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A review by altlovesbooks
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Haruki Murakami
1949 – 20**
Writer (and Runner)
At Least He Never Walked
Where I’m an avid Haruki Murakami fan, me and running are casual acquaintances at best. I don’t enjoy running the way other runners seem to, and even trying to understand the mentality is foreign to me. I have incredible respect for people who are runners, let alone ultramarathon runners and triathlon competitors, it’s just not something for me. So when a gathering of friends decided to get together to read this book (as we all respect Murakami as a writer to varying degrees), I almost passed. I’m actually glad I didn’t, because there’s more to this book than a man talking about how much he loves running.
I mean, there’s tons of that too. Murakami is an accomplished runner as well as an author, and he has all the right to talk to us about how he prepares for marathons and approaches running in general. He lives an incredibly disciplined lifestyle, makes time for a considerable amount of running each day, and generally takes very good care of himself. There’s lots here for the people who run, where Murakami finds the motivation to do so, how deep he has to dig when he’s in the thick of a marathon, the mental preparations he goes through leading up to a race. I mean, at the core of it, it’s just a matter of strapping on some sneakers and going at it, but it’s easy to say that on paper and a thousand times harder to actually do.
For the rest of us like me, who find running a chore and something to only trot out when escaping a bear or something, there’s good thoughts here too. I liked Murakami’s thoughts on persistence, approaching tough problems, and many other little things that I can apply to everyday life. The troubleshooting he goes through to figure out a problem (like his swimming form) and the importance of just keeping at something are good things to keep in the back of your brain. While you may not be swimming, being able to identify a problem exists and trying to figure out how to fix it rather than just scrapping the whole thing/idea/race/hobby will get you far.
Not a long book, but I appreciated this look into his head as he runs.
1949 – 20**
Writer (and Runner)
At Least He Never Walked
Where I’m an avid Haruki Murakami fan, me and running are casual acquaintances at best. I don’t enjoy running the way other runners seem to, and even trying to understand the mentality is foreign to me. I have incredible respect for people who are runners, let alone ultramarathon runners and triathlon competitors, it’s just not something for me. So when a gathering of friends decided to get together to read this book (as we all respect Murakami as a writer to varying degrees), I almost passed. I’m actually glad I didn’t, because there’s more to this book than a man talking about how much he loves running.
I mean, there’s tons of that too. Murakami is an accomplished runner as well as an author, and he has all the right to talk to us about how he prepares for marathons and approaches running in general. He lives an incredibly disciplined lifestyle, makes time for a considerable amount of running each day, and generally takes very good care of himself. There’s lots here for the people who run, where Murakami finds the motivation to do so, how deep he has to dig when he’s in the thick of a marathon, the mental preparations he goes through leading up to a race. I mean, at the core of it, it’s just a matter of strapping on some sneakers and going at it, but it’s easy to say that on paper and a thousand times harder to actually do.
For the rest of us like me, who find running a chore and something to only trot out when escaping a bear or something, there’s good thoughts here too. I liked Murakami’s thoughts on persistence, approaching tough problems, and many other little things that I can apply to everyday life. The troubleshooting he goes through to figure out a problem (like his swimming form) and the importance of just keeping at something are good things to keep in the back of your brain. While you may not be swimming, being able to identify a problem exists and trying to figure out how to fix it rather than just scrapping the whole thing/idea/race/hobby will get you far.
Not a long book, but I appreciated this look into his head as he runs.