[PRU]∎ Libro What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Haruki Murakami Philip Gabriel 9780307269195 Books

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Haruki Murakami Philip Gabriel 9780307269195 Books

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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Haruki Murakami Philip Gabriel 9780307269195 Books

I’ve never read a Murakami novel before so I had no idea what to expect from his running memoir. I’d seen it on the bookshelf of a number of runners so as I started training for my first marathon a few weeks ago, I picked up the book as well.

I loved most of it. I found his philosophy with both running and writing to be similar to mine. There are many things that someone who’s not an endurance athlete can’t understand so maybe this book speaks to a narrow audience. But I’m glad to be a member of that audience. I found myself nodding along. I’d read a free sample on my Kindle, then found a used paperback to buy so I could underline passages and make notes in the margin. I loved this book so much I penciled it up.

Now that I’ve seen this glimpse into his mind I want to try his novels, too.

I would not say this is “equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence,” as the book description does. It includes all those things, but not in equal parts. It’s a series of essays that he wrote, mostly during his training for the 2005 New York City Marathon, but the memories take him to other races and other periods of his life, and on a whirlwind tour of his stomping grounds across Hawaii, Boston, Greece, and Japan.


Tags : What I Talk About When I Talk About Running [Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later,Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel,What I Talk About When I Talk About Running,Knopf,0307269191,General,Japanese authors;Biography.,Marathon running.,1949-,Biography & Autobiography,Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs,Biography Autobiography,Biography And Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Body, Mind & Spirit General,Family & health,Health & Fitness General,Jogging,Literary studies: general,Marathon running,Murakami, Haruki,,Personal Memoirs,Running,Running & Jogging,Sports & Recreation Running & Jogging

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Haruki Murakami Philip Gabriel 9780307269195 Books Reviews

I really liked this book. It didn't blow me out of the water with inspiration like I kind of expected, but that's ok. It's a memoir, not a manifesto. As a runner and writer myself, it was nice to see how the two mesh together for the author. I am anxious to read one of his novels now after getting a glimpse of his writing style.
Aside from the joy of gaining insight from his decades of experience, I found the author to be respectable, humble, and generally just a likable guy. Id' love to have coffee with him pick his brain some more. I found his humility and honesty refreshing and rare in a field where I am accustomed to sensationalized, horn-tooting tales of superatletes. I liked that he opened up about limits that come with aging, (though he's still faster than I may ever be) and how the love of running can wax and wann over time. Humility is an aspect often left out when people talk about running, but I find that at times I leave for a run expecting to feel a great sense of accomplishment, and return humbled instead, and those runs are every bit as important. I am grateful that he touched on those feelings.
Running is such a metaphor for life, it only makes sense that a writer may be an avid runner. I often write in my head while I run, and I enjoyed this account of someone who has been doing both for decades.
I have this theory that goes like this sometimes we find books, and sometimes books find us.

Oftentimes I'll pick up a book, read a few lines, and quickly close the covers. I'll instinctively know that no matter how much I want to read it that that book's message was meant for a later time. And sure enough, years later, I'll spot the book on the corner of my shelf and be moved to pick it up, only to find exactly what I needed to hear. It's funny how life, and reading, works that way.

Other times I'll find a book in the most random way - through a footnote or a random citation in an obscure periodical, for instance - and that book's message will be exactly what I needed to hear at that moment in my life. That was certainly the case with Japanese novelist Karuki Murakami's wonderful little book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

While training for the New York City Marathon Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami decided to write about it as well. What materialized was a unique memoir that discusses his twin passions of writing and running, and the interesting way they nurture and inform each other.

I've been struggling as of late staying focused on the hard work of writing, so when I opened the book and read the following lines I knew that a message that I needed to hear had found me

"One runner told of a mantra his older brother, also a runner, had taught him which he's pondered ever since he began running. Here it is Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you're running and you start to think, Man this hurts, I can't take it anymore. The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand any more is up to the runner himself. This pretty much sums up the most important aspect of marathon running."

If you feel called to creative work, and are struggling with finding the discipline necessary to create a body of work, you'll find this playful, oftentimes philosophical memoir food for your soul.
I’ve never read a Murakami novel before so I had no idea what to expect from his running memoir. I’d seen it on the bookshelf of a number of runners so as I started training for my first marathon a few weeks ago, I picked up the book as well.

I loved most of it. I found his philosophy with both running and writing to be similar to mine. There are many things that someone who’s not an endurance athlete can’t understand so maybe this book speaks to a narrow audience. But I’m glad to be a member of that audience. I found myself nodding along. I’d read a free sample on my , then found a used paperback to buy so I could underline passages and make notes in the margin. I loved this book so much I penciled it up.

Now that I’ve seen this glimpse into his mind I want to try his novels, too.

I would not say this is “equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence,” as the book description does. It includes all those things, but not in equal parts. It’s a series of essays that he wrote, mostly during his training for the 2005 New York City Marathon, but the memories take him to other races and other periods of his life, and on a whirlwind tour of his stomping grounds across Hawaii, Boston, Greece, and Japan.