Again To Carthage A Novel at Amazon
Review
“One of the greatest accounts print of the physical plus perceptual torments athletes undergo inside their superhuman efforts.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
About the Author
John L. Parker, Jr. has written as Outside, Runner’s World, with certain esoteric publications. He was the Southeastern Conference mile victor three times, in addition to the United States Track also Field Federation centralized winner inside the steeplechase, plus was the teammate of Olympians Frank Shorter, Jack Bacheler, as well as Jeff Galloway on numerous challenge cross-country teams. A graduate of the University of Florida’s College of Journalism since nonetheless because its College of Law, Parker has been a practicing attorney, a newspaper correspondent as well as columnist, a speechwriter because after that Governor Bob Graham, along with editorial director of Running Times magazine. He lives inside Gainesville, Florida, along with Bar Harbor, Maine.
Again to Carthage is the “breathtaking, pulse-quickening, stunning” sequel to Once a Runner that “will undergo you reputation wakeful with cheering, in addition to pulling on your moving shoes” (Chicago Sun-Times). Originally self-published 1978, Once a Runner became a cult classic, emerging beyond three years to be converted into a New York Times bestseller. Now, Again to Carthage, hero Quenton Cassidy returns.
The previous Olympian has turn into a unbeaten attorney inside south Florida, where his subsistence centers on work, friends, skin diving, as well as boating trips to the Bahamas. But whilst he loses his greatest pal to the Vietnam War furthermore two relations to life’s vicissitudes, Cassidy grasps that an worthwhile share of his subsistence was departed unfinished. After reconnecting in addition to his colleague as well as past tutor Bruce Denton, Cassidy wages to the real world of competitive going inside a desperate, all-out drive to class single previous Olympic team. Perfectly taking the intensity, relentlessness, plus occasional lunacy of a solemn runner’s life, Again to Carthage is a must-read for the reason that runners—and athletes—of the whole thing ages, also a fresh that will delight any lady friend of fiction.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #247046 inside Books
- Published on: 2010-09-28
- Format: Bargain Price
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 384 pages
Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
A worthy sequel
By James Marsalis
Parker has written a worthy sequel to OAR. While the book stands up well by itself, if you view it as an extension of the original story and read them sequentially, I think it makes the new novel a more meaningful tale.
Parker’s eye for detail remains impeccable, and he never loses sight of the fact that Cassidy’s journey is about life as much as it is about running.
For the runners out there, be assured that John once again captures the elements of our sport that make it so dear to us. The workouts, the sacrifice and the racing are all there, and the more mature Cassidy is a logical extension of the original character.
The slightly off-kilter wit of JLP has has survived intact, adding to the pleasure of the read.
The wait was long, but I was not disappointed. I recommend this book highly to all of my fellow runners.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
Uneven, but probably worth it.
By A. Bruskin
As someone who loved OAR (and has read it several times), I was eagerly anticipating reading Again to Carthage. Parker does a great job when he writes about training and racing, but ATC is a literary jumble, with lots of purple prose, extraneous characters that haphazardly come and go, and a rambling storyline. The writing is mediocre (and filled with typos)… until you get to the race description, which is truly awesome. You have to suffer through 300 pages to get there, but it’s worth the price of admission. A mixed bag, for sure.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
A Runner, Once Again
By Kevin Joseph
The long-awaited sequel to Once a Runner picks up on silver medalist Quenton Cassidy’s life as a thirty-something practicing law in a small Palm Beach firm. While he still runs recreationally, Cassidy seems content to have traded his years of self-denial for a comfortable Hemingway-esque lifestyle of drinking, boating, and skin diving. A series of personal events lead him to re-examine his life, however, forcing a realization that he will never be completely fulfilled unless he is aspiring toward personal improvement, in the way that only a runner committed to serious training can be.
Just as Once a Runner nails the feelings of the competitive schoolboy runner, Again to Carthage captures the mindset of the middle-aged athlete who struggles to come to terms with the inevitability of physical decline. As one would expect, Parker’s training and racing scenes are beautifully and convincingly rendered. What’s equally impressive, are his descriptions of nature, fishing, and the mountain lifestyle of Cassidy’s relatives. If he goes a bit heavy on the details at times, particularly in the middle chapters concerning Cassidy’s family, these passages flesh out Cassidy as a person and ultimately reward the patient reader. My only other knocks on the book are the occasional awkwardness of Parker’s prose, the inclusion of several plot contrivances, and the penchant for odd, anecdotal humor. Even these shortcomings, though, become kind of welcomely familiar for those of us who love Once a Runner and crave a similar reading experience.
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