't made such a clumsy gesture, so unlike her yet so precisely feminine and uncontrollable, they would have been back together! On the most basic level, the scene doesn't even work logistically either. In the time it takes her to unstrangle herself from their embrace and run to the nearby porch, he already vanished in the rain? The real world just doesn't happen like that, sorry.
The writer sums his own work up perfectly, halfway through the book. After the protagonist reads many novels about running while holed up in a cabin in the woods, the omiscient narrator remarks:
Soon Cassidy felt he had read everything ever written about running. [...] The novels, while generally flawed technically in one way or another (sometimes tragically so), occasionally clumsily captured certain elements of his own striving; he found them comforting.
searser's review against another edition
4.0
Having been once a runner myself, I enjoyed this book and Parker's narrative of the competition, training, and heartache of the sport with a life of its own. Quite inspiring, the book has tempted me to run again. Some aspects were lost on me, perhaps because I was not ever a particularly good runner. But this book arguably has something for everyone who has ever been influenced by running - the cross country runner, the track star, the jogger, the runner's girlfriend... Overall, an entertaining story with likable, motivating characters.
mikethereader's review against another edition
3.0
As a disclaimer, I listened to the audio book version of this one. It was a good read, the poetic language compensating a bit for the slow story. I would say it's like "The River Why" for running.
mrscaew's review against another edition
4.0
As a runner by association, running books form a substantial corner of my (theoretical) library. But maybe reading so many running books is simply procrastination of being a runner myself…