It has been a while – this is a book that gives the urge to do a review (or a recommendation).
“What I talk about when I talk about running” by Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) is a memoir of the author about his marathons; it is the casual t
houghts of the author along with what he thinks and feels for running It is a book where the author wants to share what running means for him as a person.
This book covers his 4-month preparation for the 2005 New York Marathon, at the time when he is around 55 years old. At times, he goes back to his first-ever experience in Athens, or at Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien Gardens, or the 62-mile run in a day or the Boston Marathon.
As Mr. Murakami closes his Jazz bar, and takes up writing full-time, he gives up smoking and turns to running to keep himself fit. In 1983, he had his first –ever experience running (nearly) 26 miles in Athens gruelingly under extreme hot condition. He was able to run the whole course by himself. His immediate reaction was not one of pride, but one of relief that “I don’t have to run another step. Whew – I don’t have to run anymore”. Since then, he has run a marathon every year.
Running for Mr. Murakami goes way beyond keeping him physical fit, most of what he knows about writing fiction he learns by running every day. It helps him to crystallize the important quality of a novelist : talent, focus, endurance and patience to re
peat the process again and again to train willpower.
What makes this book special is not just in the training and the story of his various marathons, but also in his writing style, and the parallel that the author is able to draw among running, writing and living. He brings a refreshingly vivid account of his thoughts, as he experiences in his marathons. If you are in middle-age, there is that additional appreciation on the bit of his struggle, when he has to accept below-his-expectation result, or being passed by other runners in some last stretch of a run.
Whether you are a runner, a to-be runner, or not a runner, you would enjoy this book.
I not only got inspired to run, it makes the bike work (to get rid of knee pain) in a gym very enjoyable while reading the book.
oliviatamccue 
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