What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

by Haruki Murakami

book data

1,493 ratings, 3.60 average rating, 463 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		16%
4		37%
3		36%
2		7%
1		1%

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published

July 29th 2008 (first published 2007) by Knopf

binding

Hardcover, 192 pages

isbn

0307269191 (isbn13: 9780307269195)

description

Philip Gabriel, translator

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later...more

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06/24/08

Jessica rated it:

bookshelves: phys-ed

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: writing runners; running writers; probably no one else, really

I'm a bit baffled by how anyone who's not a distance runner could possibly be interested in this book, but I personally got a lot out of it. This is in spite of the fact that I'm not a Murakami girl, and honestly didn't enjoy the style of this book at all. I always feel when I'm reading him that I've somehow wound up with a crappy translation, but then I realize that I'm reading the same version as all the English-only Murakami lovers out there, so apparently I just don't like the way he writes....more I'm a bit baffled by how anyone who's not a distance runner could possibly be interested in this book, but I personally got a lot out of it. This is in spite of the fact that I'm not a Murakami girl, and honestly didn't enjoy the style of this book at all. I always feel when I'm reading him that I've somehow wound up with a crappy translation, but then I realize that I'm reading the same version as all the English-only Murakami lovers out there, so apparently I just don't like the way he writes. Still, I did enjoy this book, and I've given it four stars because I've found since finishing that it's really helped me with my own running. Now when I'm out there pounding the pavement, I think of Murakami and some things he wrote about, and it keeps me going. That's just what I'm after with these exercise books!

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running covers three main themes: running, writing, and growing older. This last was sort of a surprise, and was where I drew a large and unexpected amount of comfort, not exclusively related to running. Murakami was in his early thirties when he sold his jazz bar to write a first novel, and he took up distance running around that time. If Murakami can change careers, quit smoking, start running marathons regularly, and become a writer beloved of everyone in the world except for me, well then.... there's hope still for all of us! My life isn't necessarily decided yet, just because I'm nearing thirty. So now when I'm out running, I like to fantasize that I'm a sort of Haruki Murakami/Tilda Swinton figure, who's quit my job in social work to devote myself to my writing career. When I'm not on sabbatical in Hawaii, I live in a sprawling Manhattan castle with my older husband, younger boyfriend, and adorable children, and I take these long, rambling runs through the city to clear my mind for the novel-writing that sustains our unconventional and extremely good-looking family. I am currently at work on a sort of vanity project, this book about exercise called Where I'm Running From, which chronicles my personal journey from indolent vice to literary genius.... I know not all my adoring fans will necessarily enjoy this unconventional little piece, but if it helps a few poor schlumps discover the benefits of running, well then my work is not in vain!

I ran 15 miles yesterday, and not a few of those can be dedicated to Murakami, who really isn't a bad running buddy at all, as far as things go. Running is a solitary sport, which is why I like it, and Murakami understands and in some ways ameliorates the legendary loneliness of the long-distance runner. This is why I'm giving it four stars, even though I thought it was badly written. Again, I don't quite see how anyone who isn't a distance runner could get much from this book, and in fact I got bored towards the end when he started talking about triathlons, as I personally don't swim or bike. I do think non-runners could appreciate the description of his ultra-marathon, which was luridly fascinating to me as someone who would never consider running 62 miles and who believes people who do this sort of thing are complete mental cases. However, the main appeal of this book was in being able to relate to it. Murakami wrote about running, writing, and growing older in a way that made me feel better equipped to slog through all three of these often exhausting activities.... that's no small thing!(less)

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07/11/08

Lee rated it:

Read in August, 2008

An ideal book for writer runners (or running writers), but also probably worth it for non-running/non-writing readers as there's enough straight talk and suggestion about serious themes: enduring pain, aging, the importance of routine, self-awareness/alertness. Quick, lean, honest, at times amazing, occasionally mundane, definitely worthwhile. BUT WAIT! The really cool thing about this book is that it's also about authority. Murukami has run +25 marathons (including a +62-mile supermarathon) and...more An ideal book for writer runners (or running writers), but also probably worth it for non-running/non-writing readers as there's enough straight talk and suggestion about serious themes: enduring pain, aging, the importance of routine, self-awareness/alertness. Quick, lean, honest, at times amazing, occasionally mundane, definitely worthwhile. BUT WAIT! The really cool thing about this book is that it's also about authority. Murukami has run +25 marathons (including a +62-mile supermarathon) and written several novels. He's repeatedly done very difficult things to do. It makes sense to listen up when someone like him talks about what he talks about when he talks about how he's sucessfully spent his life. Some seem to object that this book wouldn't have been published by an unpublished author. But the deal is it COULDN'T HAVE BEEN WRITTEN by anyone else.

This second paragraph is more a review of a book review than a review of a book: I just read Geoff Dyer's kind of idiotic review in Sunday's Book Review. It's sort of idiotic because half of it is sort of devoted to the translated use of "sort of" and "kind of." I used to like Geoff Dyer, but I think he just pretty seriously slipped. Much better would've been a quick suggestion that a Knopf editor could have cleaned things a bit, or a more generous approach saying that the "sort of" repetitions make for easy, conversational, congenial reading, or maybe even an interpretative stretch about a Japanse hesitancy to make unqualified assertions? Instead, Geoff Dyer condescends to Murakami (a man who's written how many novels and run how many marathons?) when Dyer suggests that Murakami is uncool for listening to Clapton or the Lovin' Spoonful! I'm sure when Dyer writes about fingerblasting his girlfriend in Southeast Asia ("my fingers grew so wet it was like oil pouring through them"), he listens to something way cooler - my guess: later work of Todd Rundgren. The immortal masterpieces of Sting? Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's duets with Eddie Vedder? The Buena Vista Social Club?!

I also realized yesterday that this book helped my endurance while on a long run - wasn't feeling so hot but I thought of Haruki on the 62+ mile run and made it all the way home without stopping. If just to please Geoff Dyer, you ask what was I listening to? "Paris au Printemps," a live album by Public Image Limited -- perfect running music for me.(less)

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04/08/09

Bonnie rated it:

bookshelves: memoir, on-writing, reviewed-books, running

Read in May, 2009

3½ stars

Haruki Murakami is new to me, but evidently not to many: he has quite a number of fans on Goodreads. I decided that by way of introduction, I would begin with reading his Memoir because the title suggests it’s about running, and I like to think of myself as a runner. The book jacket goes further, telling us that Murakami reflects upon the influence running has had on, not only his life, but, more importantly, on his writing. He runs; I run. He writes novels; I’m writing ...more 3½ stars

Haruki Murakami is new to me, but evidently not to many: he has quite a number of fans on Goodreads. I decided that by way of introduction, I would begin with reading his Memoir because the title suggests it’s about running, and I like to think of myself as a runner. The book jacket goes further, telling us that Murakami reflects upon the influence running has had on, not only his life, but, more importantly, on his writing. He runs; I run. He writes novels; I’m writing a novel. Why wouldn’t I pick it up?

Now that I’ve read it, I wouldn’t say I regret doing so, but I confess I was a little disappointed to discover that references to running -- mainly marathons, actually -- far outweighed comments connecting the sport with his writing. And that’s another thing. I didn’t think this book was that well written, overall. But I am sure novel-writing is his strength, so I haven’t “written the guy off”, so to speak.

I gave this book three stars because parts of it are well written, and I definitely could relate to much of it. As Haruki says, “Even if the skill level varies, there are things that only runners understand and share. I truly believe that.” As do I. And when he does talk about writing, he has specific things to say. For instance, he says that the most important quality a novelist has to have is talent: “If you don’t have any fuel, even the best car won’t run.” The next important quality for a novelist to have is focus; that if you have focus, “you’ll be able to compensate for an erratic talent or even a shortage of it.” And after focus, “the most important thing for a novelist is, hands down, endurance.” Both distance-running and distance-writing require focus and endurance. He says you’ll naturally sharpen both by sitting down every day to write; likewise with daily running – by running, that is, not sitting down. “Almost imperceptibly you’ll make the bar rise.”

But what made me smile, and the reason for the extra half-star: Writing novels, to me, is basically a kind of manual labor. Writing itself is mental labor, but finishing an entire book is closer to manual labor.... Most people, though, only see the surface reality of writing and think of writers as involved in quiet, intellectual work done in their study. If you have the strength to lift a coffee cup, they figure, you can write a novel. But… sitting at your desk, focusing your mind like a laser beam, imagining something out of a blank horizon, creating a story, selecting the right words, one by one, keeping the whole flow of the story on track – requires far more energy, over a long period than most people ever imagine. You might not move your body around, but there’s grueling, dynamic labor going on inside you. Everybody uses their minds when they think. But a writer puts on an outfit called narrative and thinks with his entire being; and for the novelist that process requires putting into play all of your physical reserve, often to the point of overexertion. This is so true. And it is why I try to make myself take a break, go for a run. It not only allows me to stretch my limbs, it allows me to let my brain run free.

Murakami says that expressions on the faces of people who run regularly are all the same: they look like they’re thinking about something as they run even though they may really be thinking about nothing at all. This reminded me of when I used to run 10 km at least six days a week. I did that for years. Unlike Haruki, though, I never did and never do, listen to music when I run. I take in the scenery, and as I said, allow my mind to wander. When on a run as a break from working on my novel, I have learned that carrying a notepad and small pencil is a must, because if I don’t, any idea — and there will always be an idea, or I’ll realize I need to change something – will get lost in the wind if I don’t stop to write it down. I learned this lesson when I found that repeating an idea over and over again until arriving back home didn’t work, either. Running and mind-wandering go together.

So who is this book for, really? Anyone who either runs marathons or participates in triathlons or does both, would at least find a kindred spirit in this author. Actually, I don’t race anymore, and the longest race I ever participated in was a half-marathon, but it was interesting reading about his training, the inevitable pain, his aging, and how that has changed what he can expect from his body. Yes, aging means one must adapt, something I’ve certainly had to come to terms with, as has Haruki Murakami. An interesting man; I must read something else by him. I have decided on Norwegian Wood. That is, unless anyone has a better suggestion.
(less)

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06/10/08

Randomanthony rated it:

bookshelves: murakami

Read in August, 2008

Spare and meditative. I'm not a runner (more of an elliptical guy) but this book is as much about aging, creativity, acceptance, and finding your own peace with who you are (ok, that sounds way more new agey than I mean) as marathons. Murakami fans will recognize the author's lean, simple prose and new readers may find an easy introduction to Murakami's work. Don't be fooled by the slim nature of this volume; you can tell Murakami put a lot of soul into What I Talk About When I Talk About Run...more

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04/03/09

Hannah rated it:

Read in April, 2009

This was great! But I was kind of hoping it would make me want to quit smoking and start being a runner. It did not. If anything, it solidified my already-pretty-solid hatred of the idea of running. God damn stupid healthy Haruki.

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11/23/08

Trin rated it:

bookshelves: biography, japanese-lit, sports

Read in November, 2008

Yet another way in which Haruki Murakami is more awesome than you: not only does he write amazing novels and nifty short stories, he’s also a long-distance runner who’s raced in marathons, triathalons, and even a day-long supermarathon in Hokkaido. This book, the first piece of nonfiction I’ve read by him, chronicles a year in his life as a runner. I liked it less than his fiction. Parts are slow: the endless tally serious runners have to make of distances run in such-and-such lengths of t...more

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08/10/08

Yulia added it

bookshelves: by-and-of-japan, lit-lite, me-moirs, one-day-perhaps, writers-on-writing

Read in August, 2008

As anyone who knows me is aware, I've read everything by Murakami thsat has been translated into English. I don't love every book, some have frustrating flaws, but others (and this applies to several of his short stories) remind me of everything I love about reading: the clean language, the quirky images, the empathy invoked for animals I'm allergic to (cats), the wonders of dropping all responsibility to pursue a mystery that may not be answerable. His books, regardless of their quality, are ...more

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01/27/09

Aeron rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Murakami fans rejoice: this is likely to be your best window into his soul.

I really enjoyed this book, although I have to admit I am a little disappointed. The Murakami in my head was much more interesting than the one that comes out in this memoir/essay collection. Ostensibly about long-distance running, the book is a candid collection of snapshots into Murakami's lifestyle and history, including a lot of long distance running (he's completed almost 30 marathons with a sprinkling o...more

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01/10/09

David rated it:

Enjoyed this tremendously. A novelist's reflections on his 25-year distance running habit as he prepares for the New York marathon 2005. He's not a great runner, nor especially scientific in approach to training, so I can't say you'll learn too much you can use in that regard. It's more that he has a terrific way with words and a thoughtful perspective on running and life.

Many pleasant digressions along the way concerning famous Japanese marathoners, his voluminous record collect...more

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12/30/08

Tyson rated it:

Read in December, 2008

I'm a tremendously huge fan of Haruki Murakami and will read whatever he publishes. This book is a series of essays , a memior, or running. it's disconcerting to read pure nonfiction from one of my favorite fiction authors. As a half-earted runner myself, I felt at times inspired. At other times I liked the direct or inferred relationship between his running and the writing process.

I'd be more more interested in reading his fiction tough, which is absolutely top flight!

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12/04/08

Nikki rated it:

bookshelves: east-asia, memoir, writing

Read in December, 2008

This was an interesting book; I would say that it has some re-readability. I became aware that it existed when I saw that the person who used a catalog computer before me searched for this ... and I thought, why not, I'll give it a read. This book is not as cohesive as it could be, but the parts toward the beginning, where he talks about running and writing and how they are connected, are interesting. So are the parts where he talks about Japanese stereotypes of writers.

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01/18/09

Sharron rated it:

bookshelves: 2009-reads, memoir

Read in January, 2009

This short book is really a group of essays linked together by Murakami's activity of running. I found it to be an interesting read and a way to learn more about one of my favorite authors. And I found out we have a few things in common. I started running at a later stage in my life and find it a way to think about my life. I tend to be a solitary person which is something Murakami states about himself. I'm not sure if anyone who isn't a Murakami fan or a runner would find this book interes...more

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12/30/08

Danielle rated it:

Read in September, 2008

My first Murakami read, and I must say, I was very favorably impressed by it.

This memoir is an interesting introduction to Murakami's style. After finishing it I went on to try (and enjoy) Kafka on the Shore, and I really felt like that experience was enhanced by the knowledge of Murakami that I gained from reading Running.

Running is pleasantly engaging without being glamorous or thrilling. Reading it is rather like listening to a reserved but intelligent person talk ab...more

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08/28/08

Danika rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommends it for: runners

Y'know, I did not love this book. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is not a runner. It's way too specific and longwinded for a non-runner to appreciate. Here's my gripe: he's WAY too wrapped up in times and doesn't seem to enjoy long-distance running for the sake of it. For instance, he plans to run the NYC marathon one year and his goals are 1) to finish 2) to NEVER walk, only run and 3) to enjoy himself. Sorry, but I think that's crazy! Who cares if you walk for a bit? And enjo...more

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12/30/08

Lisa rated it:

Read in December, 2008

You really have to be interested in running, particularly long-distance running to enjoy this book. There isn't a lot of insight into the author's life as an author, but as I said, if you're into running...

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11/04/08

mgd rated it:

Read in October, 2008

recommends it for: runners, triathletes, people curious about how others live

I wanted a book called "what I think about when I think about swimming" but had to settle for running. My patience was rewarded when later in his life he takes up triathlons and goes through a complete and gradual stroke revision. The writing style is spare, honest and somehow very Japanese. I felt it was very close to his thoughts. The early part seems a bit plodding and unfocused, but by the end I felt very close to him.

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03/31/09

Platoeatssouls rated it:

bookshelves: nonfiction, theboxmarkeddone

Read in January, 2009

As both a serious runner and a writer, I felt like I got a lot out of this. Like most Murakami books, however, the things I clung to from its narrative vanished almost as soon as I was done, like snow held too long in the hands.

Lacking the occasionally overwrought prose of his fiction works (about which I have mixed feelings), this memoir is mostly the training journal he kept while training for a marathon and a triathlon one year. The similarities between running and writing are hel...more

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03/11/09

David rated it:

The audience for this book--a memoir of the author's life as a writer and a marathon runner--is probably limited to distance runners who are Murakami fans. It’s not a bad book, but it doesn't begin to approach the power and mysteriousness of Murakami's fiction.

Part of the problem is that it shows up the weaknesses of Murakami’s writing style. He has a very low wattage, meandering, conversational narrative style. It's almost an absence of style. It’s not like, say, Richard Yates...more The audience for this book--a memoir of the author's life as a writer and a marathon runner--is probably limited to distance runners who are Murakami fans. It’s not a bad book, but it doesn't begin to approach the power and mysteriousness of Murakami's fiction.

Part of the problem is that it shows up the weaknesses of Murakami’s writing style. He has a very low wattage, meandering, conversational narrative style. It's almost an absence of style. It’s not like, say, Richard Yates’ style in Revolutionary Road, which reads as totally transparent, but where the craft that went into creating the illusion of transparency gleams off of every word. Murakami's prose doesn't grab you by the lapels. Rather it gradually pulls you in, building to a cumulative effect that is absorbing and quite moving.

It also hints at and evokes a kind of metaphysical surround, a dimly perceived spiritual or metaphysical current flowing through ordinary events. For example the subtext of The Wind up Bird Chronicle is the spiritual aftereffects of the Japanese role in World War II.

This element is largely missing from What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. It’s not entirely absent. The passage about how Murakami was inspired to become a writer has some of these qualities—he’s sitting in the stands at a baseball game and suddenly the thought occurs to him, as far as the reader knows out of the blue of the afternoon sky, “I could write a novel.” One night soon thereafter he comes home late after closing the jazz club he owns, sits down and starts writing, and in short order finishes a novel. He mails the only copy of the manuscript to a literary competition and forgets about it, until he receives a letter informing him that he’s won a prize. This inspires him to keep writing. Coincidence is a big theme in Murakami, and the power and mystery of this tale comes from the way the random but ideal circumstances of the day seem to pull the conviction that he could write a novel from out of thin air. He then acts on it, without much expectation or much at stake. He seems to win the competition as much by chance as by destiny, and his subsequent career as a writer also seems fortuitous up to a point.

The other side of the story is the way he seizes the chance offered by fortune and works diligently to turn it to his advantage. This is where running comes in. Eventually he sells his jazz club and begins writing full time. Writing is a solitary and sedentary endeavor, and he soon begins to feel sluggish and starts putting on the pounds. So he starts running. Running becomes part of the means by which he totally commits himself to the craft of writing and the vocation of novelist. It helps instill the discipline and routine, and provides the physical stamina necessary to sustain a single writing project over a period of months or years.

But the problem with What I Talk About is that, while its not a self help book, it does frequently boil things down to life lessons that seem a bit banal (though not necessarily trivial, because banal as the are they are still good rules to live by). The vagueness and indirection that makes his fiction seem mysterious (and therefore absorbing) makes the prose here seem slack and uninspired, since it doesn't point to much of anything other than Murakami's desire to keep pounding the pavement and writing novels. (less)

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02/26/09

Matt Briggs rated it:

Read in February, 2009

This book is kind of slight for Murakami I think. It just doesn't have a lot going on, but it manages to obsessively circle around the same sense observation with a pleasant kind of patience that after awhile I was won over by the book's simplicity. He was just writing about running, and the shoes he wore, and all of the races he managed to finish but never win. The entire time he is gradually doing more poorly and always working harder and more carefully to finish running marathons. I like it t...more This book is kind of slight for Murakami I think. It just doesn't have a lot going on, but it manages to obsessively circle around the same sense observation with a pleasant kind of patience that after awhile I was won over by the book's simplicity. He was just writing about running, and the shoes he wore, and all of the races he managed to finish but never win. The entire time he is gradually doing more poorly and always working harder and more carefully to finish running marathons. I like it that the book does not try to find profound meaning in these experiences but rather struggles to just get the whole experience captured and observed well enough. I suspect that Murakimi imagined the book was one of his marathons and when he finished he maybe regretted certain parts of it and other parts was happy with -- but the typical aspects of a writer thinking about his book (like this part kicked ass. I did a good job or how did I do that. I wrote that! Or I really have no idea what I was thinking here, I should have cut that part. Next time I'm hiring a great editor to whip me into shape...) these were not things he thought. Rather the thought, I wrote this thing and the pages, and wrote one word, one sentence, one page after the next and here it is and I am glad to be done. It is a short book, and this was also my feeling after having read it. There were parts interesting. There were parts that were like, I imagine, training on a really boring track. It captured really the weird, understated inevitability of endurance I think really well. Usually when I have to endure something there is no way understanding it. I try to understand it but to get through it. And this book kind of made me think that those weeks when endurance is called for are important weeks while they are happening. You can't smell the roses or anything because you are busy enduring something -- but something to be endured is still sensation, experience, and life. Rest will come, eventually, even it doesn't last very long.(less)

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01/09/09

Dewitt rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Though Don Lee, a writer I admire, admires Murakami, I've been retrograde. This is the first Murakami I have read. It is inspiring, especially as it connects long distance running with writing. Both take heart; both take dedication, day by day; and both take discipline. This plain speaking, profound book is part runner's diary, part writers' handbook, part spiritual meditation. I wish I could say I recognize Mr. Murakami from training around the Charles River (I don't) but his example is br...more

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quotes from this book

"At a certain point in our lives, when we really need a clear-cut solution, the person who knocks at our door is, more likely than not, a messenger bearing bad news. This isn’t always the case, but from experience I’d say the gloomy reports far outnumber the others. The messenger touches his hand to his cap and looks apologetic, but that does nothing to improve the contents of the message. It isn’t the messenger’s fault. No good to blame him, no good to grab him by the collar and shake him. The messenger is just conscientiously doing the job his boss assigned him. And this boss? That would be none other than our old friend Reality." More quotes...