The Memory of Running
Smithy admits that he weighs 279 pounds, gets drunk quite often, and hates the apartment he lives in. His job at Goddard Toys, which he’s had since returning from Vietnam, doesn’t appeal to him either. The multiple wounds he received in the war got him the Purple Heart, but that glory had worn off. Now, still single at the age of 43, he thinks of himself as stupid for most anything he says or gets involved in.
His closest concern has always been Bethany, his older sister. But sometimes in her head, she hears voices that cause her to run away from home, to be found later miles away, immobilized in some unusual pose. Smithy and his parents, as well as Norma, the crippled girl next door, all love the good side of Bethany, yet they’ve made maps of their home town in Rhode Island which are drawn up to track Bethany down when she disappears.
But early in the book, Bethany, in her early 50s, is found dead in Los Angeles. Then, shortly after her parents learn this, they are killed in a car accident. This leaves Smithy alone and confused, so he takes off for Los Angeles on a bicycle to reclaim Bethany’s disfigured body.
The bicycle ride takes over two months, but there are many flashbacks in Smithy’s mind about his sister’s better and worse days. Her junior prom was a disaster. Then a women psychiatrist tries to help her by putting all the blame on Smithy. Finally she is married to Jeff and that becomes her happiest day. But then she disappears on her honeymoon and neither her husband or her family see her alive again.
Smithy’s long bicycle ride itself is a challenge. He is helpful to people he meets along the way, but often is thought to be a transient. Several times police make this mistake and attack him. His only relief comes from Norma, who repeats her concern and love for him, when he phones her collect from different towns he’s cycling through.McLarty develops Smithy’s character beautifully. He is an unimportant man who has little or nothing to say and seldom completes his sentences. Bethany is continually on his mind, and in his imagination he sees and talks with her many times on his long bicycle trip. His determination to reach his dead sister is the main theme of a very well-written story.
The Memory of Running takes place in the late 20th century, though no copyright date is listed on the publication page.