Smithy reads a few different books throughout his long and arduous journey across America. They help keep him entertained in the hours when he’s not riding his bike or meeting new people. However, there are some deeper meanings and parallels that the books illustrate. For one, the books and the concept of reading is just another part of Smithy’s past that he’s recovering on his quest. At first it’s comparable to Smithy learning how to ride his bike: it’s slow and painful. Quoting Smithy himself, “"Once you get back to it, it's easy, it's natural. But at first — like the deep, deep stab in your legs and hips and stomach and chest from the Raleigh — the sentences twist your head. I read eleven pages that afternoon before my brain said, 'Wait.'?Eleven pages. Headache" (pp. 122-123). When Smithy was first starting his book, he struggled for every word, just like he struggled on his bike.
But beyond just comparing his general reading with his bike ride, it’s also important to see connections between the materials he reads and his journey. His first book Iggy is on the story of a black cowboy. Iggy is a little out of place in the Wild West, kind of like how Smithy feels at times in his life. His second book, The Incidental Iconoclast by Lovella Loveland, is a little bit sketchier. It seems to be a romance novel of sorts, but for Smithy the cover has a voluptuous lady on it who reminded him of Norma. It’s a bit of a stretch, but it could technically show the budding of romantic interest for Norma in the previously unreciprocated relationship?
The next book is from the same author as Iggy, and also a cowboy story. This time however, it’s on a man who had lost an arm and a leg in an accident. There is again a connection that can be drawn between Smithy and the protagonist of the book he’s reading; both have war wounds, Smithy’s from Vietnam. Both books from this author give Smithy a kind of hope for his quest, that he can somehow be worthy of a story too.
Smithy’s last book, Suzanne of the Aspens, is a gift from Kenny’s mother and specially chosen for Smithy. A woman’s husband and son both die, so she is forced to survive on her own. Exactly like Smithy, she suddenly loses her family and is left trying to figure out her place in the world. The books could be interpreted as simple time fillers for Smithy, but upon deeper inspection, a deeper meaning seems to emerge. McLarty has inserted these narratives as little gems for the reader, each with their own equivalents or pieces to contribute to Smithy’s character.
The books are an interesting part of The Memory of Running. Another cool parallel is that Suzanne of the Aspens is a story about a journey westward. I think you're right in saying relearning to read is like relearning to read a bike for Smithy. Process wise, yes, but also they both help get him back to the healthier state he was in as a kid. Apparently he used to read all the time.
ReplyDeleteAnother kinda relevant parallel I noticed in Smithy's story is that it mixes his flashbacks with his current present, kind of comparing where he came from with where he's going. Through remembering and dealing with his past, and incorporating that into his journey, Smithy grows as a person through this "historical reconstruction." Reading the books seems to be another part of that, building on what Curtis said. The books Smithy reads are part of his "historical reconstruction," even though they're about somebody else, because Smithy resonates with their characters by drawing on his own experiences.
ReplyDeleteI would go even further, in terms of the significance of this new reading regimen on Smithy's development as a character: alongside his new interest in sharing his story with others and hearing theirs, he seems to be transforming into a *writer* over the course of this journey (i.e. he write the narrative we're reading sometime after the bike ride), and these novels (which depict seemingly ordinary people rising to heroic stature) give him this new way of seeing himself. This ability to craft a story out of his life--which is also a sustained engagement with the memories that have arisen throughout the journey--is a profound progression from the numbed, drunk Smithy who doesn't like to talk to anyone much at the start of the novel. He turns into a narrator of his own story, the one we're reading.
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