What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Ratings271
Average rating3.9
Product Description In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing. Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.
I listened to this while crocheting and/or taking apart something I had crocheted badly and/or lying in bed trying and failing not to fall asleep. The tone of Murakami‰ЫЄs personal writing is very similar to the tone in his novels (particularly 1Q84): simple and laid back and matter of fact with occasional attempts at descriptive passages that usually come off as awkward. The parts where he went on about New England weather were unnecessary. Of course I enjoyed most the parts where he talked about writing. The audiobook narrator‰ЫЄs voice reminded me at times of Tom Hanks‰ЫЄs voiceover readings of his emails to Meg Ryan in You‰ЫЄve Got Mail which was cute at the beginning but got annoying.
I don‰ЫЄt read many memoirs (or any non-fiction) so of course this reminds me of probably the only other memoir I‰ЫЄve read in the last year, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, because it similarly explores the concept of pushing your body to certain limits and learning that the difficult things can be proportionately rewarding, and using that concept as a metaphor for pushing your mind and your identity beyond your instinctual/socially-imposed/self-imposed limits and learning that you can become a better person or a better writer.
I can very much see the connection Murakami draws between pushing himself as a runner and as a writer. They are not just metaphors for each other; they are tied together, because the same principles are at work in being a good runner and being a good writer – practice, discipline, motivation, perseverance, willingness to move beyond perceived limits. The idea is so clear to me and I can envision myself as someone who exercises regularly and writes every day and keeps learning and growing – and yet, here I am, not exercising enough and not writing the kind of thing that I really want to write, allowing myself to spend most of my energy at my day job. I know I can be so much better – and yet I need something more to get me there, and that can only come from myself.
Really interesting stream of consciousness-esque book about why we run. Helped me explain to myself why I like running so much
Personal belief: 90% of memoirs are made just to be quoted. I felt that way with this one. It was more boring than most! But it definitely gets more interesting as it goes. Murakami gets honest about failure (despite never truly failing anything?) and getting older, which was cool to read.
This is such an unserious comment but it almost felt like I was being gaslit the entire time that he didn't care about competition and meeting certain times/markers. The entire book is about beating every marathon and it's so nonchalant about it that it honestly made me annoyed.
If you're a runner this might be motivating. If you're a writer, there are select moments of interesting introspection/analogy/commentary from Murakami. If you're interested in his life, go for it. But generally this was not easy to get through.
"At Least He Never Walked"
Where I’m an avid Haruki Murakami fan, me and running are casual acquaintances at best. I don’t enjoy running the way other runners seem to, and even trying to understand the mentality is foreign to me. I have incredible respect for people who are runners, let alone ultramarathon runners and triathlon competitors, it’s just not something for me. So when a gathering of friends decided to get together to read this book (as we all respect Murakami as a writer to varying degrees), I almost passed. I’m actually glad I didn’t, because there’s more to this book than a man talking about how much he loves running.
I mean, there’s tons of that too. Murakami is an accomplished runner as well as an author, and he has all the right to talk to us about how he prepares for marathons and approaches running in general. He lives an incredibly disciplined lifestyle, makes time for a considerable amount of running each day, and generally takes very good care of himself. There’s lots here for the people who run, where Murakami finds the motivation to do so, how deep he has to dig when he’s in the thick of a marathon, the mental preparations he goes through leading up to a race. I mean, at the core of it, it’s just a matter of strapping on some sneakers and going at it, but it’s easy to say that on paper and a thousand times harder to actually do.
For the rest of us like me, who find running a chore and something to only trot out when escaping a bear or something, there’s good thoughts here too. I liked Murakami’s thoughts on persistence, approaching tough problems, and many other little things that I can apply to everyday life. The troubleshooting he goes through to figure out a problem (like his swimming form) and the importance of just keeping at something are good things to keep in the back of your brain. While you may not be swimming, being able to identify a problem exists and trying to figure out how to fix it rather than just scrapping the whole thing/idea/race/hobby will get you far.
Not a long book, but I appreciated this look into his head as he runs.
3.5 stars - It was reading someone's stream of consciousness mixed with a runner's high.
I do need to go grab my running shoes and start running again
(3.5 stars) This wasn't very memorable to me but it did have some interesting anecdotes about how Murakami became a writer and why he runs. I now know a lot more about running but I don't think I'll ever apply it. A weird book to be introduced to Murakami but I'm interested in reading his more popular novels.
This book can be best summed up by Dory: “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming”
Short and light, pretty nice as far as memoirs go. I wish I could describe or even really understand what it is I like about Murakami's writing.
This book is a lot about running and a little about writing. I don't quite fancy running myself, yet I enjoyed every bit of this book. Murakami has this ease in the way he expresses himself and his values and philosophies in life which I quite admire. There's a lot to read and learn, perspectives that clarify some of our own perceptions...
It's nice to peek a little into the life of a writer whose works I'm familiar with as it does add some depth to my understanding of them
Enjoyable to read a book about running - a first for me since doing more running/training.
Murakami had many useful quips about life and I found his ways to remain optimistic and his motivations behind running (solitude, weight loss and because he wanted to and likes it) very relatable! He writes beautifully and this felt like a conversation with him. I was surprised that the book took me longer to get through than expected but I wanted to really read it and absorb it.
Quotes I liked:
p.vii (running mantras): Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
p.20: Sometimes, however, this sense of isolation, like acid spilling out of a bottle, can unconsciously eat away at a person's heart and dissolve it. ... It protects me, but at the same time steadily cuts away at me from the inside ... I've had to constantly keep my body in motion, in some cases pushing myself to the limit, in order to heal the loneliness I feel inside and to put it into perspective.
p.51 (on increasing exercise over time): The body is an extremely practical system. You have to let it experience intermittent pain over time, and then the body will get the point.
p.142: Dave Scott wrote that of all the sports man has invented, cycling has got to the most unpleasant of all. [I'm not 100% I agree, but it is a good line nonetheless!]
p.172:
This is a brief, calm memoir with a sense of humor and many nuggets of wisdom. Regardless of your pursuits, this is a good read. You don't have to be a runner or a writer to get something out of this. Would recommend.
I finally finished reading this book, after a couple of months on and off. Overall I enjoyed this book. It was very difficult to get into it at first due to Haruki's journalistic approach to writing. It documents his time striving as an avid runner and novelist and it has great detail, sometimes too much detail depending on the reader. I enjoyed his thoughts on running marathons the most; that's probably why I finished the second half in one night. I think it's really insightful to view another person's perspective on long distance running, especially if you're preparing for your first half marathon like myself. It's not for everyone but if you're curious about running, especially long distance, I'd recommend it. Personally getting into his dry journal-like writing is tough to get into and not my favorite, but you'll find something rewarding in the end.
I really enjoyed reading about writing related to his running and the process that he went to to get to the point he needed to or his running. The reason I don't rate it higher is that I felt a lot of his motivation didn't relate to me, and I feel my reasons for running just didn't align.
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
I have no affinity for running, even for short jogs, and much less for wanting to run long distances. Although this is not because I hate exercises - one of those rare things that I figured out early in life was my desire to remain healthy as long as possible and that of course means I need to keep myself fit - but probably my distaste for running stems from the monotonous nature of the activity. You keep pounding your legs with a short breath and no rest in sight, what is there to enjoy and look forward to?
My girlfriend on the other hand, loves running.
Intrigued by her passion, I began to take a more compassionate look on the whole idea of running, shunning my former dismissive attitude. What is it that motivates people to run marathons, putting their body through excruciating pain for an uncertain reward? It cannot be as simple as just the competitive spirit. In fact, running is exactly opposite of a team sport, it's as solitary an activity as thinking and dreaming. Can it be that the monotonicity itself is part of the charm?
In this book, Murakami tries to give an answer to this. Or more accurately, he dissects his own emotions and gives insights on how (long distance) running has been crucial to his writing. Both involve perseverance and intense emotional turmoil. While talking about the different ways in which artists produce creative works, he humbly says:
Writers who are blessed with in-born talent can freely write novels no matter what they do, or don't do. Like water from a natural spring, the sentences just well up and with little or no effort, these writers can complete a work. Occasionally, you'll find someone like that, but unfortunately that category wouldn't include me. I haven't spotted any springs nearby. I have to pound the rock with a chisel and dig out a deep hole before I can locate the source of creativity. To write a novel, I have to drive myself hard physically and use a lot of time and effort. Every time I begin a new novel, I have to dredge out another new, deep hole.
I think certain types of processes don't allow for any variation. If you have to be part of that process, all you can do is transform, or perhaps distort, yourself through that persistence repetition and make that process a part of your own personality.
Once when I was around sixteen and nobody else was home, I stripped naked, stood in front of a large mirror in our house, and checked out my body from top to bottom. As I did this, I made a mental list of all the deficiencies - or what, to me at least, appeared to be deficiencies. For instance (and these are just instances), my eyebrows were too thick, or my fingernails were shaped funny - that sort of thing. As I recall, when I got to twenty-seven items, I got sick of it and gave
up. And this is what I thought: If there are this many visible parts of my body that are worse than normal people's, then if I start considering other aspects - personality, brains, athleticism, things of this sort - the list will be endless.
As you get older though, through trial and error you learn to get what you need, and throw out what should be discarded. And you start to recognize (or be resigned to the fact) that since your faults and deficiencies are well nigh infinite, you'd best figure out your good points and learn to get by with what you have.
DNF left at 30%
I have never read his fiction books before because I just couldn't. I thought this might a fun memoir thing that would also help me start running again but nope. Just not for me. I tried.
Since Murakami rarely does interviews, it'd books like this that give us insights into how he thinks and how he is. Murakami nuts should definitely read it.
4.5 My first Murakami. Loved his honest, humorous, philosophical voice throughout this book. I'm not sure I've ever highlighted a book so much. It took me a little while to really start reading this, but once I did, I made short work of it.
Motivating!
“Most runners run not because they want to live longer, run because they want to live life to the fullest.”
Read this during the lockdown, eagerly waiting for it to end and continue with the morning running routine.
A must read wether youre a writer, a runner or just want to hear Murakami's thoughts on both of those. The simplicity with which Murakami talks and expresses his thoughts is what makes him an amazing writer, no beating around the bush, plain, good and right in your face, thats what this book is.