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A review by book_concierge
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
3.0
Recorded book, read by the author
3.5***
Smithson Ide (Smithy) is 43, a self-described loser working at a toy factory, friendless, a chain-smoker, a drunk and seriously overweight (279 lbs), when a family tragedy pushes him to DO something. Coming across his old Raleigh bicycle in a corner of his parents’ garage, Smithy starts pedaling … and then keeps pedaling on a journey across America and towards a new life.
The novel is told in alternating chapters – one giving the background on the Ide family, especially Smithy’s older sister Bethany who suffers from mental illness; the next chronicling the present-day happenings as Smithy bikes from Rhode Island to California. I seem to be reading a number of books lately that use this device, and it’s a difficult one to pull off successfully. McLarty does a pretty good job of it here. The change in perspective is abrupt, but not jarring and I found it easy to follow these parallel stories.
I was a little confused about Norma – the girl next door who suffers a childhood accident that colors the relationship between the two families. She wasn’t as fully developed as I would have liked, and I didn’t really understand the attraction between her and Smithy at first.
Of course, I didn’t really understand Smithy, either. He’s a complicated character and difficult to get to know. He, himself, frequently peppers his own conversations (or thoughts) with “I don’t know.” He is truly a man who has lost himself and his slow reawakening is the whole purpose of this novel. There were times when I wondered if Smithy also suffered from the same sort of mental illness that struck Bethany, but I still grew to like him, and was cheering him on as he made the quest to retrieve his sister.
Along his journey Smithy comes across a variety of characters that help or try to thwart him and express humanity at its best (and sometimes worst). These cameo appearances are brief but well-drawn, and I wish McLarty would write a few more novels about some of them: Father Benny, Carl Greenleaf, Kate and Roger.
McLarty does a fine job of narrating the audio version. His pacing is good, and his style of reading aloud works well for this first-person narrative.
3.5***
Smithson Ide (Smithy) is 43, a self-described loser working at a toy factory, friendless, a chain-smoker, a drunk and seriously overweight (279 lbs), when a family tragedy pushes him to DO something. Coming across his old Raleigh bicycle in a corner of his parents’ garage, Smithy starts pedaling … and then keeps pedaling on a journey across America and towards a new life.
The novel is told in alternating chapters – one giving the background on the Ide family, especially Smithy’s older sister Bethany who suffers from mental illness; the next chronicling the present-day happenings as Smithy bikes from Rhode Island to California. I seem to be reading a number of books lately that use this device, and it’s a difficult one to pull off successfully. McLarty does a pretty good job of it here. The change in perspective is abrupt, but not jarring and I found it easy to follow these parallel stories.
I was a little confused about Norma – the girl next door who suffers a childhood accident that colors the relationship between the two families. She wasn’t as fully developed as I would have liked, and I didn’t really understand the attraction between her and Smithy at first.
Of course, I didn’t really understand Smithy, either. He’s a complicated character and difficult to get to know. He, himself, frequently peppers his own conversations (or thoughts) with “I don’t know.” He is truly a man who has lost himself and his slow reawakening is the whole purpose of this novel. There were times when I wondered if Smithy also suffered from the same sort of mental illness that struck Bethany, but I still grew to like him, and was cheering him on as he made the quest to retrieve his sister.
Along his journey Smithy comes across a variety of characters that help or try to thwart him and express humanity at its best (and sometimes worst). These cameo appearances are brief but well-drawn, and I wish McLarty would write a few more novels about some of them: Father Benny, Carl Greenleaf, Kate and Roger.
McLarty does a fine job of narrating the audio version. His pacing is good, and his style of reading aloud works well for this first-person narrative.