Reviews

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

elysahenegar's review against another edition

4.0

My favorite thing about The Memory of Running is that reading it made me feel free.:) I road through the countryside with Smithy on his bike, meeting new and interesting people, feeling less and less encumbered by my own "stuff" as Smithy sorted through and shed his. It was a worthwhile journey made with a character who begins traumatized and with little hope and ends with love and a fresh take on his past, present, and future. If only the ride had been longer...a few more miles and a few more faces.

samnetzband's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

dcmr's review against another edition

1.0

Sadly, my month-long streak of reading really good books has come to an end with "The Memory of Running." This meandering ramble lost me at page 30. I'm done.

jxg255's review against another edition

2.0

Thought this book would have deeper themes and messages.

cmhayes's review against another edition

3.0

I started out really liking the book, but towards the end, I felt like I was reading another Forrest Gump. I was more interested in the story about his sister than his adventures on his bike.

abrswf's review against another edition

1.0

I really forced myself through this book, and there are a lot of things that made me dislike it. Let me turn first to the best thing about the book. McLarty, who is also a playwright and actor, reads the audio version of the book, and he does it wonderfully. Now for all the things I hated. First, the gratuitous larding of trauma and death, mostly at the start of this novel when we don't know the characters who died, so get to feel like jerks who aren't moved by such events. Second, the revolting main character, who is lazy, self indulgent, remarkably stupid, thoroughly sexist and racist, and completely self absorbed. I really hated being in his head, which is the vantage point for the whole novel. Third, the main character's awful sister. I acknowledge the novel gives her almost no voice -- we hear all about her looks and clothes and the manifestations of her mental illness, but her sane self never gets to say much of anything. Except for one presumably lucid period before her wedding, when what she says is abusive and hateful. I'll add that I didn't appreciate McLarty 's characterization of mental illness as equivalent to demonic possession, or his willingness to portray his mentally ill character as both dangerous and disgusting. Way to feed those harmful stereotypes about mental illness. Fourth, the endless sexism. Women are either patient home tenders or sex objects whose main appeal is their breasts. And the racism and homophobia that pervades this book. Fifth, the tired and repeated plot device of the main character being martyred and then rewarded for his martyrdom with lavish gifts. He never seems to conjure the ability to support himself or avoid obvious hazards. I didn't buy it, which brings me to the sixth thing I hated, the implausibility throughout. The ineptitude and stupidity of Bethany's doctors, the strange willingness of every stranger to share their lives and life stories with the main character, and the complete unbelievability of those life stories. I mean, come on. Which are words I said aloud often while listening to this pile of implausibility. There is one wonderful character buried in a long suffering female role in this book --Norma. I loved her. But her background presence sure didn't save the book. And in reality anyone as great as her would have a wide group of friends and a family of her own and no need to be hanging around for the worthless main character anyway. My recommendation is --skip this book. FYI it includes almost no memories of running anyway.

jwave08's review against another edition

3.0

I remember finding this in an a carton of used book meant to be sent for donation. The title captured me and I took it. It did not take long to finish, and for some reason I still can't understand why the story has stayed with me.

By no means is this the best book I ever read. However, the idea of the story rises beyond the words of the story. And that may be why this book has stayed with me for so long.

nancyinoregon's review against another edition

4.0

The author is a well-known reader of audio books, and it is delightful to listen to him read his picaresque novel of a way-overweight middle-aged guy who gets on a bicycle and rides across the country to pick up his sister's body. I like books in which I can get into the skin of a character type that I will probably never know. We gradually get to know, understand, and like this character as he describes his experiences on his journey, his memories of his childhood in East Providence, Rhode Island, and his gradual transformation to a man with some purpose to his life. I felt that I knew the characters and didn't want them to end. The result was that I have downloaded another audio book by Ron McLarty, hoping it will have another cast of characters that I will enjoy knowing.

linds01ou's review against another edition

Depressing and unlikeable main character.

judyward's review against another edition

4.0

This book was originally published as an audio book and, in fact, Stephen King called it "The Best Book You Can't Read". Later the rights were sold to Viking and the book was released in hard cover. I listened to the author read the book and, for me, I think that my experience was enhanced by listening to the audio. Smithson "Smithy" Ide describes himself as a loser. And why not? At age 43, he is a grossly overweight, chain-smoking, friendless, drunk. Then in the course of a week, Smithy's parents both die as a result of a traffic accident on Interstate 95 and he discovers that his long-long sister, who suffered her entire life from mental illness, died in Los Angeles and her body is being held in a funeral home in Venice, California awaiting instructions from the next of kin. Finding his old Raleigh bicycle hanging on the wall in his parent's garage, one evening he rode down the driveway of his parent's house in East Providence, Rhode Island and began a cross-country quest to recover his sister's body. Along the way, he thinks about the past, carries on a long-distance friendship/romance with a paraplegic neighbor whom he considered a pest when he was growing up, meets fascinating strangers who share their life stories, loses weight, saves a child from a blizzard, is beaten up and shot by two different police officers in two different states, gets hit by a truck, and so much more. During his odyssey, Smithy rediscovers himself and begins to understand what it means to live. I loved this book and desperately want to know the story of the next chapter in Smithy Ide's life.