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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami,

Philip Gabriel (Translator)

3.84 · Rating details · 93,079 ratings · 9,019 reviews

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. ...more

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Hardcover, 188 pages

Published July 29th 2008 by Knopf Publishing Group (first published October 15th 2007)

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Feb 28, 2017 Sean Barrs the Bookdragon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: runners and writers

Shelves: favourites, non-fiction, 5-star-reads, running

To get through life some people drink copious amounts of alcohol to de-stress. Others smoke tobacco or cannabis. Some try heavier substances. My drug of choice, my way of clearing my head, calming down and escaping for a few hours, is to run. I am an absolute junkie. Sometimes I feel like I live to run. When I’m not reading, writing or cycling to work, then I’m running. It’s a fantastic experience, blasting my favourite psychedelic rock albums as I lose all my troubles on the road. Anyone who To get through life some people drink copious amounts of alcohol to de-stress. Others smoke tobacco or cannabis. Some try heavier substances. My drug of choice, my way of clearing my head, calming down and escaping for a few hours, is to run. I am an absolute junkie. Sometimes I feel like I live to run. When I’m not reading, writing or cycling to work, then I’m running. It’s a fantastic experience, blasting my favourite psychedelic rock albums as I lose all my troubles on the road. Anyone who has taken up running seriously will understand how much of a drug it can be.

As strange as it may sound, I don’t think I’d be able to write a single review on here or even read a single book if I didn’t run regularly. I’m naturally quite a fidgety person. I have lots of energy and don’t like to sit still. I want to be outside! I also pace up and down a lot if I’m bored. Running calms me down. It allows me to sit at a desk (sometimes all day) writing essays for university. It also means I sleep at night. Without running, I just don’t get much. I end up with about 4-5 hours of sleep because I’m just not tired. I’m then perpetually groggy and moody the next day.

Running is such a healthy thing to do, and, as Murakami recognises, for some people it is essential for mental balance. It keeps them sane. Murakami gets running; he understands the point of it. I’ve often been asked: “why do you go running?” or “what’s the point of it?” The answer is simple: I go running to live. Being a literature student, and working in a pretty slow and unphysical environment, means I’m restless. We all need some form of exercise and some time to ourselves to reflect and be introspective. And that's what running is all about, at least for me and the author of this book.

For Murakmi it was an essential part of his writing process. In order to write novels, he had to run. As he was aiming for a deadline or the end of story, he was also aiming for a personal best in his next marathon. Ironically, I’m doing the exact same thing. As I approach my dissertation deadline, I’m also training for a marathon. Reading the words of another, who did the same thing as I’m doing, for the same reasons, is really quite revealing. My idea, which makes little sense to my friends and family, was given much more clarity in these pages. To hear another say the same thing, one who was immensely successful, gave me a little confidence boost and some motivation for my marathon. As a treat to myself, I’m actually running it on my birthday.

The book takes on the form of a memoir and relays the memories of the author as he trained, competed and eventually reflected upon his experience. There’s much wisdom to be gained from these pages, and, as I said Murakmi gets running, especially the near meditative mind set it can get you in. During long distance runs your mind forgets about the outside world and get into a sort of rhythm with your body, ten miles can pass in an instant as you experience the "runner's high." Not all runs are as good as this, but on some you lose yourself. It’s wonderful. Running is wonderful. And, for the right reader, this would be a wonderful book. ...more

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Feb 09, 2017 Ariel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

*happy sigh*

You know when you read a book and it just speaks to you? Something about the time and place and just all the circumstances match up and you know you read the book at the perfect time? This was that.

My drive to immerse myself in the world of writing keeps growing, and I've found so much fun in collecting books about writers and writing that I can't wait to sink into. I had to start somewhere, so I picked up What I Talk About When I Talk About Running because, back when I bought it a ...more

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Jun 24, 2008 Jessica rated it really liked it

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

Shelves: phys-ed

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. 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! ...more

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Feb 20, 2018 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Audiobook.... narrated by Haruki Murakami

Listening to Murakami speak about the very universal way our inner voice functions with random thoughts - like clouds in the sky that come and go - was a little taste of heaven for me.

Given that I, too, was a runner for 25 years of my life - running marathons - and hilly trail half marathons - often beginning my training runs in the dark with a flashlight — this was absolutely a lovely delightful Audiobook. I enjoyed it very much.

I’m familiar with the ...more

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Jan 13, 2018 Raeleen Lemay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, nonfiction, asian-lit

Read for Popsugar's 2018 Reading Challenge #19: A book about or involving a sport

This book was fantastic! I have yet to read any of Murakami's novels, but after reading this book I will be sure to pick one up soon (I own six of them, after all.) While I wish he had talked about writing a bit more than he did, I genuinely enjoyed hearing him speak on running and what it means to him. I feel like reading this book and getting to know Murakami a bit better will help me enjoy his novels even more ...more

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Jan 11, 2019 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019

My full review, as well as my other thoughts on reading, can be found on my blog.

A collection of personal essays about writing, endurance, and running, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running considers the impact running has had on the author’s life and work. Over the course of nine short essays, Haruki Murakami travels from Tokyo to Boston as he details his training regimen for the 2005 New York City Marathon and reflects on what running means to him. The author argues for approaching ...more

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Dec 13, 2017 Seemita rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bio-autobio-memoir, non-fiction, monologue, japan, essay, psychology, asia, writing-advice

It was a rainy evening about seven years ago when I entered a book store. It was the perfect refuge – warm lights, thin crowd, a tea bar and loads of books. I marched to the tea bar, ordered a ginger- mint tea, placed my bag on a chair in the seating area and hopped to the alleys to browse for books while the tea was being brewed. Running my eyes like a squirrel, I was surveying the titles one after another when they came to a halt – they spotted a pristine white cover with a circular swirl in It was a rainy evening about seven years ago when I entered a book store. It was the perfect refuge – warm lights, thin crowd, a tea bar and loads of books. I marched to the tea bar, ordered a ginger- mint tea, placed my bag on a chair in the seating area and hopped to the alleys to browse for books while the tea was being brewed. Running my eyes like a squirrel, I was surveying the titles one after another when they came to a halt – they spotted a pristine white cover with a circular swirl in blood red. That is it. If the cover art struck me as a bored painter’s good night splash, the name at the bottom of it left me thinking. THE ELEPHANT VANISHES. Err… Has the elephant vanished into the red-white whirlpool? What kind of a book could this be? And then, my eyes fell on the name at the top band of the cover. MURAKAMI. Is it a he or she? A Japanese? A Chinese? A Korean? What kind of genre does s/he write in? Is this a book I want to read now, when the evening is setting in and I am on the verge of being serenaded by some piping hot tea and solitude? I toyed with the idea by reading the blurb.

Well, no prizes for guessing that I picked up the book that day. And thus, flagged my relationship with Haruki Murakami. A man, who over the next many years, continued to sway me and surprise me, soothe me and shock me. In his world, ordinary things turned magical; magical became mundane. His idea of love was both endearing and futile, his doggedness both inspiring and fatiguing. He wrote tomes and quickies, short stories and essays, and with every work, left something sparkling for me to wallow in. My journey with him went through Hear the Wind Sing, 1Q84, Kafka on the Shore, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, The Strange Library, Kino and Scheherazade and here I am, entering my eighth year with the most wonderful ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’.

In this heart-warming, inspiring, anecdotal memoir, Murakami talks about his difficult decision to close his profitable and popular restaurant to dedicate time to writing (which he had just begun doing), and falling on the crutches of running to keep him going. Beginning with short sprints to ending up doing a marathon run of 62 miles in his late 50s, he purged all the negativity off his system and attained a constructive ‘void’, as he calls it. Insulating himself from worldly cacophony and drawing sweet nectar from his inner springs to fortify his writerly pen is what he achieved by running. While reading, I stumbled upon nuggets of wisdom on writing and life like one would accidentally discover a green patch on the sidelines of a long, tarred running pitch.
“The most important thing we learn at school is the fact that the most important things can’t be learned at school.”

“It was a major directional change – from the kind of open life we’d led for seven years, to a more closed life. I learnt a lot of important lessons during that time. It was real schooling. But you can’t keep up that kind of life forever. Just as with school, you enter it, learn something, and then it’s time to leave.”

“Emotional hurt is the price a person has to pay in order to be independent.”

“I stop everyday right at the point where I feel I can write more. Do that, and the next day’s work goes surprisingly smoothly."
He further says that the most important traits of an author are talent, focus and endurance, in that order. He should know. With a writing career spanning half a century, the margin of error can well be dispatched to near naught. I shall be biased and wear it on my sleeve, for what can you possibly not love in an intent that sounds like this:

“I felt that the indispensible relationship I should build in my life was not with a specific person, but with an unspecified number of readers.”

The man loves running, another name for embracing life. He began running when he was thirty-three, and he hasn’t stopped since. More vitality, jazz, cats and happiness (and a Nobel) to you, Murakami san. Happy 69th Birthday. ...more

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Oct 22, 2017 Heidi The Reader rated it really liked it

Shelves: memoirs, diet-and-exercise, non-fiction

In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami doesn't try to convince others that we should all become long distance runners/triathletes like him. He does talk about why he took up running, how it has helped him with his creativity and why he will continue to run as long as he feels the need to do so.

I've never read a book by Murakami, other than this one. But, the interesting way in which he views the world makes me think that I'd probably enjoy his stuff.

I listened to this, In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami doesn't try to convince others that we should all become long distance runners/triathletes like him. He does talk about why he took up running, how it has helped him with his creativity and why he will continue to run as long as he feels the need to do so.

I've never read a book by Murakami, other than this one. But, the interesting way in which he views the world makes me think that I'd probably enjoy his stuff.

I listened to this, rather short, audiobook on my daily commute. Murakami shares a lot of intimate details about his life that fans of his writing may really enjoy.

Before he took up running, Murakami said he was overweight and smoked around 60 cigarettes a day. 60 per day!

He wasn't just looking for a way to become fit. He wanted a exercise where he was left alone with his thoughts and challenged to focus for long periods of time.

Murakami says that, when he writes a novel, it is a matter of focus and endurance. He finds it difficult to "drill down through the rock of the mind to hit veins of creativity." (Quoting from memory, please forgive the inaccuracies.)

The focus that runners use to finish a long race is similar, he believes, to the focus needed to write page after page until the end of a novel. I think that type of mental ability is something that could be used in any creative endeavor, not just writing. For Murakami, writing is how he makes his art.

I liked that, even though Murakami loves running and extols its virtues, he says that he never tells other people that they should take it up. He thinks that our life paths reveal themselves to us in a unique way that only we know.

He runs because he loves it. If you love it too, run. If you don't, do what you love- walk, skip, jump, swim, whatever.

I can get behind that philosophy. Do what makes you happy because that happiness is a clue to what you were born to do.

Recommended for writers, runners, Murakami's fans and anyone who enjoys memoirs. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running made me wish that I loved running more. Because I don't. ...more

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Jan 20, 2009 Ben rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

"Nothing in the real world is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness."

Murakami's mind has always fascinated me; that he transcends the normal and dull, spreading them into a realistic, dreamlike, colorful, soulful reality, amazes me. And I think when most of us read someone that fascinates and/or amazes us, we want to know what that person is like -- what makes him or her tick. And obviously we're almost always disappointed: an amazing mind doesn't equal an amazing

"Nothing in the real world is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness."

Murakami's mind has always fascinated me; that he transcends the normal and dull, spreading them into a realistic, dreamlike, colorful, soulful reality, amazes me. And I think when most of us read someone that fascinates and/or amazes us, we want to know what that person is like -- what makes him or her tick. And obviously we're almost always disappointed: an amazing mind doesn't equal an amazing person: an interesting mind doesn't equal an interesting person. Who can live up to the novel they write? If the novel is any good, it's impossible. Life is like that: full of disillusionment. What takes place in our imagination sure as hell beats "reality". And yet we go through moment to moment thinking we're living in reality-- but really we aren't: Why else do we all disagree so much? We're all living in our own alternate realities and no two are the same.

Getting into a "runner's zone" is an experience in which you immerse yourself in your own reality while simultaneously escaping "reality" by seeming to look down at it and poke fun of it from afar. During this time your own reality is a directly elevated version of itself; a mimicked but increased version -- full of, and due to -- pain and body awareness. While this is happening your consciousness -- while in part far more adeptly aware than normal (because of the pain) – also seems to float away, allowing you to view your reality from high above. All together, you feel how silly everything is: how intense it all is: how lacking it all is: how everything it all is. And you feel....and you float. And you realize how very much the body and mind are connected, and that patience really is a dear virtue. Life itself is enhanced.

"Emotional hurt is the price a person has to pay in order to be independent."

One thing I really like about running is how individualistic it is. You choose where you run; you choose when you run; you choose your own pace; you don't have to worry about getting hit in the head with a ball; no asshole is going to wrestle you to the ground or kick you in the shins: you are by yourself in every important way. It's all you. You listen to yourself, the inner rumblings of your mind and body; you get to know pain and pleasure at their extremes. It's all within you: your choice, your body, your consciousness.

We know the world better by knowing ourselves better. And let's be honest: you is all you'll ever be able to trust. You was there from the start and is there now. And you is all there ever was and ever will be.
...more

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Jul 07, 2019 Kenny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: spiritual-growth, people, transformational, create, 日本の, murakami

"Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you're going to while away the years, it's far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive then in a fog, and I believe running helps you to do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor for life — and for me, for writing as whole."
Haruki Murakami ~~ What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

If you love ...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Hannah Garden rated it it was amazing

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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Aug 28, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, japanese-lit, japanese-20th-c

If you are a runner, this book is very inspiring. We learn of why Murakami decided to become a writer, leaving behind his jazz bar and how he also committed to running a marathon every year. It is exhilarating (and encouraging!) to see how he completely (and successfully) changed his life. He has run marathons everywhere including the original Marathon to Athens route (albeit in the wrong season!) and about other long-distance races he ran in. He is a fascinating man (who SO deserves a Nobel!) ...more

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Apr 09, 2016 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running pairs running and the art of writing (and its demands on focus and endurance). After reading Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage a few weeks ago, I had wanted to read more from this author. Admittedly, What I Talk About has a very different (one might say non-literary) quality which differentiates it from his novel. Still, it was an interesting account in which Murakami describes a nearly lifelong ...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Riku Sayuj rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I must say that I am very thankful to this book for getting me back into the habit of running and giving me a ready made excuse to spend 45 minutes of my time thus.

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Jan 23, 2017 Diane S ☔ rated it liked it

Shelves: lor

An easy read but very simplistic and very repetitive. Not a runner myself, prefer walking so didn't really relate to that part. The parts about how he started writing was fairly interesting but all in all was disappointed in this book as a whole. Did quite a bit of skimming.

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Jul 11, 2008 Lee Klein rated it really liked it

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 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 successfully 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. ...more

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Nov 05, 2016 Ian "Marvin" Graye rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews, mura-karmic-wonder-land, reviews-4-stars, read-2016

What I Talk about When I Talk about Walking

I was originally more of a sportsman (or a sportsboy) than an athlete.

As a schoolboy, I absolutely hated running any distance over 100 meters. I was the second fastest in my year at the 100 meter sprint (there were two able males in my grade!), and for a while I could even do the 100 meters hurdles. Although I loved surfing and body surfing, I was hopeless at swimming anything but across the pool. I just wasn't made out for anything but team sports ...more

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Jun 10, 2008 RandomAnthony rated it really liked it

Shelves: murakami

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 ...more

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Nov 26, 2014 Glenn Sumi rated it really liked it

Shelves: memoir, not-usa-can-uk, non-fiction

The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Writer

In this slim but not slight memoir, the best-selling and prolific Japanese novelist chronicles why and how he took up long-distance running, which coincided with selling his jazz bar in the early 80s to write full time.

In clear, deceptively simple prose (occasionally hampered by cliché), Murakami touches on intriguing themes like aging and perseverence, making a solid case comparing running to novel-writing. The book, of course, takes its title from ...more

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Apr 19, 2017 Matthew Quann rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Matthew by: Lisa Bacque

Shelves: worldly, audiobooks, memoir, non-fiction, murakami

My running companion over the past two and a half weeks has been Haruki Murakami; at least, narrator Ray Porter channeling Murakami. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is more empathetic memoir than self-help book, but I have no doubt in my mind that Murakami helped to boost my running game. After a few runs I began to think of the audiobook as a philosophical coach. I’d recommend this memoir to seasoned runners as well as relative newbies like myself!

I decided to only listen to the My running companion over the past two and a half weeks has been Haruki Murakami; at least, narrator Ray Porter channeling Murakami. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is more empathetic memoir than self-help book, but I have no doubt in my mind that Murakami helped to boost my running game. After a few runs I began to think of the audiobook as a philosophical coach. I’d recommend this memoir to seasoned runners as well as relative newbies like myself!

I decided to only listen to the audiobook while I was out for my runs. I’d been averaging 30-minute runs, with the occasional foray into longer runs and Murakami’s chapters roughly equaled the length of my runs. Reluctantly, I replaced the bass-heavy hip-hop that usually soundtracks my runs for the voice of Ray Porter as he read what is essentially a memoir about running.

I’ll admit that it took a chapter or two before I was fully committed to my initial plan. I’ll occasionally throw on an audiobook or podcast during my runs, but usually once a week while the rest of my running time is reserved for pouring over new and old music. Soon my need for earth-shattering bass and bar-spitting over trap beats gave way to the calm and tranquil ponderings of a man that runs far further distances than I had ever dreamed.

My thoughts during runs before this book ranged from you should stop, you should stop, you should stop to this is slightly better than dying early from cardiovascular disease. Murakami’s cool philosophy and matter-of-fact account of his sufferings during his runs helped both to let me know I wasn’t alone and that I didn’t have much to complain about. I mean, the man is running for 1-2 hours daily for 6 days of the week. My god! It is also reassuring, in some perverse way, that Murakami’s legs still scream out, cramp, and he stops from exhaustion even after all his training.

His honesty was my favorite part of the book: he doesn’t achieve some insane goal, destroy records, and get a personal best every race. He struggles, he persists, and that struggle in and of itself is satisfying. I’ll admit that when I started to run seriously, at least 3-4 times per week, I did so for three reasons: to stave off morbidity and mortality from a family history of obesity, to have a convenient form of exercise, and—I’m not shamed to admit it—vanity. But those aren’t the reasons I kept running. Even when my schedule got busy, I kept up with my regular running and had to admit there was something more than my initial reasons for starting to run.

Murakami helped to crystallize this motivation for me. Running for running itself is rewarding. The attempt to pound yourself and your screaming muscles, lungs, and psyche into submission yields both an amazing sense of personal accomplishment and a supreme runners’ high. The act of running became less of a chore for me as Murakami spoke of brutal courses and events in which he’s participated. Most runners, like myself, will find much to sympathize with here and it is that sense that you are not alone, but the run depends entirely on you, that helped motivate me run after run.

For those of you who follow my reviews religiously—hi mom!—you might be surprised to read that I took on more Murakami after a pretty acrimonious split in the fall. Lisa was kind enough to gift me with the audiobook after a particularly challenging rotation. She hoped the book would help to encourage both my running and my writing. I’m sure that there’s a lot of difference between his nonfiction and fiction, but this book has opened the door for Murakami to come back into my reading life.

Today, for my final run with Murakami, I decided to listen to the entirety of the last hour in a single go. The run started out brutal. The lateral aspects of my feet both ached and there was a constant dull throb in my calves despite a decent stretch the night before. I’m just getting over a cold too, so I was still hacking, spewing, and snorting as I ran. This was exactly the type of run that I would have aborted twenty minutes in before this book. So, despite my body’s protests, I persisted. I’m happy to say that Murakami helped to get through a run that I would have abandoned before his audiobook.

Thanks to this audiobook I’m a better runner, and I believe it’s helped out my writing too! I’ve avoided talking too much about Murakami’s revelations about reading, writing, and running since they are so much of what makes the audiobook great. Suffice to say, it all works very well as a companion on the trails and treadmills. To my fellow runners out there, I can’t recommend this one enough ...more

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Apr 03, 2014 Rosie Nguyễn rated it it was amazing

It is as if the book were written for me. Love it, for very personal reasons, naturally because I love writing and like running. Actually thinking when will be my first marathon before reading this book.

I bassically try to avoid Murakami's novels as I want to be positive and I don't like the sorrow in his stories, it rottens my heart and stings my head. But this book is excellent. There are a mild sadness and deep philosophy typical of him, but it gives me practical lessons and strength to act, ...more

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Feb 27, 2014 7jane rated it really liked it

In this book Haruki Murakami writes about his running life, doing marathons and triathlons. He writes about the successes and failures, the effect of ageing and his reasons why he runs and keeps running. For me, I felt the first half of the book was more clear and easy read than later, a bit like running a marathon can be. The mood throughout shows the author's general character, and the text never gets boring. It's an easy read, not too long.

Although I know I will never pick up running - love ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Andrew Smith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sport, memoirs-biographies, non-fiction, running

I read this book some years ago but didn’t get around to capturing my thoughts on it. At the time I was deep into my midlife crisis period which, for me, included a desire to prove that I could still compete with the younger generations at something – for this enterprise I chose long distance running. I’d run the London Marathon in 1982 (the second year it was held) and I’d pretty much not run since, albeit I’d been active playing football, tennis and just about everything else through the I read this book some years ago but didn’t get around to capturing my thoughts on it. At the time I was deep into my midlife crisis period which, for me, included a desire to prove that I could still compete with the younger generations at something – for this enterprise I chose long distance running. I’d run the London Marathon in 1982 (the second year it was held) and I’d pretty much not run since, albeit I’d been active playing football, tennis and just about everything else through the remainder of my 20’s and into my early 30’s. Then a punctured lung one Sunday morning, during a football kick around, put an end to that sport, and pretty much all others - I turned chicken! - for too many years. Then, as I reached the age of 50 I decided it was time to get a little fitter. I jogged a little and found it tough, but stuck with it. It took some time but eventually I got to a point that I thought I’d give another marathon a go.

So London 2009 it was. A hot day – too hot really – and I managed to complete the course. Just! But I didn’t achieve the time I’d targeted (sub 4 hours), missing it by a few minutes. That spurred me on and over the next eight or nine years I ran more marathons: in Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin and quite a few other spots. I even ran a couple of ultramarathons – but events low on the scale compared to those described by Murakami in this book.

So back to the book. I’d read, and enjoyed, a couple of Murakami’s novels and spotting this one seemed prophetic in some way. The title is a play on Carver’s short story collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (a book I also much enjoyed) and it’s a series of reflections about the author’s life but significantly the part running has played in it. And he was certainly a serious runner, competing well over 20 marathons and one-off events of up to 62 miles! His reflections are interesting, informative, thought provoking and, ultimately, inspiring. I really loved the accounts of his long, long runs but also the insight into the man himself – the deeper thoughts on what inspired him and what fed this obsession (I think distance running has to be an obsession). It’s really a truncated autobiography and as such it’s a wonderful read. I’d really urge anybody interested in the man to take a look at it. ...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Zenmoon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fans of Murakami, or sports fans

Shelves: memoir, murakami

As a non-runner, this is likely to be the one and only book I’ll ever read about running so it’s just as well it’s written by Murakami. This is my second read of it (yes really … non-runner) and it’s a lot less about writing than I remember it. Until he writes a memoir dedicated to an analysis of his life and his work though (if ever), barring discussing it in articles, this is probably the closest I’ll get. Reading this is proof positive that I’ll read anything written by this man, though I’d

As a non-runner, this is likely to be the one and only book I’ll ever read about running so it’s just as well it’s written by Murakami. This is my second read of it (yes really … non-runner) and it’s a lot less about writing than I remember it. Until he writes a memoir dedicated to an analysis of his life and his work though (if ever), barring discussing it in articles, this is probably the closest I’ll get. Reading this is proof positive that I’ll read anything written by this man, though I’d have had to draw the line if he’d been into steroid-free weight lifting or deep sea bass fishing. Truly, I would have.

Having read this again, I’m jealous. This man is – cue capitals - DISCIPLINED … which is why he’s fit and has written a raft of novels, and I’m not/haven’t, and am surrounded by chocolate bars and empty word documents.

Murakami opens his dual-focussed memoir in Hawaii in 2005. At the time, he’s involved in a number of projects, including translating Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby and the works of Raymond Carver. The title of this memoir pays homage to Carver, echoing one of his defining pieces of fiction, What we Talk about When we Talk about Love.

Once again, here we see Murakami’s trademark straight-forward writing style as he details his passion for running, and discusses how this discipline intersects with his dedication towards writing. As he says, he wrote this in order to determine just what running means to him, reminding me of Flannery O’Connor’s famous dictum, ‘I write to see what I have to say’. What emerges here are Murakami’s patterns of solitude – through running, by the act of writing – and this in itself sheds some light on his tendency towards often desolate characters in his fiction.

"Sometimes, however, this sense of isolation, like acid spilling out of a bottle, can unconsciously eat away a person's heart and dissolve it. You could see it, too, as a kind of double-edged sword. It protects me, but at the same time steadily cuts away at me from the inside. I think in my own way I'm aware of this danger - probably through experience - and that's why 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 ..."

There are lengthy descriptions of the effects on his body, mind, and wider life, of participation in several major marathons, including, sadly, Boston. It also details his unwavering pragmatism: 'If I wanted to have a long life as a novelist, I needed to find a way to keep fit and maintain a healthy weight'. God, he's so sensible. My Dad would have loved me to have brought this guy home.

This is truly only a memoir for fans of him and his fiction, or running, though. If you happen to like both then you’ll have hit the jackpot.
...more

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Nov 24, 2017 Paul Fulcher rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2017

I finally reach the end. Strangely, have no feeling of accomplishment. The only thing I feel is utter relief that I don’t have to ~~run~~read this book anymore.

I started this book with two prejudices.

First, that the most tedious dinner party conversations typically start with your interlocutor telling you they are in training to run a marathon.

Secondly that an author’s work should stand alone from the author - I am with Elena Ferrante here - and that writers writing about themselves or even, perhaps I finally reach the end. Strangely, have no feeling of accomplishment. The only thing I feel is utter relief that I don’t have to ~~run~~read this book anymore.

I started this book with two prejudices.

First, that the most tedious dinner party conversations typically start with your interlocutor telling you they are in training to run a marathon.

Secondly that an author’s work should stand alone from the author - I am with Elena Ferrante here - and that writers writing about themselves or even, perhaps particularly, their writing habits add nothing to their works. The rare exceptions tend to be authors who are a) extraordinary writers and b) whose write their autobiographies in the style of their novels (Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Thomas Bernhard).

This book did nothing to dispel either view.

Murakami is also no prose stylist, at least as rendered into English. In his novels this doesn’t entirely matter as his prosaic sentences are enlivened by his fantastic imagination, but writing non-fiction one loses that. Take away the talking vanishing cats, girls with pointy ears and the bottom of wells and there is little left.

So here for example when discussing his return to Cambridge (the lesser version) and the Charles River we are blessed with the insight that “I’d aged ten years, and there’d literally been a lot of water under the bridge.” Or that the profound thoughts he has while running include “on cold days I guess I think a little about how cold it is. And about the heat on hot days.”

There are a tiny handful of interesting nuggets in here about how Murakami became a novelist, perhaps just about enough to make a good New Yorker article, but it doesn’t make for a compelling book when one has to wade through running logs (why would anyone else care how many miles he ran in August 2005?! Or what time he did in the New York marathon?) to dig them out. And even with the nuggets it is more interesting to read the versions of his life as represented in his fiction (e.g. loner starts a jazz cafe) than here.

He may have been better writing a book about his bowel habits. More universal and of greater relevance to books (reading at least). And imagine if he had done so and we were greeted by comments such as - books are like bowel movements: sometimes one rushes out of you while others are only squeezed out with lots of time, effort and even pain. Genuinely that is the level of the 'running is like writing a book' insights we get here.

Tedious and not at all illuminating. ...more

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Jan 11, 2018 Alex rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: asian-literature

A pleasent to read harukian journal / autobiography. I started running a few months ago, so this book comes perfectly.
It is an interesting opportunity to enter in the mind of Haruki Murakami. Like.

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Jan 07, 2017 Vimal Thiagarajan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adorations, axe-factory

It's all very well to occasionally throw in a broccoli or two into the plate and create one's own illusion of well being, but to tie up your laces and pound the streets day after day, mile after lonely mile, watching your pace, watching your breathing, watching your muscles, soaking in the deepest hues of blue of your inner sky that is cleared of all thought clouds, entering that cozy void of silence, listening only to your inner voice, treating running as a metaphor for life - Man, RESPECT!

...more

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Sep 04, 2013 Megan Baxter rated it liked it

This is, I think, the second book I've read about distance running. I am wondering what my fascination with that is, although truly, I've read both because they came up on various lists. I, myself, am a walker. I love to go for long walks in the morning. Running does not as much appeal.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at ...more

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Dec 03, 2019 Nasishmas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pretty-good

Murakami is one of my favorite authors

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Jun 12, 2010 K.D. Absolutely rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs, sports

I bought this book almost two years ago after reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore (4 stars) and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (4 stars). I liked those novels a lot so I purchased and read most of his other books right away like Sputnik Sweetheart (3 stars), After Dark (4 stars), Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (3 stars), After the Quake (1 star - this used to be 3 stars until I saw my brother's review) and even his biography, Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words (3 stars). A couple of I bought this book almost two years ago after reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore (4 stars) and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (4 stars). I liked those novels a lot so I purchased and read most of his other books right away like Sputnik Sweetheart (3 stars), After Dark (4 stars), Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (3 stars), After the Quake (1 star - this used to be 3 stars until I saw my brother's review) and even his biography, Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words (3 stars). A couple of months back, I read his most challenging-to-read novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and it was just okay, 2 stars. I think the more books of him I read, the less I like him. Those first 3 books of him that I read were really good. His style of writing was very different and his imagination was overwhelmingly beautiful. However, as I read his other books, even though I gave enough distance in between two books, I got tired of his style so the stories just felt ordinary. He had the tendency to re-use his materials: characters, plot, conflict, setting, etc. There were just obvious similarities that were just hard to ignore.

This is my 8th book by Haruki Murakami and this makes him one of my two most-read authors. He's now tied with Bob Ong, a Filipino writer whose works I read not because I like him but because many young Filipinos adore him and keep on talking about his books in our group here in Goodreads.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is his only memoir (so far). My first non-fiction of him. It is about his hobby, running that he tried to compare with writing a novel. The memoir tells so little about his life like how he became a novelist and only mentioned his wife in a couple of anecdotes. The narration was fragmentary as he said in the epilogue that it took him four years to write his thoughts and so he just collated everything and presto, this book. He used so many words but for me his main message was: Even if I am already old, I run because I want to keep fit so I can continue writing great novels. It was as simple as that.

The thing is we all do that. We take care of ourselves so that we can continue earning and provide for our family. So, the book came to me as bragging, self-serving, presumptuous and stating the obvious. Haruki Murakami was born in 1949 so he was 51-55 y/o (this year he is now 62) when he was writing entries to this memoir and he was telling here about his training for triathlon (swimming, biking and running). So when, he was describing here that he was experiencing all sorts of pains and injuries while barely mentioning about getting old and seeing doctors, my brain was shouting: "You are already old, stop being hard on yourself!" . Bottomline, I think he was trying to hold back the hands of time. He was a late-bloomer as he only thought of writing when he was 30. He was not comfortable about getting old so he wanted to prove that he could still compete with much younger men. I am so sorry for him. It's just so pathetic.

But still, it was hard for me to give this a lone star (I didn't like it!). Haruki Murakami's narration was still as beautiful as ever. ...more

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About Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami

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Murakami Haruki (Japanese: 村上春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'. He can be located on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/harukimuraka...

Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by ...more

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