What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Vintage International)
It's too long by modern standards , and it speaks to deep thought as well as another culture . I ordered the book and anticipated its arrival .
To my surprise , it wasn't the running that stood out . In fact , I found the running sections ordinary . Now , understand that I am a runner , and have read about running day-in and day-out for the last 13 or so years . I know triathletes , ultra runners , and people who thrive on doing the extreme . So running with goals , sticking with it , running on a daily basis , marathons , triathlons , never walking - always running , are ideas that I hear and see everywhere . To a non-runner , Haruki will seem like a star , but to me , it's fairly ordinary , even with Haruki still having these goals in his 50s .
What did intrigue me ( besides the title ) was his style of writing . It's a simple book , very clear , and easy to comprehend , so what clues are there in the book to his style , the style that has made him a famed writer ? This is what I wanted to discover . Surely not the repetition of I'm the kind of person who . . . , to explain This is who I am . This is my way . This is me .
After a few chapters , I started the book over and read each sentence carefully to see what I could discover . And here are a few samples , quotes so to speak , that make Haruki's writing special .
As if the concept of clouds doesn't even exist . - Haruki's way of describing a sunny day .
. . . as if it remembered , ' Oh , I've got some errands to do , ' it whisked itself away without so much as a glance back . - Description of a rain shower .
. . . slicing through the air like they had robbers on their heels . - Sprinters
. . . pound the rock with a chisel and dig deep into the hole . . . Finding his creativity .
RECOMMENDED FOR
- Anyone who likes to read about running .
- A new marathoner looking for inspiration for reaching goals and sticking with running .
- Writers who want to look closely at style and sentence structure .
_ People who enjoy biographies .
A BIT MORE - Other things that made the purchase of this book of value to me :
I enjoyed the little things Haruki would talk about when he wasn't running in a cozy homemade void - the Italian lady who wore a different outfit every day , his loss of patience with everything in sight at the end of his first marathon ( a reverse running of a famous course in Marathon , Greece . )
So running log aside , this was a book that caught my interest , and intrigued me enough to want to read more by this author . I'm starting at the beginning and am going to read the first book that Haruki wrote as a novelist , Wild Sheep Chase . I'll go into this blind . I have no idea what this book is about - and hope it's not about running , but pray that the style will intrigue me enough so that I will want to absorb and analyze every line .
008 4 I have placed this book atop my listmania group of literary running books . Haruki Murakami's marvelously entertaining WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING is about his running , yes , but it also touches on other interesting ideas , including the author's affinities for music , literature , and baseball , Japanese and American :
As if to lament the defeat of the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs ( they lost every game in a Sox vs . Sox series with Chicago ) , for ten days afterward a cold rain fell on New England . A long autumn rain . Sometimes it rained hard , sometimes softly ; sometimes , it would let up for a time like an afterthought , but not once did it clear up .
From beginning to end the sky was completely covered with the thick gray clouds particular to this region . Like a dawdling person , the rain lingered for a long time , then finally made up its mind to turn into a downpour . Towns from New Hampshire to Massachusetts suffered damage from the rain , and the main highway was cut off in places .
Murakami says he took the title of his book from the title of the Raymond Carver short story collection , WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT LOVE , and thanks Carver's widow for giving him permission . Murakami has translated many of Carver's works into Japanese , as well as other American fiction . He says :
One other project I'm involved in now is translating Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY , and things are going well . I've finished the first draft and am revising the second . I'm taking my time , going over each line carefully , and as I do so the translation gets smoother and I'm better able to render Fitzgerald's prose into more natural Japanese .
It's a little strange , perhaps , to make this claim at such a late date , but GATSBY really is an outstanding novel . I never get tired of it , no matter how many times I read it . It's the kind of literature that nourishes you as you read , and every time I do I'm struck by something new , and experience a fresh reaction to it . I find it amazing how such a young writer , only twenty-one at the time , could grasp - - so insightfully , so equitably , and so warmly - - the realities of life . How was this possible ? The more I think about it , and the more I read the novel , the more mysterious it all is .
Music , baseball , literature , and running . My kind of writer . Runners looking for a similar read might want to try Don Kardong's THIRTY PHONE BOOTHS TO BOSTON . Readers new to Murakami who enjoyed this one might be inspired to try one of the author's many novels , and I highly recommend THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE .
010 4 If Murakami had never written another novel after writing ' Norwegian Wood ' he would have been a great writer . . . . Alas he did . Not that his other novels are bad as such . Some are even good . Others are mediocre . And his most recent novels seem to have been copies of other novels he wrote before . And as if he realized by himself that his recent novels are all much too similar to each other he has started to write semi autobiographical books , about the poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway or , now , about running .
These are not badly written , after all he is a good writer and a perceptive man . But much is missing . I had been looking forward , as an avid runner myself , to read the reflections of someone more perceptive than me , someone who might have another take on running than myself . Instead , I found a mixture of semi-baked philosophical thought and cliche observations . Yes , it sometimes rains when you run . And , yes , running a Marathon requires some self discipline . And , yes , stretching helps . And Mizuno shoes are good running shoes . . .
The book is a quick and nice read and I cannot claim that I disliked reading it . But afterwards there was nothing left . Popcorn for the mind .
014 4 I first heard of Haruki Murakami by looking up the Amazon running book stats . Since I check these often it wasn't the ranking that got my attention but the title . I was intrigued . The title : It's too long by modern standards , and it speaks to deep thought as well as another culture . I ordered the book and anticipated its arrival .
To my surprise , it wasn't the running that stood out . In fact , I found the running sections ordinary . Now , understand that I am a runner , and have read about running day-in and day-out for the last 13 or so years . I know triathletes , ultra runners , and people who thrive on doing the extreme . So running with goals , sticking with it , running on a daily basis , marathons , triathlons , never walking - always running , are ideas that I hear and see everywhere . To a non-runner , Haruki will seem like a star , but to me , it's fairly ordinary , even with Haruki still having these goals in his 50s .
What did intrigue me ( besides the title ) was his style of writing . It's a simple book , very clear , and easy to comprehend , so what clues are there in the book to his style , the style that has made him a famed writer ? This is what I wanted to discover . Surely not the repetition of I'm the kind of person who . . . , to explain This is who I am . This is my way . This is me .
After a few chapters , I started the book over and read each sentence carefully to see what I could discover . And here are a few samples , quotes so to speak , that make Haruki's writing special .
As if the concept of clouds doesn't even exist . - Haruki's way of describing a sunny day .
. . . as if it remembered , ' Oh , I've got some errands to do , ' it whisked itself away without so much as a glance back . - Description of a rain shower .
. . . slicing through the air like they had robbers on their heels . - Sprinters
. . . pound the rock with a chisel and dig deep into the hole . . . Finding his creativity .
RECOMMENDED FOR
- Anyone who likes to read about running .
- A new marathoner looking for inspiration for reaching goals and sticking with running .
- Writers who want to look closely at style and sentence structure .
_ People who enjoy biographies .
A BIT MORE - Other things that made the purchase of this book of value to me :
I enjoyed the little things Haruki would talk about when he wasn't running in a cozy homemade void - the Italian lady who wore a different outfit every day , his loss of patience with everything in sight at the end of his first marathon ( a reverse running of a famous course in Marathon , Greece . )
So running log aside , this was a book that caught my interest , and intrigued me enough to want to read more by this author . I'm starting at the beginning and am going to read the first book that Haruki wrote as a novelist , Wild Sheep Chase . I'll go into this blind . I have no idea what this book is about - and hope it's not about running , but pray that the style will intrigue me enough so that I will want to absorb and analyze every line .
079 4 Most of us probably have had the unpleasant experience of being collared by a friend who is intent on sharing the details of some passion - - - whether it's golf , stamp collecting or scuba diving - - - about which we know little and care less . As a non-runner , I approached Haruki Murakami's memoir with some of the trepidation that attends those conversations . Instead I found a spritely , engaging story of one writer's quarter-century encounter with serious running and how that pursuit has threaded its way meaningfully through his life . Focusing in the main on the period from August 2005 through the New York City Marathon on November 6 , 2005 ( his 24th marathon since 1982 ) , Murakami blends snippets of autobiography , descriptions of his running life and insights on the craft of writing into an entertaining mix .
Murakami , author of critically acclaimed and popular novels like THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE and KAFKA ON THE SHORE , started running at the age of 33 , turning to it as casually as he apparently did writing ( One day , out of the blue , I wanted to write a novel . And one day , out of the blue , I started to run - - - simply because I wanted to . ) . Refreshingly , he's no proselytizer for the sport , conceding that I've tried my best never to say something like , Running is great . Everybody should try it . If some people have an interest in long-distance running , just leave them be , and they'll start running on their own .
Departing from the central time frame of the memoir ( the origin of whose title should be readily known to fans of Raymond Carver , for whose work he confesses his admiration and which he has translated into Japanese ) , Murakami provides a lyrical account of his first marathon , one that took him backwards on the original route , from Athens to Marathon ( in fact , one mile shorter than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles ) in the searing heat of a Greek summer . He describes his single ultramarathon ( 62 miles , completed in 11 hours and 42 minutes ) in such grim detail as to make one question the sanity of anyone running such a race . While doing so , he brings to bear the novelist's keen eye for detail in describing the closing stretch of the race : Evening had come on . . . and the air had a special clarity to it . I could also smell the deep grass of the beginning of summer . I saw a few foxes , too , gathered in a field . They looked at us runners curiously . Thick , meaningful clouds , like something out of a nineteenth century British landscape painting , covered the sky .
Murakami hasn't confined his athletic activities to long-distance running . In the 1990s he competed in his first triathlon . His account of the training to overcome the panic he experienced at the beginning of the swimming leg in an event in 2000 , ultimately disqualifying him , is both candid and instructive . In the final triathlon described in the book , he makes gentle sport of how the Vaseline he applied to make his swimsuit easier to remove fogged his swimming goggles and how his shoelaces became untied during the running leg .
Although Murakami offers brief glimpses into the subjects that engage him and his view of the writing craft ( manual labor , as he describes it at one point ) , there's no strained effort here to draw parallels between his running and writing lives or to import cosmic lessons from one realm to the other . More by indirection , he hints at the ways in which similar qualities - - - dogged persistence , attention to detail , a willingness to press on in a solitary way through extended periods of effort - - - inform and enrich both pursuits .
Although he admits to something of a prickly nature , Murakami's tone throughout is self-effacing , even self-critical at times . He's a realist about the ravages of age : Even when I grow old and feeble , when people warn me it's about time to throw in the towel , I won't care . As long as my body allows , I'll keep on running . And while he hopes to pursue his passions for many years , he has already decided he wants to be buried under a tombstone that reads , in part , At Least He Never Walked .
Murakami's small memoir didn't inspire me to leap from my chair and lace up my Nikes , but you don't have to be a runner to enjoy this reflective book by one of Japan's most prominent contemporary novelists .
- - - Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg
once you're in , you're in . ( Or you're dead . )
Open a page , any page . Page 24 :
It's August 14th , a Sunday . This morning I ran an hour and fifteen minutes listening to Carla Thomas and Otis Redding on my MD player . In the afternoon I swam 1,400 yards at the pool and in the evening swam at the beach . And after that I had dinner - - beer and fish - - at the Hanalea Dolphin Restaurant just outside the town of Hanalea . [ Really ? ] The dish I have is walu , a kind of white fish . They grill it for me over charcoal , and I eat it with soy sauce . The side dish is vegetable kababs , plus a large salad .
No desert ?
Page 139 :
There were torrential rains in parts of [ Japan ] , and a lot of people died . They say it's all because of global warming . Maybe it is , and maybe it isn't . Some experts claim it is , some claim it isn't . There's some proof that it is , some proof that it isn't . But still people say that most of the problems the earth is facing are , more or less , due to global warming . When sales of apparel go down , when tons of driftwood wash up on the shore , when there are floods and droughts , when consumer prices go up , most of the fault is scribed to global warming . What the world needs is a set villain that people can point at and say , ' It's all your fault ! '
Wow . If only Karl Marx had such understanding .
88 :
Young girls in revealing bikinis are sunbathing in beach towels , listening to their Walkmen or iPods . An ice cream van stops and sets up shop . Someone's playing a guitar , an old Neil Young tune , and a long-haired dog is single-mindedly chasing a Frisbee . A Democrat psychiatrist ( at least that's who I think he is ) drives along the river road in a russet-colored Saab convertible .
A Democrat psychiatrist - - a least that's who I think he is . Since Murakami , long ago , stopped being able to perceive anyone beyond his or her Yuppie externals , how interesting . As Truman Capote once said of Kerouac This isn't writing . It's typing .
And this , from page 99 :
If possible , I'd like to avoid . . . literary burnout . My idea of literature is something more spontaneous , more cohesive , something with a kind of natural , positive vitality . For me , writing a novel is like climbing a mountain , struggling up the face of the cliff , reaching the summit after a long and arduous ordeal . . . That's my aim as a novelist . And besides , at this point I don't have the leisure to be burned out . Which is exactly why even though people say ' He's no artist , ' I keep on running .
Literary burnout ? ? This guy's become a cross between one of Billy Crystal's writing students in Throw Momma from the Train and John Cassavetes at the end of The Fury . Burnout ? How about an explosion from within ?
What happened ? For me , Wind-Up Bird Chronicle not only remains one of the great late - 20th Century novels , but one of most important books for me privately . I was lucky enough to find it ( or it found me ) during a time of brutal divorce . I read the book three times and it really did help me to grieve . And there are other lovely achievements : Sputnik Sweetheart , South of the Border and the short story masterpiece Tony Takitani . I think what happened to Murakami is right here in this flyspeck of a running book : the man revels in his own navel-gazing narcissism . Has there been a writer as in love with his own thought process as Murakami evidently is ? Okay , sure : Mailer , Miller , Lawrence , Henry James , Simone Weil , Goethe . But in Murakami's case , we're talking about a meatball mind . The man seems to be very hip to the notion that one must push one's strengths and forget about what one was not blessed with . And when his beautiful craft and strangeness carried the day , he produced beautiful things . Since things began to fall apart at about the same time he became a Big Time Literary Celebrity , whatever balance he once had between the unconscious magic of creation and his own ideas was trashed . And trash is what he's produced since .
But he sure knows his audience - - as self-involved and as incapable ( or unwilling ) to engage something outside themselves as is Murakami . He knows the happiness or sadness of every muscle in his body . Yet what about fatherhood , Haru-san ? You've been married to the same lovely devoted woman since you were both in college , and you have all the yen in the world . Where are your children ? Instead of wasting time on 62 - mile Ubermarathons , try helping the poor . Try fighting in a war . Maybe try homelessness for a month , sort of a modern day Sullivan's Travels . Prison helps the soul , so they say . Try it .
Anything . But stop eating your damn walu .
001 4 I have not read any of Murakami's novels ( this may change soon ) , but in his short stories he often employs subtle nostalgia for his characters ' pasts . Often this nostalgia blurs the line with philosophy , and after reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running , it became apparent why Murakami enjoys crafting his fiction this way : his style of writing mirrors his perspective on life . After traveling the world , training for and participating in marathons and triathlons , Murakami wants to share his runner's experiences and how they have molded him and his perspective on life . He presents us with a thought-provoking and entertaining narrative ( some of it culled from journal entries and old magazines articles he wrote years ago , but most of it original stuff ) .
The book is 1 / 3 travelogue , 1 / 3 self-help , and 1 / 3 runners guide . We read about the running environments and typical weather patterns where Murakami has trained : New York , Boston , Japan , Greece . We read about the mental discipline and courage it takes to be a long-distance runner . But , most of all , subtly emerging on each page , we read about Murakami the philosopher . His favorite topic is the merciless and stubborn passage of time and its effects on the body and mind . He writes candidly about his thoughts on training as he grows older ( Murakami was in his late 50s when he wrote much of the book ) . He writes about what he thinks about as he runs ( ususally nothing ) ; he writes about discipline . To paraphrase one of Murakami's favorite quotes ( I forget the source ) : . . . pain is inevitable ; suffering is optional .
Murakami tells us that he was neither a natural novelist nor runner . He has had to work hard at both , but both are things which require a steady effort , skills with which Murakami prides himself . As we read along , we learn about Murakami's start as a novelist , his love for baseball , his strong character , and how he applied his strong character to defy his friends and relatives and open a restaurant , become a writer , and eventually , a marathon runner ( even once running a 62 - mile ultra-marathon ) . He had opened a restaurant before he became a writer , but one day , after the success of his first novel , he decided to close the restaurant and become a professional writer . It was at this time when he also decided to start running and quit smoking ( in that order ) .
Although the chronology of the book might be a little out of order ( the book is not structured chronologically ) , and this might throw a few more traditional readers , this wasn't a problem . The translation seemed genuine ( although I can't read Japanese ! ) , as the translator kept all of the little Murakami-isms one would expect : little phrases such as . . . as I mentioned before , or little tangents into the second person . The style remains informal throughout .
Despite its ostensible subject matter ( running ) , this is a book for everyone , because its real subject matter is not about running - - it's about how Murakami gathers meaning from life . Using a master's touch , he shows us how this meaning derives from his simple act of running each day . I , for one , became inspired .
002 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Hardcover )
Taking its name from the play on the title of a Raymond Carver short story , What We Talk About When We Talk About Love , the prolific and popular on both sides of the Pacific Japanese author Haruki Murakami's memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running covers a little more than a year in the author's life as he prepares to run a marathon in New York . However , as to be expected from Murakami , the memoir is much more than a simple exercise journal . Through it's all too brief 175 pages , Murakami weaves his own personal narrative where running , if not as essential to his life as writing novels , acts as a strong supporter for Murakami's professional career because , unlike a number of other Japanese writers such as Osamu Dazai and Ryunosuke Akutagawa for whom self destruction through alcohol and other substances acted as a creative boost , Murakami advocates a healthy lifestyle in order to keep writing , yet , Murakami had not always been quite the health nut .
Writing from a desk in Kauai , Hawaii , Murakami tells of his lifestyle before he became a fulltime writer during which he ran a successful jazz bar owner with such unhealthy habits as smoking 60 cigarettes a day , but after the success of his first two novels Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball , 1973 which he mainly wrote at a table where he sliced onions and cabbage , he decided to give up his jazz bar to become a fulltime writer . Along with the bar and its noisy patrons , Murakami decided to give up cigarettes and other things which were injurious to his health and to take up running . But why running ? Murakami states that it is because it fit his solitary nature best and that it required no equipment besides running shoes and because it was something that he decided to do himself without pressure from others , he took to it as easily as he took to writing novels and translating works of American fiction . Therefore , from the time he began running to the publication of his memoir on running , Murakami has been running for some twenty five years and added such sports as squash and triathlons to his repertoire .
However , things are not completely smooth for Murakami , because as the years go by not only does his interest in running begin to fade , but he gets older , he will be sixty in 2009 , and his body is no longer able to perform as strongly as it had when he was younger . As his muscles cramp into hard stones , Murakami , like a number of his characters , contemplates death and aging and what impact he has had , if any , on this world .
Some Murakami fans grumbled when it was revealed that his next book would revolve around running because the sport was so removed from their lives and they desired a new collection of fiction more . Yet , What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is an invaluable source for the Murakami fan because one can easily see Murakami's characters within the being of Murakami's personal makeup and understand a bit how Murakami's different and somewhat difficult nature has made him bit of an outsider within Japan's literary establishment .
The memoir itself consists of nine chapters which Murakami wrote in various locations including Kauai Hawaii , Cambridge Massachusetts , Tokyo , Japan , and Sapporo . The writing style , like Murakami's fiction and other nonfiction , is very conversational and gives the reader the feeling of listening to an old friend talk about exercise and aging , and how said exercise helps sustain his professional work . The essays might be a bit loose for some readers because Murakami constantly jumps from topic to topic is each chapter such as from running to novel writing and then , quite unexpectedly , to something like record collecting . However , this gives the memoir more of a friendly , personal edge and makes each chapter full of small vignettes of knowledge about Murakami .
Although its focus on running , and its recent appearance in Sports Illustrated might put off some potential readers , What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a fine memoir which gives the English reading fan of Murakami so more info on the reclusive author .
003 4 Taking its name from the play on the title of a Raymond Carver short story , What We Talk About When We Talk About Love , the prolific and popular on both sides of the Pacific Japanese author Haruki Murakami's memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running covers a little more than a year in the author's life as he prepares to run a marathon in New York . However , as to be expected from Murakami , the memoir is much more than a simple exercise journal . Through it's all too brief 175 pages , Murakami weaves his own personal narrative where running , if not as essential to his life as writing novels , acts as a strong supporter for Murakami's professional career because , unlike a number of other Japanese writers such as Osamu Dazai and Ryunosuke Akutagawa for whom self destruction through alcohol and other substances acted as a creative boost , Murakami advocates a healthy lifestyle in order to keep writing , yet , Murakami had not always been quite the health nut .
Writing from a desk in Kauai , Hawaii , Murakami tells of his lifestyle before he became a fulltime writer during which he ran a successful jazz bar owner with such unhealthy habits as smoking 60 cigarettes a day , but after the success of his first two novels Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball , 1973 which he mainly wrote at a table where he sliced onions and cabbage , he decided to give up his jazz bar to become a fulltime writer . Along with the bar and its noisy patrons , Murakami decided to give up cigarettes and other things which were injurious to his health and to take up running . But why running ? Murakami states that it is because it fit his solitary nature best and that it required no equipment besides running shoes and because it was something that he decided to do himself without pressure from others , he took to it as easily as he took to writing novels and translating works of American fiction . Therefore , from the time he began running to the publication of his memoir on running , Murakami has been running for some twenty five years and added such sports as squash and triathlons to his repertoire .
However , things are not completely smooth for Murakami , because as the years go by not only does his interest in running begin to fade , but he gets older , he will be sixty in 2009 , and his body is no longer able to perform as strongly as it had when he was younger . As his muscles cramp into hard stones , Murakami , like a number of his characters , contemplates death and aging and what impact he has had , if any , on this world .
Some Murakami fans grumbled when it was revealed that his next book would revolve around running because the sport was so removed from their lives and they desired a new collection of fiction more . Yet , What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is an invaluable source for the Murakami fan because one can easily see Murakami's characters within the being of Murakami's personal makeup and understand a bit how Murakami's different and somewhat difficult nature has made him bit of an outsider within Japan's literary establishment .
The memoir itself consists of nine chapters which Murakami wrote in various locations including Kauai Hawaii , Cambridge Massachusetts , Tokyo , Japan , and Sapporo . The writing style , like Murakami's fiction and other nonfiction , is very conversational and gives the reader the feeling of listening to an old friend talk about exercise and aging , and how said exercise helps sustain his professional work . The essays might be a bit loose for some readers because Murakami constantly jumps from topic to topic is each chapter such as from running to novel writing and then , quite unexpectedly , to something like record collecting . However , this gives the memoir more of a friendly , personal edge and makes each chapter full of small vignettes of knowledge about Murakami .
Although its focus on running , and its recent appearance in Sports Illustrated might put off some potential readers , What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a fine memoir which gives the English reading fan of Murakami so more info on the reclusive author .
004 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Hardcover )
Murakami , 58 , authored 15 + novels , many highly acclaimed . He has received many literary awards and honorary doctorates . I have read and thoroughly enjoyed most of his best selling works ( including my favorites : Kafka on the Shore , Norwegian Wood and A Wild Sheep Chase ) . In reading this book , I had come to learn that Murakami had completed 25 + marathons , 1 ultra marathon ( 60 + miles ) and 5 + triathlons - this is a truly extraordinary accomplishment .
Murakami is humble , candid and straightforward exposing his mistakes , flaws and shortcomings - - one passage : But this wretched story of feeling I had as I stood in front of the mirror at sixteen , listing all of my physical shortcomings , is still sort of touchstone for me even now . The sad spreadsheet of my life reveals how my debts outweigh my assets .
You get into his mind and his incredible determination to complete marathons and triathlons - feeling the sun baking his skin and the water filling his lungs - yet he keeps his feet and arms moving despite his mind and body telling him to stop .
You also learn about the impact that advancing middle age has on his performance times and that they are no longer improving despite a rigorous training regimen - even if , seen from the outside , or from some higher vantage point , this sort of life looks pointless or futile , or even extremely efficient , it doesn't bother me . Maybe it's a pointless act like as I've said before , pouring water into an old pan that has a hole in the bottom , but at least the effort you put into it remains . Whether it's good for anything or not , cool or totally uncool , in the final analysis what's most important is what you can't see but can feel in your heart .
The book is described by Murakami as a collection of essays he wrote between 2005 and 2007 and then pieced together and edited for this book . I felt that the book often read like a loosely edited diary - - in contrast to his visually beautiful , smooth , multi-layered , dreamy fictional works . While I found flashes of the profile of his prior novels in a few passages , I found this book to be choppy and informal in comparison .
Early on in the book , Murakami discusses his strategy in running a Jazz bar in Tokyo - he wasn't out to please everybody - it didn't matter if 9 out of 10 didn't like his bar but that if one in ten was a repeat customer his business would survive . My sense is that this book will narrowly appeal to the one in ten repeaters of devoted Murakami's fans ( me being one of them ) - - readers who wish to learn more about his life , his experiences , what makes him tick - and more specifically , the role that running , biking , swimming and training for marathons and triathlons had on his writing and his life .
005 4 Murakami , 58 , authored 15 + novels , many highly acclaimed . He has received many literary awards and honorary doctorates . I have read and thoroughly enjoyed most of his best selling works ( including my favorites : Kafka on the Shore , Norwegian Wood and A Wild Sheep Chase ) . In reading this book , I had come to learn that Murakami had completed 25 + marathons , 1 ultra marathon ( 60 + miles ) and 5 + triathlons - this is a truly extraordinary accomplishment .
Murakami is humble , candid and straightforward exposing his mistakes , flaws and shortcomings - - one passage : But this wretched story of feeling I had as I stood in front of the mirror at sixteen , listing all of my physical shortcomings , is still sort of touchstone for me even now . The sad spreadsheet of my life reveals how my debts outweigh my assets .
You get into his mind and his incredible determination to complete marathons and triathlons - feeling the sun baking his skin and the water filling his lungs - yet he keeps his feet and arms moving despite his mind and body telling him to stop .
You also learn about the impact that advancing middle age has on his performance times and that they are no longer improving despite a rigorous training regimen - even if , seen from the outside , or from some higher vantage point , this sort of life looks pointless or futile , or even extremely efficient , it doesn't bother me . Maybe it's a pointless act like as I've said before , pouring water into an old pan that has a hole in the bottom , but at least the effort you put into it remains . Whether it's good for anything or not , cool or totally uncool , in the final analysis what's most important is what you can't see but can feel in your heart .
The book is described by Murakami as a collection of essays he wrote between 2005 and 2007 and then pieced together and edited for this book . I felt that the book often read like a loosely edited diary - - in contrast to his visually beautiful , smooth , multi-layered , dreamy fictional works . While I found flashes of the profile of his prior novels in a few passages , I found this book to be choppy and informal in comparison .
Early on in the book , Murakami discusses his strategy in running a Jazz bar in Tokyo - he wasn't out to please everybody - it didn't matter if 9 out of 10 didn't like his bar but that if one in ten was a repeat customer his business would survive . My sense is that this book will narrowly appeal to the one in ten repeaters of devoted Murakami's fans ( me being one of them ) - - readers who wish to learn more about his life , his experiences , what makes him tick - and more specifically , the role that running , biking , swimming and training for marathons and triathlons had on his writing and his life .
006 4 You do not have to be a runner to be inspired by this little book . Murakami's memoir details his hard work , perseverance and dedication with regard to a certain craft , long-distance running , and the positive affect it has had on his life and writing . Murakami's lessons can applied in life no matter what your profession or passions may be . For myself , his dedication , hard work , focus , goal-setting and commitment to a quality life are all inspiring . Plus , this a very enjoyable , fun read .
009 4 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami is an odd little book . It's a memoir , of sorts , in which Murakami writes about running . In addition to running , he describes his views on writing novels and compares writing to running .
In this book Murakami rambles a bit as he describes what running means to him . Even with the rambling , if you enjoy running , you'll enjoy this book . His obvious passion for running is evident on every page . Time after time , I found myself relating to his thoughts on running . He runs most days and has done so for more than 20 years . At one point in the book he writes about a 100K race he ran , which is interesting . He also writes about doing triathlons and the challenges involved with doing a triathlon .
I enjoyed this book - I enjoy reading about running . If you do as well , check out this book .
011 4 Like the author , I am both a novelist and a runner - - but he's far better at both than I will ever be . Murakami has run more than 30 marathons - - me just one . He's written numerous novels - - me just three ( and two of those still to be published ) . So it was with great anticipation that I began this book .
I found it clearly written and engaging but disappointingly slight - - the kind of book an author writes to make a few extra bucks when he's become well-known and successful enough to sell just about anything on the strength of his past record and reputation .
There are a few nice observations about life and running and the connection between them and some mild philosophizing on encroaching old age and how to approach it . But in general , I had the sense that the author was as much hiding his true self as revealing it .
His description of writing his first novel is fairly typical . He's watching a baseball game ( he gives the exact date ) and it's the top of the second inning and someone gets a hit and at that precise moment , Murakami decides it would be fun to write a novel . A few months later , it's written ; a few months after that , it's won a prize . Just like that , easy as pie .
Running is much the same . Occasionally there's some pain but mostly it comes easy , mile after mile after mile . He gives his muscles their marching orders and usually they obey . A couple of times , there are relative failures ( in running but not in writing ) and the legs seize up . But in general , no challenge is too great that it cannot be overcome .
As the book wore on , my general envy passed . One can't be jealous of Superman . At the end , I found myself regarding Murakami , not as a fellow runner and writer , but more of a phenomenon whose brain and body are constructed of different materials from mine .
And I found myself , while admiring him , also somehow disbelieving him .
012 4 What I talk about when I talk about running - Haruki Murakami
Theme :
Making best use of ones talents in running as a metaphor for life and especially for running is the main theme of this book . Murakami started running at 33 after realizing that smoking an average of 60 cigarettes a day wasn't doing him any good . Twenty four marathons later and well over fifty years old , he is penning his thoughts on running and the part it plays in his life as an individual and as a writer .
Essentials :
* You have some talents in any sphere - running / writing . You can just do as best as you can , by developing endurance and focus , without which one cannot push his possibilities .
* Long distance running is an excellent example wherein need for endurance , both during preparation and during the race , is visibly apparent . It is ditto with writing and in general , for most activities in life .
* You should do whatever you want to do irrespective of the talent you have , but be aware that you are only pushing your possibilities .
* You need to be honest about yourself , honest about what you would want to achieve and paddle on to achieve it .
* It is not possible to please everyone , but the key element is to please a few . If you run a Jazz Bar or write a book , you do not expect every visitor or reader to like what you dish out , only a few would . The measure of your success in your professional life is how many of such customers you have and how much joy they derive from your enterprise . Though you'd never realize the extent of it .
Some thoughts
How about walking ? Doesn't it achieve all the ingredients of pushing the limits and at the same time permit one to enjoy the places at a much leisurely pace , it is much more natural , remember , as natural as walking ! It is therapeutic and maybe meditative as well . Agreed , it is not glamorous or competitive as running , but it has major plus of being something natural , safe and perfectly healthy activity while permitting one to reach places at a leisurely pace .
P.S
* Somerset Maugham : A philosophy lies in each shave : Given enough time and contemplation on single act , the act become deep , acquires a meaning and life of its own . It makes up for a metaphor , maybe a microcosm of life itself .
* We come back to the rebellion of the existential philosophers : it really doesn't matter what one does , except the cadence one does it with . That is the revolt and that is the perhaps the philosophy that Maugham refers to .
* 18 till I die ( Bryan Adams ) : Means that you die at 18 !
013 4 I did not know Murakami's work at all before I purchased this book . I saw it in the running section at a bookstore and decided to give it a read . As I was purchasing the book the sales staff got very excited - turns out they were all huge fans . One person had even done her M.A . Dissertation on Murakami !
I was expecting some running inspiration . What was amazing is that I found an honest exploration into why someone does what they do , written in a way that was simple , moving , and eloquent . It had been so long that I cried when a book was over because it was so good , until I read this .
If you are a fan of Murakami , then the details of his life will be interesting , and are outlined very nicely by other reviewers here . If you are like me and not familiar with his celebrity , then what you will find is a moving memoir that is humble , insightful , and through its simplicities , leaves you changed . Even if you cannot relate to his perspective , you come to understand him and feel a sense of empathy .
If you are a runner , you will love this book , as Murakami speaks of his running rituals and motivations as metaphor for larger life lessons . If you are a writer , you will love this book , as Murakami illustrates some of the insights he has into himself as a writer and his writing process . If you just want a nice , easy read that is entertaining and touches the heart , you will love this book , because it does just that .
015 4 I hate to say it , but this is probably the worst thing I've read by Murakami .
On paper - - or rather , on the back of the paperback - - it sounded like a sure thing ; I'm a writer , and I've got a few marathons under my belt , and I was spellbound by the three other books I've read of his . So I thought I'd hit the trifecta when I pulled this off the shelf ( at Border's - - sorry , Amazon ! ) and saw that he'd written about writing and running .
And by and large , I felt a rush of excitement in the early chapters , a sensation not unlike the fresh lively feeling one gets at the start of a marathon , when the exhilaration far outweighs the effort that's been expended . It's fascinating , for instance , to read that he'd been the owner of a small jazz nightclub and hadn't had any particular ambitions to be a writer until he was in his 30s . I couldn't identify with that , but I could relate to his persistent attitude about writing . There's a romanticized notion of writers living the bad life , drinking and smoking and doing their best to churn out a great manuscript or two before their hard living catches up with them . ( I've lived that life , but in my experience it doesn't necessarily make one a better writer , unless one's writing about what it feels like to drink and smoke , and that eventually makes for boring reading . This But-Hemingway-did-it ! attitude often eventually becomes just an extra excuse to drink and smoke . Anyway , I digress . ) It turns out that the lessons of physical fitness - - persistence , mental toughness , goal-setting - - can be far more useful and applicable to writing , a lesson Murakami and I have both apparently learned .
But those insights are , by and large , done by the midway point , and what remains is a long and boring slog . I've heard that a writer should never confuse how they feel about a story with how good the story actually is , and Murakami would have done well to heed this advice ; his training efforts and race times were obviously near and dear and dear to his heart , but they make for rather unexciting reading . Also , his observations and analyses often come off as flat and uninspired ; as an author , he's great at conjuring up memorably fantastic scenarios that still seem real , characters that feel full , and plots that work like a Swiss watch , but without the ability to make things up and take them in unexpected directions , he's reduced to stating banalities like Nobody's going to win all the time . On the highway of life you can't always be in the fast lane .
To be fair , I'm possibly a little jealous . Murakami's enough of an established author that he could probably print out , say , every email he's sent in the last ten years , staple them together and call them a book , and sell a kajillion copies , whereas some of us are still toiling away in obscurity , unable to sell manuscripts over which we've slaved for years . But it seems even Murakami has the sense that this is a substandard work . After describing a disappointing performance at the Boston Marathon , he says , This may be a sort of conclusion . An understated , rainy-day sneakers sort of conclusion . An anticlimax , if you will . Turn it into a screenplay , and the Hollywood producer would just glance at the last page and toss it back . Elsewhere , he mentions reworking the manuscript many times ; while some amount of revision is obviously necessary , too much ends up leaving the writer with no sense of perspective on whether or not the work's any good . Like a jogger slogging towards the finish line , one ends up thinking about just getting the damn thing done with and resting for a while .
In lieu of this , I'd suggest getting Ann Lamott's Bird by Bird , which doesn't have any fitness tips but is perhaps the best book I've ever read about writing . But if your desire to read is as automatic as Murakami's desire to run , you may end up picking this up anyway . And if you're anything like me you may end up turning the final page wearily , muttering the tired marathoner's frequent post-race lament : Never again .
016 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
For almost three decades Haruki Murakami has been providing his fans with a steady diet of quirky , imaginative and poignantly intimate novels and short stories . And yet , Murakami himself has written very little about himself , and has tried to keep his own life extremely private . So it is very enjoyable to finally get a glimpse of this author in his own words . Granted , over the years he had woven many elements from his own life into his stories , but it was never too easy to separate facts from fiction . In this book he has finally decided to talk clearly and forthrightly about some aspects of his writing career , but particularly about his passion for running . It turns out that he had picked up running at about the same time when he decided to become a novelist . He needed a physical activity that would compensate for his sudden switch to a more sedentary profession . Over the years , however , running had become a passion in its own right , but not quite an obsession . All the aspiring writers will find his analogies between long-distance running and writing , and novel writing in particular , very revealing and informative . According to Murakami , three indispensible things that any writer needs ( in this order ) are : talent , focus and endurance . Unsurprisingly talent is the most important of the three , but other two are required as well if one wants to become successful at writing . It is probably no coincidence that these three personal qualities are crucially important for long-distance running . The impression one gets from reading this book is that for Murakami running and writing reinforce each other .
Even if you don't care about either writing or running in its own right , this book offers many interesting stories and reflection . On a very basic level this is a book about life , and how one particular individual managed to find his place in the world . In Murakami's case , we see a kind of life that many of us would be happy to trade our own lives for : living in some of the World's most desirable places ( Cambridge , New York , Hawai'i , Tokyo , Greece ) , doing what you really enjoy doing without any external constraints , being able to indulge in your favorite recreational activity to the fullest . The book manages to elicit a certain level of envy , although I am sure that was not what Murakami intended to convey when he decided to write it . In fact , we get a sense of a person who bears his own success and fame with a remarkable poise and even humility . Murakami may claim that he is not very good at interpersonal skills , but to me at least this book confirms that I would enjoy meeting Murakami the person as much as I enjoy reading his books . An autobiography that achieves this is definitely worth reading .
017 4 For almost three decades Haruki Murakami has been providing his fans with a steady diet of quirky , imaginative and poignantly intimate novels and short stories . And yet , Murakami himself has written very little about himself , and has tried to keep his own life extremely private . So it is very enjoyable to finally get a glimpse of this author in his own words . Granted , over the years he had woven many elements from his own life into his stories , but it was never too easy to separate facts from fiction . In this book he has finally decided to talk clearly and forthrightly about some aspects of his writing career , but particularly about his passion for running . It turns out that he had picked up running at about the same time when he decided to become a novelist . He needed a physical activity that would compensate for his sudden switch to a more sedentary profession . Over the years , however , running had become a passion in its own right , but not quite an obsession . All the aspiring writers will find his analogies between long-distance running and writing , and novel writing in particular , very revealing and informative . According to Murakami , three indispensible things that any writer needs ( in this order ) are : talent , focus and endurance . Unsurprisingly talent is the most important of the three , but other two are required as well if one wants to become successful at writing . It is probably no coincidence that these three personal qualities are crucially important for long-distance running . The impression one gets from reading this book is that for Murakami running and writing reinforce each other .
Even if you don't care about either writing or running in its own right , this book offers many interesting stories and reflection . On a very basic level this is a book about life , and how one particular individual managed to find his place in the world . In Murakami's case , we see a kind of life that many of us would be happy to trade our own lives for : living in some of the World's most desirable places ( Cambridge , New York , Hawai'i , Tokyo , Greece ) , doing what you really enjoy doing without any external constraints , being able to indulge in your favorite recreational activity to the fullest . The book manages to elicit a certain level of envy , although I am sure that was not what Murakami intended to convey when he decided to write it . In fact , we get a sense of a person who bears his own success and fame with a remarkable poise and even humility . Murakami may claim that he is not very good at interpersonal skills , but to me at least this book confirms that I would enjoy meeting Murakami the person as much as I enjoy reading his books . An autobiography that achieves this is definitely worth reading .
018 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Kindle Edition )
Mr . Murakami's book What I Talk about When I Talk About Running is an elegantly written little book that explores the inner mind of the artist runner as he works at his craft . Mr . Murakami is a good , but far from an elite , runner . His runs and races serve a purpose in his life , a balance if you will . He writes about us , the runners in the middle of pack , who continue to fight time and nature . We are on the down side of the hill . We are not casual runners who are running to get in shape . We are waging a battle against Father Time . He has written this book for us . You will not find a workout schedule or a dietary guide . This book is for the soul of the lifelong runner who has no finish line . I have not read Mr . Murakami's other books but I am sure to pick one up soon . I read this book on kindle and that format fit it well .
019 4 Mr . Murakami's book What I Talk about When I Talk About Running is an elegantly written little book that explores the inner mind of the artist runner as he works at his craft . Mr . Murakami is a good , but far from an elite , runner . His runs and races serve a purpose in his life , a balance if you will . He writes about us , the runners in the middle of pack , who continue to fight time and nature . We are on the down side of the hill . We are not casual runners who are running to get in shape . We are waging a battle against Father Time . He has written this book for us . You will not find a workout schedule or a dietary guide . This book is for the soul of the lifelong runner who has no finish line . I have not read Mr . Murakami's other books but I am sure to pick one up soon . I read this book on kindle and that format fit it well .
020 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
As an avid runner , I was excited to start reading this memoir . However , the content did not live up to my expectations . For a title with running at its epicenter , this memoir spoke plenty about the credentials one must possess to be a successful writer . I disliked the constant bombardment of necessities and characteristics needed for writing and the juxtaposition of these qualities with running . I continued on reading only to realize that if I wanted a guide to writing I would rather pick up George Orwell's Politics and the English Language , rather than a running based memoir .
What was most surprising about this memoir was the style of writing . At times I felt as if I was sneaking a peek into the diary of a high school student . For a talented and acclaimed author , I expected a higher level of sophistication , especially when describing his emotions . Not until the last 1 / 3 of the memoir did the writing attract me . I most enjoyed the pieces about the 26 mile run in Greece and the ultramarathon , where Murakami's imagery and personal determination really shined . Overall , there were moments when the writing whisked near something prolific , but most of the time the material undershot and missed the mark .
021 4 As an avid runner , I was excited to start reading this memoir . However , the content did not live up to my expectations . For a title with running at its epicenter , this memoir spoke plenty about the credentials one must possess to be a successful writer . I disliked the constant bombardment of necessities and characteristics needed for writing and the juxtaposition of these qualities with running . I continued on reading only to realize that if I wanted a guide to writing I would rather pick up George Orwell's Politics and the English Language , rather than a running based memoir .
What was most surprising about this memoir was the style of writing . At times I felt as if I was sneaking a peek into the diary of a high school student . For a talented and acclaimed author , I expected a higher level of sophistication , especially when describing his emotions . Not until the last 1 / 3 of the memoir did the writing attract me . I most enjoyed the pieces about the 26 mile run in Greece and the ultramarathon , where Murakami's imagery and personal determination really shined . Overall , there were moments when the writing whisked near something prolific , but most of the time the material undershot and missed the mark .
022 4 This book was read so fast that I wanted more . Mr . Murakami taps into just how I feel when I am running . I have always wanted to be a writer , so it is kind of strange to find someone who does two things that I love like that . Plus , he is very descriptive and makes you feel like you are running along side of him , if not running in his place . This should be picked up by any runner , writer , or both
023 4 Thank God for airport book stores . I've never been one to pick up exhausting tomes while traveling - - too much to read too much to carry - - therefore when Haruki Murakami's new memoir , What I Talk About When I Talk About Running caught my eye at Atlanta's Hartsfield , it looked just right . Short , light , with a little bit of F . Scott and a little bit of Zen philosophy tucked inside ( He never mentions Zen directly but his lifestyle screams it ) . As a runner who runs and doesn't believe in walking during a marathon Murakami captures this essential truth with quality and gives us his recipe for endurance . Not just with running but with life in general . His analogies to running and writing are simple yet powerful . For fans of Murakami's work this book should provide some insight into his his daily life , simple yet somehow powerful . For those unfamiliar with his novels , such as myself , I was sufficiently intrigued by his prose to grab a copy of Norwegian Wood , one of his acclaimed works , as my next read . At 60 Murakami still intends to publish novels and run marathons , presumably without walking . His recipe seems to work .
024 4 This book is a real surprise .
I've read a fair amount of Murakami's fiction over the years and have come to really appreciate how his work - often similarly to David Lynch's - juxtaposes the mundane with the downright creepy . He's always had an ability to shoehorn the improbable into narratives that concern the most everyday activities .
It was a surprise for me , then , to find so much joy in this little book of straight truth . Ostensibly it's a memoir , in which Murakami recounts the value that he's found in long-distance running - but there's a deeper message there . The writer meditates on ageing , on the role of the writer , on indolence - on life , really - in a way that is inspiring purely because it's not thrust at you as if by a motivational speaker . It just occurs , and seems to have an incredibly encouraging effect .
I'm not suggesting that I particularly want to run a marathon tomorrow as a result - but the concept of self-challenge , of testing limits as part of an everyday process is made to appear incredibly appealing and natural . This is the story of a guy who decided to do something because it appeared logical to do so , and of the benefits of a quarter-century's following that process .
I've other works of non-fiction by the author , but I've not been able to bring myself to give them a go , purely because I've been worried that they wouldn't measure up to the level of his fiction , but this little work has changed my mind . It's lovely . If you're a writer , or you're someone who's found an activity that seems to make things worthwhile , then there's a lot you'll identify with in here .
025 4 I was a bit disappointed , this book is not up the standard of Murakmami's other titles . I would have to summarize it as being mostly a running diary , and even though I am a runner I still didn't get a lot out of the book . It had very little ' story telling ' or new insights and I skimmed over most of it . I would recommend checking out his other titles unless you have read everything already and just want anything else you can find !
His nonfiction book ' Underground ' was very good . Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood are his best fiction , Kafka on the Shore is also quite good .
026 4 I am a fan of Haruki Murakami's writing , as I would guess just about every reader of What I Talk About When I Talk About Running would be . Why listen to some guy talk about running on and on - he's not giving any advice about being a better runner , as he clearly states - unless you already were a fan ?
The book is basically Murakami ruminating about running , telling personal history , letting us follow him as he trains for the New York marathon , as well as other races .
When I started reading What I Talk About , it made me really happy . I thought wow , this is a guy who thinks a lot like I do , and found a lot of sentences that I wanted to read to my friends because he stated something about life in a fresh interesting way that felt really true and elucidating , like something I knew but hadn't been able to put my finger on before .
Then I didn't read the book for many months ( because I loaned it to my friend and she lost it for a while , if you have to know ) , and when I came back , I had a different reaction . It was still interesting and I definitely looked forward to reading it . But it mostly felt like some guy just talking - talk talk talk - the sort of talk we do when we talk every day to someone with whom we're comfortable . We have run out of sweeping and profound observations , by and large , and mostly cover the day to day details . Which is great - day to day details need loving attention too , just as much as big profound ideas . And since I'm a fan of Murakami , it was okay by me to hear about his daily details .
Murakami is an interesting guy . He is droll and sort of weird . But he's not very self-conscious about being weird , even though he does think about himself a lot . I'll admit , my impression of him is shaped by the characters in his books ; several protagonists seem a lot like him . He has a quality of someone who submits to fate - and I'm somebody who finds the fatalistic outlook very compelling - even as he has this strong sense of shaping what he does . For example , he find himself to be a long-distance runner - there it is , he is one , and he sort of shrugs and doesn't question why a lot . But now that that's established , he is intricately involved with how to be a good long-distance runner , at least by the standard of his own potential , how to drive his body to its peak .
I'm not a runner . I've never been able to run more than a mile , even though I worked at it for a year once . But I'd like to be , at least to break a mile sometime . So that part of the book is a little interesting to me . But I have to say here that Murakami can drive me crazy with the running stuff . He says he's not such a great runner , which I guess is true if you're in this rarified runners ' world with lots of people doing marathons . He may just be a guy in the pack , and it is sort of nice that he's not a show-off . But what Murakami does as a runner is really quite extraordinary when you compare it with the real pack , all of us reader-people out here , probably more than half of which can't run over a mile . Get this , Murakami runs a 26.2 mile marathon every year , and once ran a super-marathon of 62 miles . So I find his humble-pie a little irritating , even if it's genuine .
What is most vivid and useful is when Murakami shows how he uses this runner's outlook and discipline in his novel writing . He talks about how it is crucial to develop focus and stamina , as both a runner and a novelist , and describes his own writing work schedule . After all , novel writing is sort of like long-distance running .
I found few great revelations in this book , but it was definitely alluring . In one anecdote , Murakami tells how he wanted to talk to John Irving because he was translating one of Irvings's books . Irving told him that he was too busy , but that Murakami could come jog with him and they could talk then . Not the best way to interview an author , but that's what Murakami got , and he seemed to relish the experience . That's what this book is like . We get to hang out and hear Murakami talk about this and that , but only if we run with him .
027 4 As an avid reader and runner , I had a hard time getting into this book . While I enjoyed parts of it , I found it tough to focus during much of it .
028 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Hardcover )
Murakami is a well know , quirky writer who has authored a number of novels and has a cult following . Although he is Japanese , and writes primarily in Japanese , his English is good enough that he also translates ( professionally ? ) between the two languages .
Murakami is also a runner . While his times are only pretty good , e.g . , a marathon in about 3 : 30 , he has been at it for 25 or so years , and he has true runner's view of running , if that makes sense . I can say this because I have been running for about 35 years and , although my times are a bit faster than his , I can see that Murakami is clearly one of us - - those people to whom running comes naturally . Not that he is fast , just that it is natural for him to run .
This book offers Murakami's personal take on running , as well as writing . If you are a fan of his writing , then this book will be a must-read . Even if you do not care one whit about his novels , however , this book offers a good view into the mind of those of us for whom running is a calling of sorts , a natural part of our lives .
029 4 Murakami is a well know , quirky writer who has authored a number of novels and has a cult following . Although he is Japanese , and writes primarily in Japanese , his English is good enough that he also translates ( professionally ? ) between the two languages .
Murakami is also a runner . While his times are only pretty good , e.g . , a marathon in about 3 : 30 , he has been at it for 25 or so years , and he has true runner's view of running , if that makes sense . I can say this because I have been running for about 35 years and , although my times are a bit faster than his , I can see that Murakami is clearly one of us - - those people to whom running comes naturally . Not that he is fast , just that it is natural for him to run .
This book offers Murakami's personal take on running , as well as writing . If you are a fan of his writing , then this book will be a must-read . Even if you do not care one whit about his novels , however , this book offers a good view into the mind of those of us for whom running is a calling of sorts , a natural part of our lives .
030 4 Obviously a memoir by a novelist about running will be of most interest to those whose personal Venn diagrams overlap one of those two circles , but I think even to those who don't fit those categories ( or who have only read HM's fiction ) said book would prove worthwhile . As someone who is coming to terms with his own aging and decreased athletic potential , I found his musings and hard-won lessons about same meaningful and instructive . To wit : In most cases learning something essential in life requires physical pain . Along similar lines ( regarding the increased effort required to keep fit ) : I'm getting to the age where you really do get what you pay for .
But beyond incisive observations on exercise , there are even more general ones on life . I think this was one of my favorite ; I thought of it as I went out to run over lunch instead of eating inside with my co-workers : Emotional hurt is the price a person has to pay to be independent .
031 4 I picked this book up because I'm a fellow marathoner and ultra runner and thought I'd give Murakami a try . Having said this I must admit that it is not much of a running book . He is such an ordinary runner and his stories are so typical that it gave me little motivation to keep reading .
I can say that the book is very well written and there are some great points and even a few places where I could really relate , but it just does not come across powerful from a runners perspective .
On a good note the prose is artful and even through translation it flowed nicely and made for an often uplifting read .
If you are looking for a Dean Karnazes type of book you are looking in the wrong place . If you are a marathoner , you have probably run farther and faster than Mr . Murakami , but if you are looking for some inspiration and some tips about how running fits into his life and is even a big part of what gives him real meaning to life then this is the book for you .
032 4 This book was really similar to having a conversation with the author over the course of a couple of long distance runs . The insights about his training , suffering , and victories throughout the running seasons were fun and reflected ways that I've felt through my running adventures . I liked the mostly positive thoughts and the unique insights about running in different cultures and geographies .
I would recommend this book to runners who are looking for a good literary work that is easy to read and a joy to explore .
033 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
I bought this book for a nephew that does track and field . I read it and bought a second copy for myself . I had read Murakami's Kafka on the shore , Chronicles of the windup bird and The Elephant Vanishes . This book works as a complement to the Murakami readings . Even though he doesn't present his process as a writer still this book helped me , in an oblique way , understand Murakami as a writer .
034 4 I bought this book for a nephew that does track and field . I read it and bought a second copy for myself . I had read Murakami's Kafka on the shore , Chronicles of the windup bird and The Elephant Vanishes . This book works as a complement to the Murakami readings . Even though he doesn't present his process as a writer still this book helped me , in an oblique way , understand Murakami as a writer .
035 4 Long-distance running has molded me into the person I am today , and I'm hoping it will remain a part of my life for as long as possible . I'll be happy if running and I can grow old together ( 172 ) .
When we discovered that we were going to Okinawa , Wendy suggested one of her favorite authors , Haruki Murakami . I never read one of his books until I saw this in the library . Strangely enough , it's about running , a topic I have little interest in reading an entire book about . What compelled me to read something from him was the fact that he translated Raymond Carver's short stories into Japanese . In fact , I thought he ripped off Carver's title , What We Talk about When We Talk about Love , my first Carver collection .
This is a memoir of sorts , both of his training for several marathons and his writing process . I enjoyed his ability to use running as a metaphor for writing , and writing as a metaphor for running . Murakami has an easy style of writing without pretension , something that books about writing rarely have .
I loved the descriptions of his runs around both Tokyo and Boston best , but I found the most inspiration in his recounting of his run in an ultramarathon ( 62 miles ) . That serves as a reminder for me to persevere in my Christian faith and to pursue Jesus as the ultimate prize .
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run , but only one receives the prize ? So run that you may obtain it ( 1 Cor . 9 : 24 ) .
036 4 i listened to the audio version of this book during my training sessions leading up to my first marathon . it was so great that i listened to the whole book during the marathon itself .
the tales of running that murakami recounted touched me very personally and , as a novice runner who has been overwhelmed with the personal triumph of becoming a runner , i appreciated the humor and depth of emotion that both running and writing evoked in him .
i would definitely recommend this book for anyone who is thinking about running , or has ever run . and this will definitely make a perfect gift for one friend of mine in particular who is both a runner and a writer .
037 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
One of my friends gave me his copy of A Wild Sheep Chase in 1992 , and I immediately became a lifelong Murakami fan . If you're one of those people who saw this book and immediately thought Hey , that's like the Ray Carver title . . . then you probably will like this book quite a bit , not only because Murakami translates Carver stories into Japanese , but because they share some otherworldly affinity derived from booze , bars , and odd relationships . Which is , I suppose , an odd comment to make about a book which is ostensibly about running , but the book is more like a memoir that involves a lot of personal stories about running interspersed with a good deal of autobiography about other aspects of Murakami's life . If you don't run , however , or if you despise running , then this is probably not the book for you . I run a lot , so I can relate to Murakami talking about running his 6 miles every day no matter what else is going on in his life , and running 12 miles if he misses a day , and even letting his obsessive-compulsive side take over and running 18 miles if he somehow manages to miss two days ' training in a row . While I wouldn't put this up there with any of his novels , if you are a fan , this is definitely on the must-read list .
038 4 One of my friends gave me his copy of A Wild Sheep Chase in 1992 , and I immediately became a lifelong Murakami fan . If you're one of those people who saw this book and immediately thought Hey , that's like the Ray Carver title . . . then you probably will like this book quite a bit , not only because Murakami translates Carver stories into Japanese , but because they share some otherworldly affinity derived from booze , bars , and odd relationships . Which is , I suppose , an odd comment to make about a book which is ostensibly about running , but the book is more like a memoir that involves a lot of personal stories about running interspersed with a good deal of autobiography about other aspects of Murakami's life . If you don't run , however , or if you despise running , then this is probably not the book for you . I run a lot , so I can relate to Murakami talking about running his 6 miles every day no matter what else is going on in his life , and running 12 miles if he misses a day , and even letting his obsessive-compulsive side take over and running 18 miles if he somehow manages to miss two days ' training in a row . While I wouldn't put this up there with any of his novels , if you are a fan , this is definitely on the must-read list .
039 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
A bunch of comments from Murakami about life , music , etc .
Easy to read and some pieces of food good for thought . . .
040 4 A bunch of comments from Murakami about life , music , etc .
Easy to read and some pieces of food good for thought . . .
041 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
It is well written , you get a glimpse of mind of a runner . Haruki Murakami is a popular novelist , I thought only in Japan , but apparently even in US he is well read by young people . I mainly bought it when the title of - - - running caught my eyes . I don't run and never intend to do it . But I have a close friend who is an enthusiastic runner trying to enter marathon event in every continent . There is full of philosophy not only of running but about life . I bought another copy and made a present to him at Christmas . I'm curious what he will think of it .
042 4 It is well written , you get a glimpse of mind of a runner . Haruki Murakami is a popular novelist , I thought only in Japan , but apparently even in US he is well read by young people . I mainly bought it when the title of - - - running caught my eyes . I don't run and never intend to do it . But I have a close friend who is an enthusiastic runner trying to enter marathon event in every continent . There is full of philosophy not only of running but about life . I bought another copy and made a present to him at Christmas . I'm curious what he will think of it .
044 4 I think even the most stallwart Murakami fan would have to be a little disappointed with this light book which focuses almost exclusively on his running habits . As a piece for Runners World this might be fine but for a book it seems more an exercise in vanity than anything else . The pages seems spliced together from notes Murakami made to himself over the years in regard to running . Some of the chapters read better than others . I liked his piece on the ultramarathon he ran along Lake Saroma in Hokkaido , Japan , where he stretched the limits of his endurance to the extreme , discovering new parts of himself . But , other chapters like Autumn in New York were oddly bland , seeming to focus more on his insecurities in preparing himself for his fourth New York marathon .
There is the occasional glimmer of sharp prose but for the most part this is a runner's journal , letting us know what running shoes he prefers , the music that spurs him on , how he battles with fatigue both in training and during the marathons , and a few of the thoughts that cross his mind while running , like finding the bouncing blonde pony tails of Harvard co-eds fun to focus on . You discover passion for F . Scott Fitzgerald and Raymond Carver , the occasional note on his own writing , his preference for 70s and 80s pop music like Bryan Adams , 18 Till I Die , while in training , and his thoughts on the ancient Greek marathon , which he ran in reverse from Athens to Marathon one scorching hot summer day for an article for a running magazine . He tells us repeatedly he is not in this for the competition , but seemed to relish passing a hundred or more runners on the last leg of his ultramarathon in Hokkaido after finding his second wind . He mentions his wife early on , who must not have been too happy about him giving up their jazz bar for his venture into writing and running , but hear no more about her until the end , as if to say his success merited his decision . For Huraki , everything seemed to fall into place once he established this strong regiment of running , 36 miles per week , which he has kept up for 23 years .
The book does draw to a pleasant close , mentioning some of the other personalities he meant during his marathons , like John Irving , noting his translation of Setting Free the Bears , and his ability to overcome his fears in swimming so that he was finally able to complete a triathlon . His wife resurfaces in her supporting role . Maybe they had some tacit agreement that he wouldn't mention her too much . Lastly , he notes the adapted the title from a short-story collection by Raymond Carver , which his widow graciously permitted .
045 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
This book went way , way above my expectations , fascinating for both running enthusiasts and readers who love great writing and fine literature . It inspired me to run my own marathon , as well as to spend more time writing . Can't go wrong with this author Murakami .
046 4 This book went way , way above my expectations , fascinating for both running enthusiasts and readers who love great writing and fine literature . It inspired me to run my own marathon , as well as to spend more time writing . Can't go wrong with this author Murakami .
047 4 The plodding title of Haruki Murakami's memoir , What I Talk About When I Talk About Running telegraphs the content ; Murakami treads along the pages at the measured clip of a mid-pack runner . Two quick sentences in the forward appear like staccato marks accenting a jaunty note : Pain is inevitable . Suffering is optional . There it is - - the plot laid bare . For the remaining pages Murakami's prose slows to a meandering pace as he runs the streets of Athens , Tokyo , and New York , musing on the meaning of life .
This is no ordinary running guide or how-to book ; Murakami's memoir is a series of life lessons delivered with the same precision as he lives - - more like a workhorse than a racehorse . Downplaying his writing talents , Murakami attributes two qualities to his success : focus and endurance - - his gouge and chisel for carving out a writer's life amid the malaise of a chaotic world .
A poster of Steve Prefontaine hangs behind the register at a local running store in town . Above the legend's photo his words embolden patrons : To give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the gift Murakami echos the running hero's sentiment : Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits : That's the essence of running , and a metaphor for life .
On the surface Murakami's words sound like something from a Knute Rockne biopic . Beneath his trite inspiration are strains of a more imploring message : in a long-distance run it is not enough to simply brace for pain . You must train for its inevitable arrival - - somewhere around mile twenty if memory of my one marathon experience serves me correctly - - and the very act of training , of pushing your body to its limits , is where you'll find meaning . Murakami puts it this way :
It's precisely because of the pain , precisely because we want to overcome that pain , that we can get the feeling , through this process , of really being alive - - or at least a partial sense of it . Your quality of experience is based not on standards such as time or ranking , but on finally awakening to an awareness of the fluidity within action itself .
Couch happy Murakami fans may not be inspired to lace up a pair of Nike's after reading that passage and for good reason . Who wants to hurt ? But pain and suffering are different animals , says Murakami - - the former does not presuppose the latter . In fact , it may even guard against it .
It's well-documented that the work of writers and artists requires toiling in toxic places , says Murakami . They live an interior life of the mind inertly examining the banality of human existence , seeking out the truth of our being . Marathon training gives Murakami the emotional energy for handling the strain of the writer's task . Time out on the road seems to strengthen his capacity for nurturing his craft . His continued success as a novelist is perhaps proof that the effort is paying off .
048 4 What an odd little book . I have read nothing else by Murakami , but knew the name , and this seemed an good place to start . The connections that Murakami makes between running and writing were quite fascinating , as are his thoughts on owning a jazz club and running an ultra marathon .
Ironically , although Murakami attributes success in writing novels and running marathons to the ability to focus , the book as a whole lacks focus . While each chapter is about running or writing , Murakami jumps randomly around the world in detailing his experiences in training for the NYC Marathon , running the Boston , running an ultra marathon in Japan , etc .
Still , a very intersting concept that makes me want to read more by the author .
049 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Vintage International ) ( Paperback )
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir . Although I am not a runner , I can understand why so mant people find running exhilerating - the so called runners high - when the endorphins dance in the mind . I can appreciate that a person is not really concentrating on their thoughts - they just let them flow like a dream . Haruki Murakami hinted at this . What I really appreciated was when Haruki Murakami talked about his writing - the fact that he wakes up early in the morning and spends four hours writing before he does anything else . I try to emulate this - it is not easy . I do find the mornings the best time to write . Mr . Murakami did not dwell on his creativity aspect of his life , he was more in tune with his running in this memoir . I respect his drive to forever improve his time in running - to always do better . That strive for success is impressive and contagious - makes me think about my own path to success . This is a book for both Haruki Murakami fans [ literature fans ] and runners .
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle : A Novel
A Wild Sheep Chase : A Novel
Dance Dance Dance
050 4 I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir . Although I am not a runner , I can understand why so mant people find running exhilerating - the so called runners high - when the endorphins dance in the mind . I can appreciate that a person is not really concentrating on their thoughts - they just let them flow like a dream . Haruki Murakami hinted at this . What I really appreciated was when Haruki Murakami talked about his writing - the fact that he wakes up early in the morning and spends four hours writing before he does anything else . I try to emulate this - it is not easy . I do find the mornings the best time to write . Mr . Murakami did not dwell on his creativity aspect of his life , he was more in tune with his running in this memoir . I respect his drive to forever improve his time in running - to always do better . That strive for success is impressive and contagious - makes me think about my own path to success . This is a book for both Haruki Murakami fans [ literature fans ] and runners .
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle : A Novel
A Wild Sheep Chase : A Novel
Dance Dance Dance
051 4 What a gem , this book . It's inspiring , it's a quick read , and it makes me desperately want to get back on the road running . Plus , it's an abrubt 90 - degree turn away from everything else I've read by Murakami . For one thing , it's a memoir . But it's such a simple , honest , charming memoir , as well ; you can't help but love Murakami by the time you're done .
The picture we get of Murakami is of a very mortal human being , talented and intelligent but more diligent and focused than anything else ; these the same attributes have allowed him both to write a novel every year or so , and to run at least one marathon in the same interval . I was reminded of Stephen King's description of how he writes , from the intro to The Stand ( revised , uncut , and excessively long edition ) :
When asked , How do you write ? I invariably answer , One word at a time , and the answer is invariably dismissed . But that is all it is . It sounds too simple to be true , but consider the Great Wall of China , if you will : one stone at a time , man . That's all . One stone at a time . But I've read you can see that m * * * * r * * * * er from space without a telescope .
Or Nora Roberts's method , as revealed in her New Yorker profile :
At Vesta , she said that she has one key commandment of writing : [ Butt ] in the chair .
Murakami's writing and his running , he says , both have this one-stone-at-a-time , butt-in-the-chair method behind them . He runs every day , even on days when he doesn't want to . He sits his butt in the chair and writes . He keeps at it ; eventually , with lots of hard work , a novel appears on the other end , and he finishes a marathon .
The reader - - this one , anyway - - could be excused for thinking that this humdrum tone is false modesty : that beneath it all , Murakami writes a lot and writes well because he's brilliant . He wouldn't deny for a moment that one needs a measure of talent to be a writer , but he says focus and discipline are at least as important .
You might wonder whether Murakami thinks of clever plots for novels while he's running . Turns out he doesn't ; he just listens to a lot of music and zones out . His zoning-out reached its peak during a 60 + - mile ultramarathon in northern Japan . There he felt for 10 + miles that he wouldn't be able to make it , but he just.kept.pressing.on . Eventually he reached a state where he could no longer feel pain , and where thoughts flowed in one ear and out the other . He reached the finish line after passing many of his fellow marathoners . He has completed one marathon annually for the last 20 - some years , ever since his early thirties .
That's one of the reasons why What I Talk About . . . struck me so strongly . I got my start running last year , and had gotten up to really enjoyable 45 - minute runs , when my flat feet knocked me out of commission and made my left ankle continuously achy . I've been itching to get back into running , trying to find a doctor who won't tell me , Your feet are too flat ; you should never run again . Murakami's book is the inspiration I need , both to get back on the road and to write a book I've envisioned . One foot in front of the other , butt in the chair .
Finally , not a small part of What I Talk About . . . ' s charm , for me , is that much of it takes place within Cambridge , Massachusetts . Apart from indicating that he taught at Harvard and gave some lectures at MIT , it's not clear why Murakami was here , but he was , in the middle of this decade . He lovingly describes his runs along the Esplanade , often getting passed by comely Harvard undergrads ; he has a real appreciation for my beloved city , which can only endear him to me .
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a quick read . It's inspiring and charmingly unassuming , and a perfect little delight .
052 4 Very simply written , the book is literally over in a couple of hours ( the time that Murakami may take for a half marathon ) .
What I did like is that the book is part memoirs , part running log and part philosophy , thus appealing to a variety of readers .
What could have been better is that considering the book is marketed on the running platform , that particular aspect could have been dealt with in more depth . To name one , runners go through many obstacles - physical as well as psychological . Though Murakami touches upon this ( i.e . I just lost all motivation for running after my 62 mile run and did not enjoy running for the next few years ) , there is no explanation on what he did to get back into the running groove , etc . . The running parts seem superficial . . . .
053 4 Since I have run for years and suffered all the requisite injuries , this book struck a chord with me . Murakami explores the subject in depth bringing up points that are not instantly obvious No one will suffer from reading this more than once .
054 4 This book is part personal diary , part biography , and part meditation on running . I have not read Murakami Haruki's other works , although they are on my wishlist , and came to this book while exploring the literature on running as a sport and a recreational activity . If you are exploring running as a sport , this book is more contemplative than instructional and I would recommend you take a look at Born to Run , or Confessions of Ultramathon Man instead . Having said that , if you have an interest in writing , or enjoyed Stephen King's On Writing and have an interest in running , this is definitely a great read - you'll learn about the life and habits of Murakami , as well as get to enjoy a great story along the way .
055 4 This is a good book for those interested in running or in the author . It's a very quick read , and brief , probably too brief in parts . At less than 180 pages , that's not a lot of space to talk . In addition , he wanders into discussion of triathlons for several pages , which those running purists will not like . However , for the space involved , it is worth reading as there are a lot of insightful things said about how running interacts with one's head and with one's life and work , even if you are not an author . Worth reading !
056 4 I was very pleasantly surprised by this book . I like Murakami well enough , read several of his novels , but must say that I enjoyed this non-fiction book of his even more than his novels . There is a genuine-ness in it that is extremely appealing . His feelings and thoughts are of the kind that everyone who runs can relate to in an intimate way .
057 4 As someone who relies on running a means of revitalization and stress relief to counterbalance my demanding legal profession , and as an amateur novelist myself , I found much to relate to in this novelist's honest memoir of his running / writing life . I've always enjoyed memoirs like Stephen King's On Writing that offer a glimpse into the forces that enable writers to succeed . But what makes this one unique is that the focus is more on the author's running life than his writing life .
Murakami makes a compelling case that daily training in preparation for competition has a purifying and empowering value in its own right , regardless of whether you finish in the front , middle or back of the pack . The reward is in the sacrifice itself and in the satisfaction that you're extracting the best possible performance from yourself . His observations on the impact of aging on performance , as well as the exhilarating and agonizing sensations experienced during marathons , triathlons , and ultras , while somewhat disjointed , are always touching and inspirational . After getting to know Mr . Murakami as a runner and enjoying his clear humble voice , I'm now eager to explore some of the novels he's written .
058 4 As a runner , I was looking forward to reading a well-known novelist's thoughts on the sport . His prose is pleasant enough , and his recitation of experiences is good-natured and occasionally philosophical . However , I just never found it enthralling , or even more than mildly interesting . When I reached the end , I thought , That was it ? Not a bad way to spend some idle time , but not terribly incisive or inspiring or lyrical either . ( Maybe it reads better in Japanese . )
059 4 I had never read Haruki Murakami before this book . My cousin recommended it because I started running , and he is an avid & experience runner describing in this book his life as a writer & his parallel experience as a runner . I loved his sarcasm , honesty , frankness .
I felt I had him in front of me , like an old friend , talking about his life in an honest , humble , moving manner . You can see through him while reading this book . . . as well as feel reflected in the quest to run a marathon . . . the pressure of training . . . performing . . . the fears . . .
Murakami was an amazing discovery . . ! ! ! !
060 4 If you are a big fan of Murakami work , you will enjoy this book on human endurance mental and physical as the author inflicts upon himself some of the toughest sports to compete in at any age ! From author , translator , long distance runner to ultra-marathoner to triathlete - Murakami takes you on his journey from the east cost of United States to the northern point in Japan . Along the way you feel his pain and frustration with his body and the affects of long distance events have on the body and mind .
061 4 This is the first book I've read by Murakami and I was very pleased . As a life-long solo athlete ( strength & cardio ) I could relate and appreciate many of the points Mr . Murakami expressed . This work blends memoir and introspective training insight . By the end of the book the author had gained my affection and respect . Because of his grasp of nuance and clarity of thought , I would strongly recommend this book to life-long athletes particularly those of solo events .
062 4 I randomly discovered this book in the new book section of my library . I thought it was a great book about a man in his 50s who has been running for many many years and the thoughts and feelings behind his running . I like it best because I can really relate to him on a personnel level . His running life seems similar to mine . I like his prose , the book reads really well . You will especially enjoy this book if your running is in a bit of a slump , and you need a motivational pick-me-up . Enjoy !
063 4 I have read a few of Murakami's novels . While I enjoyed them as a whole , at times I had trouble discerning exactly how I was taking the meaning or relationships in them . So , with this book I had some preset expectations . I expected to read a novel of a complex man , who struggles with the eccentricities of human nature , but found a warm recount of a man trying to live the best life he knows how .
Murakami touches on his past , his come up , and how he personal strove to be a different person and change his life . Much of the message came shining through to me as a story of perseverance . While life did not give him a free pass , it was not a trek down the mean streets either . He adeptly covers how we can find our calling ( even later in life ) , and if we diligently work towards it , can achieve a sort of contentment . In the story we call life , I'm not sure what more can be asked for .
064 4 I am not a runner , but truly enjoy this book . This book is not necessarily about running , but about running one's life . It is not merely about running from the starting point to the finish line , but about the life-long pursuit to unify one's mind , body , and soul , while using running as a vehicle . Whatever one ' vehicle is - - running , tennis , golf , quilting - - Murakami's superb book is enlightening .
065 4 I don't even run but I loved this book . Murakami is a truly gifted writer who manages to draw his reader into his work and keep them entertained , interested and challenged by his writing . This little gem of a book gives us a small insight into the man himself and how a little part of his psyche works . For the runner or the non-runner like me , well worth a read .
066 4 I'm a total Murakami fan , so when I saw this new book - - with a playful title from another fave author of mine , Raymond Carver - - I couldn't wait to indulge myself with a good read . I was not disappointed . I'm a runner and a reader and a curious watcher of other runners - - Murakami lets me indulge all three passtimes , with an overall free-flowing movement that covers the many self-assumptions and insights runners are privvy to in their practice .
067 4 Murakami-san books tend to be surreal and the endings could leave you in suspense . Hence , this non-fiction gives you an insight to him as a person and what goes through his mind as he runs the original marathon in reverse , his attempts in ultra-marathons and triathlon . Very interesting reading and his coming to terms that he can no longer improve on his timing and injuries resonates with runners around the world .
068 4 I'm an enormous fan of Murakami's work , and I'm also a long distance runner and a budding triathlete , so this book was almost tailor made for me . I think if you fall into any one of those three buckets you will find this book compelling and enjoyable .
Murakami's insights into the significance of running in the lives of runners is perfect - - it's a very hard thing to articulate to the majority of people who think you are crazy for running and would never do so voluntarily .
Also , the autobiographical tidbits are a joy for Murakami fans : they feel like clues to some of the mysteries in his novels .
I'm not sure if I would take any training advice from Murakami , but I loved the book !
069 4 I enjoy Murakami's free flowing thought process which is the basis of this book and central to his novels . It is clear from this memoir that his central characters in his fictional works are closely based on the writer himself . I have read all his books that have been translated into English . I also have a copy of his book Sydney written around the olympic games in Sydney where I live . Unfortunately it is in Japanese and although I have studied Japanese my knowledge of the language is not nearly good enough to read it properly . I would very much appreciate it if Amazon could ask Murakami-san to get the book translated into english .
Murakami Fan
Gordon Conroy
Sydney Australia
070 4 To say that Haruki Murakami is a fantastic writer is to shed light on the obvious . Unfortunately , only two of Murakami's nonfiction books have been translated into English ( Underground and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ) , but what's been given to us has showed that Murakami's charms and talents transcend that found in the pages of his novels .
With What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( a great play on a Raymond Carver collection title ) , Murakami gives us a memoir that incorporates the theme of running into tales of aging , relationships , perception , drive , wisdom , and fear .
To non-runners , we see this theme as a means to an end , but it seems that runners are also taken by the familiar scenes that Murakami enters into the text .
The reason this writer in particular can draw in such a wide degree of readers is simply because he tends to have no overbearing agenda . Simply speaking on the issues and events that have struck him as important on a personal level , Murakami preaches nothing , he simply speaks . And when he speaks what he speaks , people tend to listen .
If you're not a Murakami fan , then this book may be a great introduction . Small in content but just as effective in its goals and performance as several other Murakami writings , What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is quite simply a great read .
071 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Hardcover )
I got the book exactly three days after I ordered it . It's quality is perfect . I saved a lot of money on a perfect book
072 4 I got the book exactly three days after I ordered it . It's quality is perfect . I saved a lot of money on a perfect book
073 4 Read his short stories or novels . This is a runner's diary ; there is not much related to writing or literature or his development as a writer , if that is what you're hoping to find . It also reads as a self-help book but it's not much in that respect either .
074 4 This review is from :
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running ( Hardcover )
I enjoyed Murakami's previous fiction work . I never realized he was a runner . So to my surprise , when I saw this book I was excited . It's a great read and inspiring - for both runners and not-so physically active readers . . .
075 4 I enjoyed Murakami's previous fiction work . I never realized he was a runner . So to my surprise , when I saw this book I was excited . It's a great read and inspiring - for both runners and not-so physically active readers . . .
076 4 I am enthralled with Haruki . This is the first work of his that I have read . What a delight ! I will be reading more of his work .
077 4 For a number of years , I was a big Murakami fan . Then a few of his books disappointed me so much , I sort of ' fell out of love ' with his work . This non-fiction work appealed to me and I'm glad I purchased it . In fact , I purchased the audible version which is great . It reminds me a lot of Stephen King's On Writing , which is half about living your life , half about the art of writing . I pulled a lot of useful information from this book that I won't soon forget . Don't expect some grand climax to this book , however . For what it is , I think it's a great book and a short read ( or listen if you're on audio )
078 4 Rarely do writing and exercise appear as the main topics for a memoir - - there's something almost un-writerly about working out . Aren't all the great novelists supposed to be drunks ? Well , no . Murakami compares running marathons to writing novels , and it's a damn fine analogy . His prose is masterly yet humble . Whether you're a writer , a runner , or just someone who enjoys a good book , Murakami delvers with What I Talk About When I Talk About Running .
080 4 Haruki Murakami offers an extended , albeit concise , meditation on distance running that is both introspective yet absorbing . Unpretentious and not self-absorbed , Murakami draws interesting parallels between the life of a distance runner and that of a writer , in his specific case , a novelist .
He also offers trenchant insights on the aches and pains of distance running , triathlon competitions and the lifestyle issues that confront those who pursue such pastimes . Murakami is not in any way attempting to proselytize and his understated style may win many converts nonetheless .
My sole quibble is his bias against walking in marathons . He wants his tombstone epitaph to read , At least he never walked . Yet , I firmly believe that there is nothing shameful - either in a race , a training run or a life - - in stopping to walk . The point is not always the completing time , but the fact that one keeps moving forward , even at a walker's gait . Sometimes slowing down to a more measured pace is good .
Walk or run to get a copy of this book to read . If you consider yourself a runner or an endurance athlete - whether it's a journeyman or an elite competitor - - What I Talk About : is a genuine treat and may give you more to talk about , and think about !
081 4 I had heard great things about Murakami before picking up this book - being in Japan for a term I figured knowledge of a canonized Japanese writer and some insight into the Japanese thought process would be pretty valuable . God Dammit . Poor translation ( I really hope it WAS a translation ) , contrived metaphor ( this includes and abundance of cliches ) and little to no real , valuable insight left me wondering why this author is so popular . If you want an inspiring easy read , this book may be for you . If you're already a fan , sticking to his fiction may be for the best . 1400 yen and little to show .
082 4 For those of us who love Murakami and harbor the desire to get to know the guy , _ Running _ is sure to disappoint . He admits to being cold and distant - - not a nice guy after all . And the mystery of the way he lives his life ? Discipline , schedule , diet , and exercise . It's not exactly the cool Murakami I expected , but this book is full of inadvertently and reluctantly delivered sage wisdom . A good read if you run , and an excellent read if you write .
083 4 As a lifelong professional writer and a 5 - mile-a-day runner since 1980 , as well as 1985 completer of the Boston Marathon ( and approximately the author's age ) . . . . I LOVED this book ! Period !
084 4 Absolutely the worst book ever written by a ( formerly ) major writer . Honestly , it is incredible that someone could possibly have been paid to write this 180 - page scribble . But then publishing is like the Mob : once you're in , you're in . ( Or you're dead . )
Open a page , any page . Page 24 :
It's August 14th , a Sunday . This morning I ran an hour and fifteen minutes listening to Carla Thomas and Otis Redding on my MD player . In the afternoon I swam 1,400 yards at the pool and in the evening swam at the beach . And after that I had dinner - - beer and fish - - at the Hanalea Dolphin Restaurant just outside the town of Hanalea . [ Really ? ] The dish I have is walu , a kind of white fish . They grill it for me over charcoal , and I eat it with soy sauce . The side dish is vegetable kababs , plus a large salad .
No desert ?
Page 139 :
There were torrential rains in parts of [ Japan ] , and a lot of people died . They say it's all because of global warming . Maybe it is , and maybe it isn't . Some experts claim it is , some claim it isn't . There's some proof that it is , some proof that it isn't . But still people say that most of the problems the earth is facing are , more or less , due to global warming . When sales of apparel go down , when tons of driftwood wash up on the shore , when there are floods and droughts , when consumer prices go up , most of the fault is scribed to global warming . What the world needs is a set villain that people can point at and say , ' It's all your fault ! '
Wow . If only Karl Marx had such understanding .
88 :
Young girls in revealing bikinis are sunbathing in beach towels , listening to their Walkmen or iPods . An ice cream van stops and sets up shop . Someone's playing a guitar , an old Neil Young tune , and a long-haired dog is single-mindedly chasing a Frisbee . A Democrat psychiatrist ( at least that's who I think he is ) drives along the river road in a russet-colored Saab convertible .
A Democrat psychiatrist - - a least that's who I think he is . Since Murakami , long ago , stopped being able to perceive anyone beyond his or her Yuppie externals , how interesting . As Truman Capote once said of Kerouac This isn't writing . It's typing .
And this , from page 99 :
If possible , I'd like to avoid . . . literary burnout . My idea of literature is something more spontaneous , more cohesive , something with a kind of natural , positive vitality . For me , writing a novel is like climbing a mountain , struggling up the face of the cliff , reaching the summit after a long and arduous ordeal . . . That's my aim as a novelist . And besides , at this point I don't have the leisure to be burned out . Which is exactly why even though people say ' He's no artist , ' I keep on running .
Literary burnout ? ? This guy's become a cross between one of Billy Crystal's writing students in Throw Momma from the Train and John Cassavetes at the end of The Fury . Burnout ? How about an explosion from within ?
What happened ? For me , Wind-Up Bird Chronicle not only remains one of the great late - 20th Century novels , but one of most important books for me privately . I was lucky enough to find it ( or it found me ) during a time of brutal divorce . I read the book three times and it really did help me to grieve . And there are other lovely achievements : Sputnik Sweetheart , South of the Border and the short story masterpiece Tony Takitani . I think what happened to Murakami is right here in this flyspeck of a running book : the man revels in his own navel-gazing narcissism . Has there been a writer as in love with his own thought process as Murakami evidently is ? Okay , sure : Mailer , Miller , Lawrence , Henry James , Simone Weil , Goethe . But in Murakami's case , we're talking about a meatball mind . The man seems to be very hip to the notion that one must push one's strengths and forget about what one was not blessed with . And when his beautiful craft and strangeness carried the day , he produced beautiful things . Since things began to fall apart at about the same time he became a Big Time Literary Celebrity , whatever balance he once had between the unconscious magic of creation and his own ideas was trashed . And trash is what he's produced since .
But he sure knows his audience - - as self-involved and as incapable ( or unwilling ) to engage something outside themselves as is Murakami . He knows the happiness or sadness of every muscle in his body . Yet what about fatherhood , Haru-san ? You've been married to the same lovely devoted woman since you were both in college , and you have all the yen in the world . Where are your children ? Instead of wasting time on 62 - mile Ubermarathons , try helping the poor . Try fighting in a war . Maybe try homelessness for a month , sort of a modern day Sullivan's Travels . Prison helps the soul , so they say . Try it .
Anything . But stop eating your damn walu .
085 4 This is Murakami Haruki's meditation on running , which seems to be an activity that is just as important to the acclaimed novelist as writing . It is written in his usual writing style , which is casual , comfortable and chatty , and he regularly uses some of his favourite repetition markers , such as as I have already mentioned . . . and others , phrases that would be a sign of a bad writer or quickly edited out if they weren't coming from a writer as popular and critically-acclaimed as Murakami . The book is largely anecdotal , but also attempts to present big ideas about the meaning of running , the meaning of writing , and the meaning of life . It is as its most enjoyable when it is at its lightest and most shallow , when it describes the look and feel of things and the little patterns and routines of daily life . Ultimately , however , it is a dull and meandering mini-book that is coyly self-referential as it goes through a laundry list of running-related events without any apparent direction , and his attempts at giving some meaning to his running come off as a bit nonsensical . It is often clinical in its description of running , and Murakami actually describes his passion quite passionlessly . Certain passages are better than others , and his description of running on Kauai island in Hawaii makes me want to go there quite badly . He is at his finest when he ruminates on other runners that he admires greatly , and I can feel his frustration at describing the tragic loss of two young runners , newlyweds , in a traffic accident . His description of his life is also quite interesting ; his youth as a jazz club owner , his memory of the moment he decided to write a novel and his years as an early writer , his extreme devotion to whatever it is that he is doing , and some aspects of his relatively cosmopolitan lifestyle . And just as much as any writer , you get a good sense from reading this book of how he controls his life-regimen : no more cigarettes , limited drinking , limited diet , in bed before 10 and up before sunrise in order to run and write while the day is still young . It seems like a dull , stoic lifestyle but , ironically , also one that I envy as a fellow writer who is still struggling to publish his first novel and who also counts running as an interest and a preferred activity . Admittedly , I haven't finished reading this book - I read the first half or so while on vacation in Taiwan , staying in a house where someone had a copy of the book - and I might still finish reading it if I ever come across another copy . Like the rest of his books , there's nothing that leads me to believe that anything in the second half will illuminate what is in the first half .
086 4 Though a well-intentioned tribute to the significance of running in the author's life , the narrative lacks both depth and insight . Still , it is not without value , and makes for a pleasant ( though somewhat tame ) read . Readers looking for a more gratifying read on running , however , should try Benjamin Cheever's Strides : Running Through History With An Unlikely Athlete .
087 4 I have read about half of Murakami's novel and love them all for their unique perspective and deep insight . With the caveat that I am not a long distance runner , I found this book disappointing . It is very mundane compared to Murakami's other writing . I would recommend any of his novels over this book .
088 4 I was disappointed with this memoir . The only thing I got from this book was his preternatural gift for running . He doesn't stretch , never gets sick , and has never been injured ! I enjoy his novels , and had hoped he would have something insight to say about the transcendence of long distance running . He didn't deliver .
I recommend the New Yorker article over the book , which is totally worth reading .
089 4 This acclaimed novelist has written a very shallow and sadly vacuous book about what he calls running . Really the book is a paean to the author's iron will ( there's an attractive quality ) and is likely a cash grab to trade on his fame . Runners will find little of use here - Murakami's ideas about training and tactics ( even for a very modest athlete ) are deficient and unproductive . His experiences , which are very smooth by most running standards , are uninspiring . He often sounds spoilt and peevish , and is consistently humourless . He seems to have little in the way of a family to assist him in his education about himself - to make him laugh or puncture his huge ego .
From a runner's point of view , however , the big disappointment is his lack of the true runner's experience - the beyond the world forgetting that comes with distance . My training tip ? I think that he should take off his headphones and listen to himself .
090 4 The publishing world has a ( monetary ) fondness for pushing non-fiction books by fiction writers on us , hoping to capitalize on the author's readership . Stephen King's lovely tome about writing worked . This , Murakami's book on running , did not . I , too , am a middle-aged long-distance runner but found little insight or comfort of either subject in these pages . If you want to read something of depth about running , life , and aging , buy any one of George Sheehan's books instead .
091 4 Like many people I love Murakami . I don't have 1 favorite . It can be Windup chronicles , Kafka on the shore , Dance dance dance or even Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world . Yet , if you do like Murakami like me and don't want to be disappointed . I strongly suggest you avoid this book . It's autobiographic and has nothing of that magic of his fictional books . The only reason to read this book is when you run like he runs . If you want to read about other people preparing for a marathon this book has some insights you want to know about . If you don't run long distances and just like literature in general and / or specifically Murakami avoid this book . Don't spoil your feelings / associations / recollections by reading this book . Preserve Murakami as you know him !
