|
The Runner | 
 enlarge | Author: Cynthia Voigt
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $5.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $5.98 (100%)
New (8) Used (80) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 636140
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0590483803
EAN: 9780590483803
ASIN: 0590483803
Publication Date: July 1, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Nice copy, some cover wear. 100% satisfaction guarantee with every purchase! Part of the proceeds from all sales benefit the hungry and homeless in the St. Louis area as well as Hurricane Katrina victims and neglected animals across the nation.
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It was the 1960s, the time of the Vietnam War. "Bullet" Tillerman, the school track star, had to decide if he would go to fight or stay on the family farm. Bullet's father, who had already driven Bullet's older brother and sister out of the house, made impossible demands on him. And his mother seemed to have lost the will to resist the old man. Meanwhile, at school, a black student joined the track team, forcing Bullet to question his own prejudices. But nothing would keep him from running. Nothing.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 beautiful April 10, 2008
This book breaks my heart every time I read it. Voigt has written some beautiful books, and this is one of her best.
 Unrealistic Main Character June 7, 2007
Bullet is a high school student, and the last of the Tillerman children left at home with his parents on the farm. His older brother Johnny escaped to college, even though his father forbade him to go. Then Liza, his sister, ran off to get married and never came back. Bullet understands why the two of them left. Their father is intolerable, with his rules and his rigid way of living. He expects everyone to do exactly as he says, and he is constantly trying to set limits on them. Now Bullet is the only one left, and he doesn't like others trying to make rules for him.
Just as awful is Bullet's mother, who seems to have been completely broken by living with Bullet's father. She almost never speaks, and very rarely smiles. She seems resigned to life, and Bullet is sad that he might have helped her to become that way.
The only thing that makes Bullet feel completely fulfilled is running. He is a cross-country star, although he has never cared about winning. He just likes to run, whether he is in a race or not. He tries his best to live in a little cocoon, paying no attention to anything happening around him and trying not to get close to anyone.
However, Bullet is living in a time when it is impossible to stay in a cocoon. The Vietnam War is happening, and all of Bullet's classmates are worried about the draft. His school is trying to be integrated, but the white students and black students are doing their best to stay separated. Then Bullet's coach asks him to run with Tamer, a new black cross-country runner who might be able to benefit from Bullet's expertise. Suddenly Bullet is faced with his own prejudice, and he needs to figure out how he really sees the world.
I liked Bullet's strength, and his talent for running. I liked the descriptions of how he felt and what he thought when he was running. I really liked Patrice--he was a good father figure for Bullet and I liked the way he could talk to Bullet and get through to him like no one else could.
Bullet was too unnatural for a high school student--I don't believe anyone could be that completely focused on being true to himself, and that unemotional about everything.
Voigt's best? Perhaps, but arguably. March 13, 2007
When asked which of her books she would write if she had the choice to only have written one, Cynthia Voigt replied, "The Runner." Would that have been a good choice? Hmmm.
The book is a little underrated here, I think, and I believe that this is because it is aimed at a young audience - oftentimes, we youths are not quite capable of catching and subsequently comprehending the more complex, subtle messages that Voigt sends in her books; this one in particular. For example, quite a few reviewers here seem to misinterpret the protagonist, Bullet. Yes, he is a rebellious, angry loner; yes, he holds racist sentiments throughout much of the book. However, there is much more to Bullet than that plain and simple "angry, unsociable guy" thing. Part of his struggle in the book is learning to overcome his racism upon realizing that one of his dearest friends is, in fact, part black and not simply "tanned" as he used to assume. The changes that occur in Bullet's character are subtle throughout the course of his story are subtle, but they're certainly there. The shift in his perspective of the people around him is both rewarding and moving, as he digs up truths about himself and about those close to him - some of them for the better, some of them for the worse, but all things that we outselves might come to note about the people surrounding us as we go through our lives - not evil at all for the most part, but terribly mistaken and blind about many things.
Bullet has a negative view on people in general, yes, but Voigt does well in not even trying to make him likable at the start of the book: he is arrogant, cocky, rude, and something of a know-it-all. Rather than trying to paint these as strengths, we see quite clearly that Bullet is, in fact, a flawed and very human young man, despite the pedestal of grudging admiration and fear others place him upon.
Anyway, the book isn't solely about Bullet and his people problems. It deals with social issues as well, such as the aforementioned racism (and with a grittily unique perspective that sets "The Runner" apart from other books dealing with this issue), the Vietnam War, and how teenagers during that time period dealt with such issues - some strongly, but often in a more ambiguous manner typical of how everyday people address such issues. It depicts very normal people as they go about making choices in their lives - often, however, with chilling effect that few others in the book are able to note.
I suppose I can't articulate exactly what I mean very well. This is one of those books where you either "get it", or you don't and possibly never will. This is definitely not a book for everyone, and due to Bullet's odd way of thinking, it isn't an easy read. However, it can be highly rewarding for those of you who enjoyed such works of Voigt's as "A Solitary Blue" and "Seventeen Against the Dealer", as well as "Come A Stranger".
The one negative thing I do have to say about this book is that on a few small occasions, Voigt's writing gives the impression of an author who is just a little too "in love with" her own character. Generally she does an excellent job of making Bullet seem very human though most others place him up on the aforementioned pedestal, but every now and then, the writing gets just a tad...pompous? Not sure if that's the right word, but it's the closest I can get to what I mean. Other books of hers, such as "Homecoming", and "A Solitary Blue" don't notably suffer from this bit. Hence, I'm a little hesitant over agreeing with Voigt that this is indeed the one work she ought to have written if she could only have written one.
Regardless, "The Runner" is a profoundly thoughtful piece of writing, and if you're looking for a rather quiet read that will have you thinking long after you've put it down, this is a great book whose merits far outweigh its vices.
not one of her best October 8, 2005
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I enjoyed other books in the Tillerman cycle, but this book was not one of Voigt's best. The main character Bullet, a high school track star and an obstinate loner, is a racist. This is all right, as the book is set in the sixties. However, the protagonist does not noticeably change by the end of the book. He has had a new wrinkle put in his ideas about race, but he is pretty much the same personality that began the book. Whether this bothers you or not depends on your idea of an effective story and intriguing protagonist.
 boy o boy is right April 26, 2005
0 out of 11 found this review helpful
I had to read this for school. I asked my teacher to read it cause i though it was really boring. She couldnt even make it through. the only fun part was one of my parteners during the group discussions making fun of tamer (hes not racist). The book is bad, I dont recommend it.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
