The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Alan Sillitoe
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The 1950's
- Setting: Essex, England
- Principal Characters: Smith, The governor of Borstal
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Teenagers, Alienation, Antiheroes, Individuality, Reformatories, Athletes, Life, philosophy of, Isolation, Rugby, Running, Track athletics
- Locales: Essex, England
The Story
In a reform school for delinquent youths, Smith, the streetwise son of working-class parents from Nottingham, is chosen to train and compete for a coveted long-distance running award. He is selected, he states, because of his build (he is long and skinny) and because his constant running from the police has made him an appropriate candidate.
Arising before dawn for a five-mile practice run through the countryside, Smith experiences a freedom of thought that allows him to confirm his philosophy of life and his perceptions of society.
Through...
[The entire page is 1619 words long]
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