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peebee's review against another edition
5.0
Bummer that everyone who recommended this to me my whole life I thought was making some shallow attempt to connect with me cause I ran. Like how people try to make every analogy about football for a dumb jock.
The stuff about running (at least the race) is all wrong. It's just a good bunch of stories.
The stuff about running (at least the race) is all wrong. It's just a good bunch of stories.
tombennett72's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. Great writing, in the vernacular, which brings a particular world to life.
ewoud's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition
2.0
I thought this way going to be a novel about long distance running, and, BOY, was I wrong: it's a collection of short stories, and long distance running is merely a secondary theme in the title story. Yet another unexpected item was the overwhelming aura of sadness permeating the whole book, ranging from bone-crushing loneliness, to stifled anger and resentment, to mental illness.
The set is an interesting enough portrayal of [post-]war Britain and life for the factory working class, but aside from a few reflections in the running story ("...and I couldn't see anybody, and I knew what the loneliness of the long distance runner running across the country felt like, realizing that as far as I was concerned this feeling was the only honesty and realness there was in the world..."), I didn't feel much connection with the characters, only deep and largely generic pity, making it academically intriguing, but overall not very compelling.
The set is an interesting enough portrayal of [post-]war Britain and life for the factory working class, but aside from a few reflections in the running story ("...and I couldn't see anybody, and I knew what the loneliness of the long distance runner running across the country felt like, realizing that as far as I was concerned this feeling was the only honesty and realness there was in the world..."), I didn't feel much connection with the characters, only deep and largely generic pity, making it academically intriguing, but overall not very compelling.
outdoorminer's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
sarahmw's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
elliethecatlover's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
depechele's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
zurpel's review
1.0
If there was a book I would never read again, it would be this book; and I probably will not read it a second time. I could make very little sense of it - or rather, what the text/author wanted to express - and found it therefore simply dull. For me there was nothing even remotely interesting about the book and the only reason I finsihed it was because it was a compulsory school read.