Wednesday, February 22, 2012

James - 1

16:05

This felt okay, but when I got home later I noticed my foot had swollen up again. It has gone down now and didn't hurt, but maybe it was a little warning to take it easy still.

I amassed several entertaining running references whilst I was injured. This first one is from great American writer Kurt Vonnegut, and his novel Jailbird. Our protagonist, Walter F. Starbuck, is taking in his first morning out of prison after being locked up for a minor role in Watergate:
Two joggers came down the path between me and the radio. They were a man and a woman in identical orange-and-gold sweatsuits and matching shoes. I already knew about the jogging craze. We had had many joggers in prison. I found them smug.
-- p.169-170

This hideous passage tells us that the book came out in the late 70s! I recently finished it and highly recommend it.

3 comments:

  1. what happened to your foot? i think i missed your post about the initial injury?

    is this the Starbuck character that the chain was named after? Or was that a character from Moby Dick?

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  2. I fell 4 weeks ago when I was on the trail and sprained my ankle pretty badly. And I wish Starbuck was this character, hah! I like that I have read this book but not Moby Dick.

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  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#Starbuck

    I haven't read it either. It is a literary classic though...

    Hope your ankle gets better!

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