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The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a story by the British writer Alan Sillitoe published in 1958, and it is contained in a collection of short stories published under the same title. It concerns a young man confined in a borstal institution who seeks solace in long distance running with the encouragement and support of the Governor. Image File history File links Derived from public domain images featured at: http://commons. ... Alan Sillitoe (born March 4, 1928) is an English writer, one of the Angry Young Men of the 1950s. ... In the United Kingdom, a Borstal was a juvenile detention centre or reformatory, an institution of the criminal justice system, intended to reform delinquent male youths aged between about 16 and 21. ...

Film adaptation

It was made into a film in 1962, with a screenplay by Sillitoe and directed by Tony Richardson, one of new young directors emerging from documentary films, specifically a series of 1950s filmmakers known as the Free Cinema movement. Tony Richardson (June 5, 1928 - November 14, 1991) was a British theatre and film director and producer. ... Alan Sillitoe (born March 4, 1928) is an English writer, one of the Angry Young Men of the 1950s. ... Tom Courtenay (pronounced Courtney) (born February 25, 1937) is a British actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of critically-acclaimed films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), Billy Liar (1963) and Dr. Zhivago (1965). ... Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood in The Lady Vanishes (1938) Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, KBE (March 20, 1908 — March 21, 1985) was an English actor and the son of the Australian silent film star Roy Redgrave and the actress Margaret Scudamore. ... Alec McCowen (born May 26, 1925) is a British actor, best known for classical roles including Shakespeare. ... James Bolam (born June 16, 1938 in Sunderland, England) is a British actor, perhaps most associated with his portrayal of the lovable layabout Terry Collier in the hit BBC sitcoms The Likely Lads and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?. Much like his fellow Likely Lad Rodney Bewes, Bolam was... John Thaw (left) as Inspector Morse John Edward Thaw CBE (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who achieved his first starring role in the military police television drama Redcap (1964 – 1966), and subsequently appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tony Richardson (June 5, 1928 - November 14, 1991) was a British theatre and film director and producer. ... Free Cinema was a documentary film movement that emerged in England in the 1950s. ...

It tells the story of "a rebellious youth (played by Tom Courtenay), sentenced to a boy's reformatory for robbing a bakery, who rises through the ranks of the institution through his prowess as a long distance runner. During his solitary runs, reveries of his life and times before his incarceration lead him to re-evaluate his privileged status as the Governor's (played by Michael Redgrave) prize runner."^[1] Tom Courtenay (pronounced Courtney) (born February 25, 1937) is a British actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of critically-acclaimed films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), Billy Liar (1963) and Dr. Zhivago (1965). ... Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood in The Lady Vanishes (1938) Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, KBE (March 20, 1908 — March 21, 1985) was an English actor and the son of the Australian silent film star Roy Redgrave and the actress Margaret Scudamore. ...

Set in a rather grim environment of 1960s Britain and like other films which deal with rebellious youth, it is a story of how the youth chooses to defy authority and, in the end, gains his own self esteem (at the probable personal cost of continued confinement). The film places its characters thoroughly in their social milieu. Class consciousness abounds throughout: here the "them" and "us" notions which Richardson shows reflect the very basis of British society at the time, so that Redgrave's "proper gentleman" of a Governor is in contrast to many of the young working class inmates.

Later musical adaptations

The British heavy metal group Iron Maiden adapted the short story into the song of the same name on their Somewhere in Time album. Scottish rock group Belle and Sebastian, adapted the title for the song "Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner" on their 2001 EP, Jonathan David. United States band Ruxton Towers takes its name from the film, in which a reformatory school has the same name. Washington D.C. punkers Fugazi have a song entitled "Long Distance Runner" on their fourth LP, Red Medicine. Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from east London. ... Somewhere in Time is the sixth studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 29 September 1986. ... Belle and Sebastian (sometimes written as Belle & Sebastian) are a Scottish paper pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. ... Jonathan David is a 2001 EP by Belle & Sebastian. ... Fugazi may refer to: an Italian slang term for something that is fake/not authentic. ... Red Medicine is the fourth full-length album by Fugazi, released in 1995. ...

References

1. ^ The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner at the Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

External links

• The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner at the Internet Movie Database