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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Paperback – 2 Apr 2009

by
Haruki Murakami (Author)
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Haruki Murakami (Author), Philip Gabriel (Translator)
4.1 out of 5 stars 195 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; 1 edition (2 April 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099526158
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099526155
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (195 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product description

Review

"There's a wandering, digressive, free-form quality to the writing - like improvised jazz - familiar to anyone who has read the novels, with their labyrinth plots, perplexed, solitary male protagonists, meaningful coincidences and dream-like sequences. The narrative voice here is as persuasive as in any of the novels, candid and jaunty, and you finish the book charmed by the simple, unaffected grace of Murakami"--The Observer

"Comical, charming and philosophical... an excellent memoir"--GQ

"[Murakami] says no-one can warm to a character like his, but when he talks like this, on the run, we keep pace and pay rapt attention"--The Times

"Murakami manages to set a course that takes in views of all literature, sport and the uphill journey of ageing, all with a modest fluency that covers the ground without raising a sweat"--The Independent

Book Description

The first, fascinating insight into the life of this internationally bestselling writer

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsEnjoyed this non fiction book.
By Kramer on 1 Mar. 2017
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Another non fiction book by Murakami so dont expect a story.I was hoping for a biography/documentary type book by and on Haruki Murakami and he wrote this.I was unsure of it when i bought but i ended up loving it.I love the author but also wanted to start running so it was 2 birds one stone.I really enjoyed his routine, his diary like running and experiences in different countries.This is a must if you are thinking of running.He was after all 33 when he decided to start running and still does religiously at nearly 70!!Very inspirational to me.A great background into his running,some humour involved,albeit shorter than his fiction novels but perfect length although i didnt want it to end.Funny enough i did visualise what i was doing in the past when he mentioned preparing for famous past marathons.
Overall it wont be to everyones taste but to me i enjoyed it, i just hope he releases an in depth book into his life.
Highly recommend to the reader interested in the subject.
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1.0 out of 5 starsExcruciatingly dull. Avoid.
By Butterfly on 11 May 2017
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This book is always there when I'm looking at running books. I really enjoy autobiographical books of this type. I found this book - and the author's story and thoughts - excruciatingly dull, I really don't understand why it's so popular. Avoid.
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5.0 out of 5 starsi was not disappointed.
By Amazon Customer on 19 May 2017
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
My introduction to Murakami, i was not disappointed.
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5.0 out of 5 starsInspiring
By BM on 26 May 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I thoroughly enjoyed this journey and would recommend to anyone, not just runners. I liked the narrative and the unpolished humour.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars
By Amazon Customer on 24 April 2017
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Wonderful book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis was nice to learn a bit more about his life
By flux on 10 Sept. 2016
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
An interesting insight into the person life of an author that I had admired for some time. I'd read several of Murakami's fictional works beforehand. This was nice to learn a bit more about his life. I'd hoped it might inspire me to go running more often, but it didn't quite have that effect! Perhaps because Murakami takes his running much more seriously than I do!
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3.0 out of 5 starsInteresting short memoir of the novelist as runner
By Paul Bowes on 19 Nov. 2010
Format: Paperback
This is a strange little book, novella length, half memoir and half meditation on the act of writing, using running as an extended metaphor. The title is an allusion to a Raymond Carver short story (Murakami is, among other things, the Japanese translator of Carver) and, like a Carver character, Murakami has a knack of addressing his real concerns indirectly in the act of talking about something else.

Murakami insists that he is a rather physical and unreflective person, built for the long haul rather than speedy brilliance. As such, he finds in long distance running - marathon and triathlon - an analogy for his writing career. This isn't a technical manual for runners: written episodically over a period of two years as an exercise in self-knowledge, it's aimed at readers who want to know something about the man behind the writing of the novels. But Murakami is clearly uneasy with theory. He'd rather talk about the routines he follows in his life, the patterns and rhythms dictated by his parallel writing and running lives.

He's quite clear about the running as physical conditioning for the writer. Coming to the sport relatively late in life, and not conspicuously talented, he thrives on internal goals rather than external competition. A portrait emerges of a man in his fifties who is slowing down, pacing himself, learning to accept the limits that his ageing body sets while harvesting what he can from his self-imposed discipline.

An English reader who is familiar with Murakami's fiction will recognise his distinctive voice in these musings. It's the voice of a man who, as he says, has no problem with being alone: self-involved and rather dry, but unpretentious.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsthese are all good and noble
By Karl Drinkwater on 12 Aug. 2015
Format: Paperback
This is not a novel but a musing, a diary, a philosophy forming; it is based around the running that Murakami does every day. The book is a combination of biography and extended metaphor. Running is used as a metaphor for life, and for writing. Train, persevere, adopt routines, dedicate yourself, learn to do things alone for extended periods: these are all good and noble.

Murakami achieves amazing things with his running. Perhaps he does not feel it when comparing himself to other marathon runners or triathletes, but compared to a normal human for whom a marathon would be impossible (let alone doing one every year) we have to respect the author. He earns it. He is affable and thoughtful, and spending time with his thoughts feels like a privilege and a chance to learn. A good example is from this section towards the end of the book:

"Thus the seasons come and go, and the years pass by. I'll age one more year, and probably finish another novel. One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the same time taking a long-range view, scanning the scenery as far ahead as I can. I am, after all, a long-distance runner. [...] what's really important is reaching the goal I set myself, under my own power. I give it everything I have, endure what needs enduring, and am able, in my own way, to be satisfied. From out of the failures and joys I always try to come away having grasped a concrete lesson."

I approve of the focus on fitness, and the book left me wanting to run more. That's got to be a good thing.
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