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 …
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.From the Hardcover edition.
If you are looking for a memoir, this book isn't for you... the only aspects of Murakami's life that he goes into detail about are related to running.
That being said, if you are looking for a book on running, this also isn't for you since the insights are purely personal and little professional insight is offered.
Because of this, the book feels like it tows the line between being about running and being about Murakami. It feels indecisive and a tad lazy. I thoroughly love Murakami's work but this feels like a miss.
Review of 'What I Talk About When I Talk About Running' on 'GoodReads'
4 stars
An interesting book. Despite running quite a lot myself, I'm not particularly interested in Murakami's thoughts on the sport. They just aren't that profound. But the sentences here are a lot of fun. Just page after page of idioms. And they all flow so smoothly. I don't know how he does it, as this sort of writing would seem cheesy coming from anyone else.
I wish I could read Japanese. How does the original work sound? I read somewhere that Murakami sometimes writes passages in English first and then translates them into Japanese. Perhaps the original Japanese has an American inflection of sorts.
