Official Review: Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons" by Sam Brand.]
[rbc=1]id361066-125[/rbc]
Unfortunately, this book is overly simplistic. Despite having about 200 pages, each page has only a single paragraph, making it so short that it took me under 30 minutes to read. This just doesn't provide enough space for the author to really expand upon his ideas or create an image in readers' minds - the experience of his first marathon, something that should be full of vivid events and emotions, is described in a mere eight paragraphs! The lack of detail makes it impossible to become invested in the book's contents.
Another strikingly odd thing about this book is the author's tendency to make sweeping generalizations. He labels complete strangers as chimps, dolphins, or ants based on what he sees them doing in a single moment, assuming that everyone running a marathon is a mindless ant with no balance in their lives. It almost seems as if he chose the ant metaphor solely to belittle people who choose to run marathons, and the way he judges strangers is quite odd to read about. Bewilderingly, he also expands upon the idea that those he considers ants "don't get enough sex," while the chimps and dolphins "get plenty of sex." These wild assumptions are frequently quite jarring.
The writing style itself is rather disjointed. Brand seems to refuse to refer to people as anything but "human ant runners," "human chimps," and "human dolphins." This can be humorous at times, like when he describes "human chimps handing out bananas," but it often results in painful bits of prose, like when he writes about his "beautiful human chimp wife." Overall, the repetitive use of such phrases and emphasis on the word "human" makes the book seem almost as if it was written by an alien.
Ultimately, I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. The author gets into some interesting health information about running marathons, but this one aspect isn't enough to salvage what is otherwise an under-developed and rather strange reading experience. It also contains several typos, most of which were capitalization errors. If you are very invested in not running marathons, it might be an interesting, albeit short, read. I don't feel like it would actually convince anyone not to run a marathon, though, and I can't think of any other audience that might enjoy it.
******
Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons
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Unfortunately, this book is overly simplistic. Despite having about 200 pages, each page has only a single paragraph, making it so short that it took me under 30 minutes to read. This just doesn't provide enough space for the author to really expand upon his ideas or create an image in readers' minds - the experience of his first marathon, something that should be full of vivid events and emotions, is described in a mere eight paragraphs! The lack of detail makes it impossible to become invested in the book's contents.
Another strikingly odd thing about this book is the author's tendency to make sweeping generalizations. He labels complete strangers as chimps, dolphins, or ants based on what he sees them doing in a single moment, assuming that everyone running a marathon is a mindless ant with no balance in their lives. It almost seems as if he chose the ant metaphor solely to belittle people who choose to run marathons, and the way he judges strangers is quite odd to read about. Bewilderingly, he also expands upon the idea that those he considers ants "don't get enough sex," while the chimps and dolphins "get plenty of sex." These wild assumptions are frequently quite jarring.
The writing style itself is rather disjointed. Brand seems to refuse to refer to people as anything but "human ant runners," "human chimps," and "human dolphins." This can be humorous at times, like when he describes "human chimps handing out bananas," but it often results in painful bits of prose, like when he writes about his "beautiful human chimp wife." Overall, the repetitive use of such phrases and emphasis on the word "human" makes the book seem almost as if it was written by an alien.
Ultimately, I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. The author gets into some interesting health information about running marathons, but this one aspect isn't enough to salvage what is otherwise an under-developed and rather strange reading experience. It also contains several typos, most of which were capitalization errors. If you are very invested in not running marathons, it might be an interesting, albeit short, read. I don't feel like it would actually convince anyone not to run a marathon, though, and I can't think of any other audience that might enjoy it.
******
Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons
View: on Bookshelves |
Like ViziVoir's review? Post a comment saying so!
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