Pain

By Dan Middleman

Book Overview

Richard Dubin is a talented distance runner at a major southern university. Pain is the story of Richard's senior year as he proceeds with varying success through the year, from cross country through... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0911521526
• ISBN13: 9780911521528
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Tafnews Pr
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

This is a great book. Anyone that has ever been a collegiate runner can relate. Hard training, a miserable coach, nights of drinking- this book describes the collegiate running experience perfectly. And includes a suprise ending.

INTENSE REALISM

Though not as uplifting as Once a Runner or as mentally stimulating as The Champion Maker, Pain is a realistic look at the way pressures to excel in distance running can drive a person to the brink. In that sense, it had a tragic feel similar to The Olympian, another running book I liked. As you would expect from a runner of Middleman's caliber, the training and racing descriptions are dead on. He also lightens the dark subject matter with some funny sections involving college pranks, drinking, etc.

The most forceful running book ever written

Dan Middleman, who has obviously read John L. Parker Jr.'s "Once a Runner," takes a different approach to the subject of the intensity of distance running that is anything but subdued, and thankfully so. This is a brutally honest and enthralling book that takes readers through the dark side of competitive distance running. Middleman's characters all face the toll of the double-sided card of competitive drive. Middleman focuses dually on the pressure they put on themselves to succeed and the pressure from the weight of the force of running to win in itself. The characters relieve themselves, even if only in a transitory way, by drinking beer like fish swimming through water, even if that itself turns into another problem, as several of the characters suffer from alcoholism. Parker's characters drank, but not like this. Middleman focuses on this aspect of college life more than Parker did, and as a college student myself, I have no doubts that these situations occur regularly just as described in "Pain." Richard Dubin drinks heartily and runs even more heartily while trying to balance a serious relationship with a girl he is captured by. He suffers from extreme nervousness before races and becomes so jaded from it that his perspectives and personality change dramatically. Many college runners can identify with this, even though they may not take the tenebrous turns Richard does. This is a blunt, realistic, and entirely compelling book that is excellently written without being difficult to read or comprehend. There's not a false ring to it, especially in the narration and the dialogue; even the tragic ending, which will leave you reeling long after you've finished reading the book and carries an unexpected twist, is not farfetched. In fact, it's perfect considering the material that precedes it. If you loved Parker's classic running novel, then you should check this one out to. Each captures the spirit of running in different ways. Both characters sacrifice themselves for the sport in unbridled, entirely believable ways, but end up with separate outcomes. Both of these novels should be examined for the effects on the competitive distance runner and the possible outcomes of such obsessions. They can be cathartic or ugly, but neither comes without a price before whatever the end result is. This book evinces the varying successes, failures, efforts, and thrashes that come with running, although the characters in the book suffer more than most. As a college runner myself, I related to much of what happens in this brilliant book, particularly the varying mental states of a high caliber runner. While I am not as talented as Middleman's protagonist Richard Dubin and have not competed on as high a level as he does in this book, I was able to totally understand the struggles he goes through. Once I started this book late one night, I didn't want to put it down. Highly recommeneded.

An unvarnished view of the world of the student-athlete

"Pain" lets the reader into the hardcore world of the student-athlete at a major university. From wild parties and nude relays to a tense relationship with an older woman, the story is set against the backdrop of competitive track and field, and the anxiety of Richard Dubin, a 5th-year senior and potential Olympian. The story moves quickly, encompassing funny scenes worthy of an "Animal House" sequel and disturbing, painful (hence the title) scenes of depression and anxiety. The characters are well-drawn, and the dialogue, authentic. The story winds inexorably toward a tragic ending, but the reader will be surprised at the twist it finally takes. Ultimately, the ending is haunting, but the book is written with great visual descriptions, and will leave you trying to mentally cast the movie.

Fantastic

Doesn't get any better than this!!!