Rabbit, Run

It's 1959 and Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom, one time high school sports superstar, is going nowhere. At twenty-six he is trapped in a second-rate existence - stuck with a fragile, alcoholic wife, a house full of overflowing ashtrays and discarded glasses, a young son and a futile job.

With no way to fix things, he resolves to flee from his family and his home in Pennsylvania, beginning a thousand-mile journey that he hopes will free him from his mediocre life. Because, as he knows only too well, 'after you've been first-rate at something, no matter what, it kind of takes the kick out of being second-rate'.

One of the best ways to get me to read a book is to say "it's just like Richard Yates". Problem is that this method is not the best way for me to enjoy said book.I guess in my head, through a combination of the blurb, cover and the above comparison, I imagined a cross between Revolutionary Road and One Tree Hill... but I just didn't enjoy it as much. 

I know Rabbit, Run is a classic and I know John Updike is a talented guy, but somehow it didn't quite hit the spot for me.  It's odd because, on the surface, it has everything I would normally like - failed American Dream theme, touching domestic drama, relationships, good boy gone bad... Perhaps in the end there were just a few too many references to prostitutes and blokey nights out, which were all pretty grim, and an absence of any really likable characters (more specifically any messed-up yet hot-as-hell basketball players trying to make the State championship...).

Can't deny that the book is well-written though, and Updike is more than successful at creating atmosphere, tension, split-allegiances etc and I couldn't help but feel something at the novel's climax. The characters all feel very real, as do the predicaments they find themselves in, and I definitely 'got' the world he was going for. Unfortunately, I just didn't love the book.

It gets 5/10 from me. It's a shame as I was really excited to get stuck into a series (there are four sequels).