A review by elenajohansen
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
If you're a fan of Murakami's work and simply want to know more about the author, you'll probably like this book.
I've only read one of his novels (Norwegian Wood) and to be generous, it was interesting in some aspects but not at all to my tastes. To be less generous, I found it misogynistic.
But I am a writer, and I am a runner, and memoirs (or nonfiction in general) from a primarily fiction author aren't necessarily going to be the same beast as their fiction, whether I enjoyed it or not. So I tried this.
Strangely enough, I've gained an odd sort of respect for Murakami, despite not enjoying this book much either. If you enter into this thinking it's going to be any sort of self-help book, either for writing or running, you will likely leave deeply disappointed. This is truly a memoir, a close self-examination by the author of himself through the twin lenses of his profession and his primary form of exercise. It's about discipline. It's about observation. It's about aging.
But it's never about advice. Murakami has kept, at times, what I consider a brutal training regimen and a difficult-but-not-impossible writing regimen, but he constantly recognizes his standards are not universally achievable. He admits frequently that the way he has chosen to order his life makes him an unpleasant person, and I have to say, I agree: I am left with an absolute certainty that in a hypothetical world where he and I had the opportunity to get to know each other, we would not get along. (I don't mean that as a criticism of him as a person, because I'm sure he would find me unpleasant as well, compared to him I'm a chaos gremlin and he would have no patience for me, I expect.)
Getting to know the author through how he chooses to write about himself, I'm not surprised I didn't like Norwegian Wood much and I'm positive that I don't have to read any of his other works. I will never be a fan, and that's okay. But I do have to respect the dedication, the honesty, and the self-actualization. Even in my forties, I am still often struggling to figure out who I am; even if this is not a book with advice, and Murakami's lifestyle itself is outside my ability to achieve, it is kind of inspiring in a wider sense to read about someone who has achieved so much and can be so clear and honest about what it took to get there.
I've only read one of his novels (Norwegian Wood) and to be generous, it was interesting in some aspects but not at all to my tastes. To be less generous, I found it misogynistic.
But I am a writer, and I am a runner, and memoirs (or nonfiction in general) from a primarily fiction author aren't necessarily going to be the same beast as their fiction, whether I enjoyed it or not. So I tried this.
Strangely enough, I've gained an odd sort of respect for Murakami, despite not enjoying this book much either. If you enter into this thinking it's going to be any sort of self-help book, either for writing or running, you will likely leave deeply disappointed. This is truly a memoir, a close self-examination by the author of himself through the twin lenses of his profession and his primary form of exercise. It's about discipline. It's about observation. It's about aging.
But it's never about advice. Murakami has kept, at times, what I consider a brutal training regimen and a difficult-but-not-impossible writing regimen, but he constantly recognizes his standards are not universally achievable. He admits frequently that the way he has chosen to order his life makes him an unpleasant person, and I have to say, I agree: I am left with an absolute certainty that in a hypothetical world where he and I had the opportunity to get to know each other, we would not get along. (I don't mean that as a criticism of him as a person, because I'm sure he would find me unpleasant as well, compared to him I'm a chaos gremlin and he would have no patience for me, I expect.)
Getting to know the author through how he chooses to write about himself, I'm not surprised I didn't like Norwegian Wood much and I'm positive that I don't have to read any of his other works. I will never be a fan, and that's okay. But I do have to respect the dedication, the honesty, and the self-actualization. Even in my forties, I am still often struggling to figure out who I am; even if this is not a book with advice, and Murakami's lifestyle itself is outside my ability to achieve, it is kind of inspiring in a wider sense to read about someone who has achieved so much and can be so clear and honest about what it took to get there.