What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Philip Gabriel (Translator)
Key Phrases: wild sheep chase, swimming portion, full marathon, New York, Charles River, Lake Saroma (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Murakami's latest is a nonfiction work mostly concerned with his thoughts on the long-distance running he has engaged in for much of his adult life. Through a mix of adapted diary entries, old essays, reminiscences and life advice, Murakami crafts a charming little volume notable for its good-natured and intimate tone. While the subject matter is radically different from the fabulous and surreal fiction that Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) most often produces, longtime readers will recognize the source of the isolated, journeying protagonists of the author's novels in the formative running experiences recounted. Murakami's insistence on focusing almost exclusively on running can grow somewhat tedious over the course of the book, but discrete, absorbing episodes, such as a will-breaking 62-mile ultramarathon and a solo re-creation of the historic first marathon in Greece serve as dynamic and well-rendered highlights. Murakami offers precious little insight into much of his life as a writer, but what he does provide should be of value to those trying to understand the author's long and fruitful career. An early section recounting Murakami's transition from nightclub owner to novelist offers a particularly vivid picture of an artist soaring into flight for the first time. (Aug.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

Haruki Murakami has established himself as one of the most interesting and innovative novelists of the last two decades, combining pop culture with a magic-realistic sensibility that has garnered the author a faithful following. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running couldn’t differ more from the rest of Murakami’s work. This slender volume catalogs the author’s love for that most solitary of athletic endeavors, though even Murakami’s prodigious talent as a writer can’t quite bridge the gap between the cultish world of hard-core running and a broader audience. This hit-and-miss effort—with something, literally, lost in the translation and some lazy writing—will be welcomed by a small (probably athletic) audience, but may not reach readers who aren’t already on board with Murakami or running.
Copyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; Fourth printing edition (July 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307269191
• ISBN-13: 978-0307269195
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,531 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murakami Talks About Life, August 4, 2008

By	Howard Goldowsky "ChessWriter" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have not read any of Murakami's novels (this may change soon), but in his short stories he often employs subtle nostalgia for his characters' pasts. Often this nostalgia blurs the line with philosophy, and after reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, it became apparent why Murakami enjoys crafting his fiction this way: his style of writing mirrors his perspective on life. After traveling the world, training for and participating in marathons and triathlons, Murakami wants to share his runner's experiences and how they have molded him and his perspective on life. He presents us with a thought-provoking and entertaining narrative (some of it culled from journal entries and old magazines articles he wrote years ago, but most of it original stuff).

The book is 1/3 travelogue, 1/3 self-help, and 1/3 runners guide. We read about the running environments and typical weather patterns where Murakami has trained: New York, Boston, Japan, Greece. We read about the mental discipline and courage it takes to be a long-distance runner. But, most of all, subtly emerging on each page, we read about Murakami the philosopher. His favorite topic is the merciless and stubborn passage of time and its effects on the body and mind. He writes candidly about his thoughts on training as he grows older (Murakami was in his late 50s when he wrote much of the book). He writes about what he thinks about as he runs (ususally nothing); he writes about discipline. To paraphrase one of Murakami's favorite quotes (I forget the source): "...pain is inevitable; suffering is optional."

Murakami tells us that he was neither a natural novelist nor runner. He has had to work hard at both, but both are things which require a steady effort, skills with which Murakami prides himself. As we read along, we learn about Murakami's start as a novelist, his love for baseball, his strong character, and how he applied his strong character to defy his friends and relatives and open a restaurant, become a writer, and eventually, a marathon runner (even once running a 62-mile ultra-marathon). He had opened a restaurant before he became a writer, but one day, after the success of his first novel, he decided to close the restaurant and become a professional writer. It was at this time when he also decided to start running and quit smoking (in that order).

Although the chronology of the book might be a little out of order (the book is not structured chronologically), and this might throw a few more traditional readers, this wasn't a problem. The translation seemed genuine (although I can't read Japanese!), as the translator kept all of the little Murakami-isms one would expect: little phrases such as "...as I mentioned before," or little tangents into the second person. The style remains informal throughout.

Despite its ostensible subject matter (running), this is a book for everyone, because its real subject matter is not about running -- it's about how Murakami gathers meaning from life. Using a master's touch, he shows us how this meaning derives from his simple act of running each day. I, for one, became inspired.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keep on running, old man Murakami!, August 28, 2008

By	Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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Taking its name from the play on the title of a Raymond Carver short story, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love," the prolific and popular on both sides of the Pacific Japanese author Haruki Murakami's memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running covers a little more than a year in the author's life as he prepares to run a marathon in New York. However, as to be expected from Murakami, the memoir is much more than a simple exercise journal. Through it's all too brief 175 pages, Murakami weaves his own personal narrative where running, if not as essential to his life as writing novels, acts as a strong supporter for Murakami's professional career because, unlike a number of other Japanese writers such as Osamu Dazai and Ryunosuke Akutagawa for whom self destruction through alcohol and other substances acted as a creative boost, Murakami advocates a healthy lifestyle in order to keep writing, yet, Murakami had not always been quite the health nut.

Writing from a desk in Kauai, Hawaii, Murakami tells of his lifestyle before he became a fulltime writer during which he ran a successful jazz bar owner with such unhealthy habits as smoking 60 cigarettes a day, but after the success of his first two novels Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 which he mainly wrote at a table where he sliced onions and cabbage, he decided to give up his jazz bar to become a fulltime writer. Along with the bar and its noisy patrons, Murakami decided to give up cigarettes and other things which were injurious to his health and to take up running. But why running? Murakami states that it is because it fit his solitary nature best and that it required no equipment besides running shoes and because it was something that he decided to do himself without pressure from others, he took to it as easily as he took to writing novels and translating works of American fiction. Therefore, from the time he began running to the publication of his memoir on running, Murakami has been running for some twenty five years and added such sports as squash and triathlons to his repertoire.

However, things are not completely smooth for Murakami, because as the years go by not only does his interest in running begin to fade, but he gets older, he will be sixty in 2009, and his body is no longer able to perform as strongly as it had when he was younger. As his muscles cramp into hard stones, Murakami, like a number of his characters, contemplates death and aging and what impact he has had, if any, on this world.

Some Murakami fans grumbled when it was revealed that his next book would revolve around running because the sport was so removed from their lives and they desired a new collection of fiction more. Yet, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is an invaluable source for the Murakami fan because one can easily see Murakami's characters within the being of Murakami's personal makeup and understand a bit how Murakami's different and somewhat difficult nature has made him bit of an outsider within Japan's literary establishment.

The memoir itself consists of nine chapters which Murakami wrote in various locations including Kauai Hawaii, Cambridge Massachusetts, Tokyo, Japan, and Sapporo. The writing style, like Murakami's fiction and other nonfiction, is very conversational and gives the reader the feeling of listening to an old friend talk about exercise and aging, and how said exercise helps sustain his professional work. The essays might be a bit loose for some readers because Murakami constantly jumps from topic to topic is each chapter such as from running to novel writing and then, quite unexpectedly, to something like record collecting. However, this gives the memoir more of a friendly, personal edge and makes each chapter full of small vignettes of knowledge about Murakami.

Although its focus on running, and its recent appearance in Sports Illustrated might put off some potential readers, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a fine memoir which gives the English reading fan of Murakami so more info on the reclusive author.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Written for Murakami enthusiasts..., August 18, 2008

By	D. Kanigan (CT, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Murakami, 58, authored 15+ novels, many highly acclaimed. He has received many literary awards and honorary doctorates. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed most of his best selling works (including my favorites: Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood and A Wild Sheep Chase). In reading this book, I had come to learn that Murakami had completed 25+ marathons, 1 ultra marathon (60+miles) and 5+ triathlons - this is a truly extraordinary accomplishment.

Murakami is humble, candid and straightforward exposing his mistakes, flaws and shortcomings - - one passage: "But this wretched story of feeling I had as I stood in front of the mirror at sixteen, listing all of my physical shortcomings, is still sort of touchstone for me even now. The sad spreadsheet of my life reveals how my debts outweigh my assets."

You get into his mind and his incredible determination to complete marathons and triathlons - feeling the sun baking his skin and the water filling his lungs - yet he keeps his feet and arms moving despite his mind and body telling him to stop.

You also learn about the impact that advancing middle age has on his performance times and that they are no longer improving despite a rigorous training regimen - "even if, seen from the outside, or from some higher vantage point, this sort of life looks pointless or futile, or even extremely efficient, it doesn't bother me. Maybe it's a pointless act like as I've said before, pouring water into an old pan that has a hole in the bottom, but at least the effort you put into it remains. Whether it's good for anything or not, cool or totally uncool, in the final analysis what's most important is what you can't see but can feel in your heart."

The book is described by Murakami as a collection of essays he wrote between 2005 and 2007 and then pieced together and edited for this book. I felt that the book often read like a loosely edited diary - - in contrast to his visually beautiful, smooth, multi-layered, dreamy fictional works. While I found flashes of the profile of his prior novels in a few passages, I found this book to be choppy and informal in comparison.

Early on in the book, Murakami discusses his strategy in running a Jazz bar in Tokyo - he wasn't out "to please everybody" - "it didn't matter if 9 out of 10" didn't like his bar but that "if one in ten was a repeat customer" his business would survive. My sense is that this book will narrowly appeal to the "one in ten repeaters" of devoted Murakami's fans (me being one of them) - - readers who wish to learn more about his life, his experiences, what makes him "tick" - and more specifically, the role that running, biking, swimming and training for marathons and triathlons had on his writing and his life.