What I talk about when I talk about running

a memoir

by Haruki Murakami

English language

Published Jan. 5, 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf.

(9 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, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing.

Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings range from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston. Funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a must-read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running."

7 editions

Michael Goodine reviewed What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

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.