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Loading... The Memory of Runningby Ron McLarty
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  indygo88 | Sep 7, 2009 |  Sedated into meaningless day to day existence partially brought on by hurtful circumstances in his life, 40 something, Vietnam vet, and single Smithson "Smithy" Ide drinks and eats himself into oblivion every night and supervises the placement of arms and legs on an action figure toy at a factory during the day. Smithy’s life is turned upside down when his loving and caring mother and father are killed in an automobile accident and upon opening some mail at their home, discovers that his long lost mentally ill sister, Bethany, remains are being held in California awaiting family retrieval. In a drunken act, an obese Smithy begins to ride an old Raleigh bicycle he had as a teenager toward a fishing hole he frequented as a youth and then passes out on a grassy knoll. The next day, in almost a mindless state, as if being programmed to ride, this very sore muscled over-weight man continues to bicycle town to town, state to state toward California to claim his beloved sister’s remains. Akin to Forest Gump who decides to run across American for his own reasons and grow his hair and beard, Smithy Ide to most people appears to be a homeless bum on a bicycle. Hate, fear, prejudice and sickness are encountered on his quest, as well as help and kindness from strangers and a wheelchair bound neighbor, Norma, who has always been in love with Smithy since they were children. Smithy’s story unfolds from his point of view in simple thoughts and words. In many tangled situations, when an explanation composed of sentences would have helped him out, silence or one or two word responses seem to be his only means of communication leading the reader to empathize and root for this bumbling troubled man. The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty was an easy read, finishing it quickly in a week. Read it for a book club and enjoyed the story. dshreve | Aug 27, 2009 | This is the story about the Ade family, living under the shadow of the oldest sister Bethany's mental illness. It's also the story of her younger brother Smithson's almost accidental journey of self discovery - across America on a bike. The story is told by Smithson in a hesitant, awkward and self-loathing way, which gives the book a strong personal voice. A very sad book this, but also moving and often beautiful. The journey through America lets Smithson meet with both suspicion and kindness, but everyday goodness dominates. Also, in balancing the tales of the nice people Smithy meets with the pitch black desperation and despair of the past, the book never falls into the really sentimental. Rather, it seems the very definition of "bittersweet". Smithy is a very interesting charcater, moving and believable in all his clumsiness and awkwardness. Even his naive sexism is pretty touching. It's his voice that carries the book, along with a keen sense of situation from McLarty. Indeed, there are quite a few situations in this book that I can't recall having ever read before. The horror of being shit-faced drunk when getting word of your parents being in a fatal car accident for instance. Or the overwhelming sadness Smithy feels when getting confronted by his Bethany's psychiatrist with his sister's made-up abuse accusations. All in all, this was a rewarding read, fresh in it's realism. (  ) GingerbreadMan | Aug 20, 2009 | A guy with insomnia comes across some strange scenes out in the middle of th enigh and becomes drawn into the lives of these people. ( ) kimoqt | Aug 14, 2009 | This was enjoyed by the majority of the book club. We were all rooting for Smithy Ide. ( ) Mt.LaurelBookClub | Jul 8, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0143036688, Paperback)Ron McLarty has joined the ranks of writers of the quirky hero with The Memory of Running. His hero, Smithy Ide, is in the grand tradition of Ignatius J. Reilly of A Confederacy of Dunces and Quoyle of The Shipping News. What these gentlemen have in common is their lumpen-loser looks, their outsider status and their general befuddlement about the way the world works and their place in it. Smithy rises above them because of his self-effacing nature, his great capacity for love, his inability to show it and his endless willingness to forgive.Smithy is a 279-pound, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, 43-year-old misfit who works in a G.I. Joe factory putting arms and legs on the action heroes. (How did McLarty come up with that?) He is also the most beguiling anti-hero to come into view in a long, long time. McLarty, an award-winning actor and playwright best known for his many appearances on TV in Law & Order, Sex and the City, The Practice, and Judging Amy, has added another star to his creative crown with this novel. The first sentence of the book is: "My parents' Ford station wagon hit a concrete divider on U.S. 95 outside Biddeford, Maine, in August 1990." This tragic accident eventually claims both their lives. It is on the day of their funeral that Smithy finds a letter to his father about Bethany, his beloved and deeply troubled sister, stating that, "Bethany Ide, 51, died from complications of exposure... and she has since that time been in the Los Angeles Morgue West." Beautiful Bethany, given to taking off her clothes in public places, holding impossible poses for long periods of time, responding to voices that only she can hear, and disappearing for no known reason. This time, she has been gone for many years and now Smithy knows that she died destitute and alone. When he reads the letter, he is drunk, grief-stricken and, despite a house full of people, he is alone. He goes out to the garage to smoke and have another drink and spies his old Raleigh bicycle. He sits on it, flat tires and all, wheels it to the end of the driveway--and--Smithy doesn’t know it yet, but he is going to ride a bicycle from Maine to Los Angeles to claim his sister's remains. On the road he meets the good, the bad, and the really bad. He frequently calls Norma, the Ides' across-the-street neighbor, confined to a wheelchair for years, and always in love with him. He has never acknowledged nor returned her ardor, but he starts to count on her friendship during his travels. Their conversations are sweet and revelatory. McLarty has done a superb job of showing us who Smithy is and who he is becoming. It's a wonderful story told with great poignancy and humor. --Valerie Ryan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:02 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
As an audiobook, this was excellent, read by McLarty himself. He's known for his voice, & I don't believe anyone could've read this better than he did. (