Again to Carthage by John L. Parker Jr.
|
Our Price: $25.00 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $3.63 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Again to Carthage
Book Review: Again to Carthage
Summary: 4 Stars
As in most sequels, this one isnt as good as the first. I did enjoy this book, but Once a Runner received 5 stars from me, while Return to Carthage only gets 4 stars. I feel like it bounces around a lot of different places, and sometimes I wasnt sure what the setting was. I also thought for being a published book, there were a lot of typos.Book Review: Slow at times but if you're a runner you'll love it.
Summary: 4 Stars
Enjoyed the story in spite of being unable to get my hands on Once a Runner. Loved the part where the main character writes of the process of training being a time of improvement and bettering one's self. Most of running is in the training and discipline. Live like a clock.Book Review: I'd buy "Again to Carthage"
Summary: 4 Stars
The book was enteraining. Parts were predictable. The marathon in the book accurately portrayed what a runner goes through in an all out marathon. The author/characters in the book tend to look down upon non-elite runners. I would recommend this book.Book Review: Cult Classic
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a thoroughly weird and hypnotic book that deserves its reputation as a cult classic. While the writing is uneven in places the descriptions of the runner's life are unparalleled.Book Review: Good sequel, not great
Summary: 3 Stars
As a fan of Once a Runner, I was excited to find out what became of Quenton Cassidy and his return to competitive running. I won't say that I was disappointed, but Again to Carthage is more inconsistent than its predecessor and, rather annoyingly, littered with typos.
Parker indulges in many allusions to scenes or characters from Once a Runner which is hard to criticize in an author who is trying to pen a sequel to his one-hit-wonder sensation. But what I found less excusable was the large percentage of the pages that had little connection to the narrative. Most of the novel's first half is filled with detailed descriptions of a fishing trip in the Caribbean and tales of Cassidy's family in the mountains of the Carolinas. While some of these tangential forays are very pertinent and added to the narrative depth of the novel, many seemed like authorial indulgence, with Parker using the book to glorify the American Southeast and its hardy residents. Honestly, Parker knows that runners are his audience, so why relegate the actual running to the final third of the novel? I can't say that the novel is overly long or feels padded either; for instance, his love interest is never a focal point of the book, but the final scene centers around it. But despite debatable narrative flaws, I was most annoyed by the dozens of typos found in the text. For an anticipated book such as this, I would have preferred to have an editor give the book a look over before it became mass-produced.
All in all, Again to Carthage is an entertaining sequel to the vaunted Once a Runner. It won't disappoint serious runners or fans who crave to read more about Quenton Cassidy, but it could have been a great sequel given some better editing and more of a focus on the actual running.