La soledad del corredor de fondo (N.Ed.)

This is one of the most lucid and stark portraits of working-class England in the postwar era. A book about class warfare, honesty, escape, and the desire for isolation or unbridled individualism, it continues to resonate with the same dry depth and silent pulse that made it unforgettable, almost six decades after its original publication. Colin Smith lives in a working-class neighborhood of Nottingham with his widowed mother, her lover, and his three younger siblings. His life is far from exemplary, and he feels as though the world has already decided for him. When he robs a bakery and ends up in a reform school, he discovers something unexpected: he's good at running. In his solitary early morning runs, he finds his own territory, a clarity he had never known, and privileges he doesn't desire for himself, until finally he must choose between success as a sports hero and the loneliness of the long-distance runner.