I enjoyed Murakami's previous fiction work. I never realized he was a runner. So to my surprise, when I saw this book I was excited. It's a great read and inspiring - for both runners and not-so physically active readers...

Like many people I love Murakami. I don't have 1 favorite. It can be Windup chronicles, Kafka on the shore, Dance dance dance or even Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world. Yet, if you do like Murakami like me and don't want to be disappointed. I strongly suggest you avoid this book. It's autobiographic and has nothing of that magic of his fictional books. The only reason to read this book is when you run like he runs. If you want to read about other people preparing for a marathon this book has some insights you want to know about. If you don't run long distances and just like literature in general and/or specifically Murakami avoid this book. Don't spoil your feelings/associations/recollections by reading this book. Preserve Murakami as you know him!

Murakami-san books tend to be surreal and the endings could leave you in suspense. Hence, this non-fiction gives you an insight to him as a person and what goes through his mind as he runs the original marathon in reverse, his attempts in ultra-marathons and triathlon. Very interesting reading and his coming to terms that he can no longer improve on his timing and injuries resonates with runners around the world.

I did not know Murakami's work at all before I purchased this book. I saw it in the running section at a bookstore and decided to give it a read. As I was purchasing the book the sales staff got very excited- turns out they were all huge fans. One person had even done her M.A. Dissertation on Murakami!

I was expecting some running inspiration. What was amazing is that I found an honest exploration into why someone does what they do, written in a way that was simple, moving, and eloquent. It had been so long that I cried when a book was over because it was so good, until I read this.

If you are a fan of Murakami, then the details of his life will be interesting, and are outlined very nicely by other reviewers here. If you are like me and not familiar with his celebrity, then what you will find is a moving memoir that is humble, insightful, and through its simplicities, leaves you changed. Even if you cannot relate to his perspective, you come to understand him and feel a sense of empathy.

If you are a runner, you will love this book, as Murakami speaks of his running rituals and motivations as metaphor for larger life lessons. If you are a writer, you will love this book, as Murakami illustrates some of the insights he has into himself as a writer and his writing process. If you just want a nice, easy read that is entertaining and touches the heart, you will love this book, because it does just that.

I'm an enormous fan of Murakami's work, and I'm also a long distance runner and a budding triathlete, so this book was almost tailor made for me. I think if you fall into any one of those three buckets you will find this book compelling and enjoyable.

Murakami's insights into the significance of running in the lives of runners is perfect -- it's a very hard thing to articulate to the majority of people who think you are crazy for running and would never do so voluntarily.

Also, the autobiographical tidbits are a joy for Murakami fans: they feel like clues to some of the mysteries in his novels.

I'm not sure if I would take any training advice from Murakami, but I loved the book!

As a lifelong professional writer and a 5-mile-a-day runner since 1980, as well as 1985 completer of the Boston Marathon (and approximately the author's age).... I LOVED this book! Period!

I enjoy Murakami's free flowing thought process which is the basis of this book and central to his novels. It is clear from this memoir that his central characters in his fictional works are closely based on the writer himself. I have read all his books that have been translated into English. I also have a copy of his book " Sydney" written around the olympic games in Sydney where I live . Unfortunately it is in Japanese and although I have studied Japanese my knowledge of the language is not nearly good enough to read it properly. I would very much appreciate it if Amazon could ask Murakami-san to get the book translated into english.
Murakami Fan
Gordon Conroy
Sydney Australia

Though a well-intentioned tribute to the significance of running in the author's life, the narrative lacks both depth and insight. Still, it is not without value, and makes for a pleasant (though somewhat tame) read. Readers looking for a more gratifying read on running, however, should try Benjamin Cheever's "Strides: Running Through History With An Unlikely Athlete."

I am enthralled with Haruki. This is the first work of his that I have read. What a delight! I will be reading more of his work.

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.

For a number of years, I was a big Murakami fan. Then a few of his books disappointed me so much, I sort of 'fell out of love' with his work. This non-fiction work appealed to me and I'm glad I purchased it. In fact, I purchased the audible version which is great. It reminds me a lot of Stephen King's "On Writing," which is half about living your life, half about the art of writing. I pulled a lot of useful information from this book that I won't soon forget. Don't expect some grand climax to this book, however. For what it is, I think it's a great book and a short read (or listen if you're on audio)

The publishing world has a (monetary) fondness for pushing non-fiction books by fiction writers on us, hoping to capitalize on the author's readership. Stephen King's lovely tome about writing worked. This, Murakami's book on running, did not. I, too, am a middle-aged long-distance runner but found little insight or comfort of either subject in these pages. If you want to read something of depth about running, life, and aging, buy any one of George Sheehan's books instead.

Well I'm coming at this from he opposite direction from Emma (above), but I agree with her assessment of the book.

As a 50-something runner and lover of Murakami's novels I found this fascinating - read it in one sitting (well, lying - it was an overnight hospital stay).

Recmmended for runners and couch potatoes alike.

I have read about half of Murakami's novel and love them all for their unique perspective and deep insight. With the caveat that I am not a long distance runner, I found this book disappointing. It is very mundane compared to Murakami's other writing. I would recommend any of his novels over this book.

Rarely do "writing" and "exercise" appear as the main topics for a memoir--there's something almost un-writerly about working out. Aren't all the great novelists supposed to be drunks? Well, no. Murakami compares running marathons to writing novels, and it's a damn fine analogy. His prose is masterly yet humble. Whether you're a writer, a runner, or just someone who enjoys a good book, Murakami delvers with "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running."

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 short 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.

Most of us probably have had the unpleasant experience of being collared by a friend who is intent on sharing the details of some passion --- whether it's golf, stamp collecting or scuba diving --- about which we know little and care less. As a non-runner, I approached Haruki Murakami's memoir with some of the trepidation that attends those conversations. Instead I found a spritely, engaging story of one writer's quarter-century encounter with serious running and how that pursuit has threaded its way meaningfully through his life. Focusing in the main on the period from August 2005 through the New York City Marathon on November 6, 2005 (his 24th marathon since 1982), Murakami blends snippets of autobiography, descriptions of his running life and insights on the craft of writing into an entertaining mix.

Murakami, author of critically acclaimed and popular novels like THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE and KAFKA ON THE SHORE, started running at the age of 33, turning to it as casually as he apparently did writing ("One day, out of the blue, I wanted to write a novel. And one day, out of the blue, I started to run --- simply because I wanted to."). Refreshingly, he's no proselytizer for the sport, conceding that "I've tried my best never to say something like, Running is great. Everybody should try it. If some people have an interest in long-distance running, just leave them be, and they'll start running on their own."

Departing from the central time frame of the memoir (the origin of whose title should be readily known to fans of Raymond Carver, for whose work he confesses his admiration and which he has translated into Japanese), Murakami provides a lyrical account of his first "marathon," one that took him backwards on the original route, from Athens to Marathon (in fact, one mile shorter than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles) in the searing heat of a Greek summer. He describes his single ultramarathon (62 miles, completed in 11 hours and 42 minutes) in such grim detail as to make one question the sanity of anyone running such a race. While doing so, he brings to bear the novelist's keen eye for detail in describing the closing stretch of the race: "Evening had come on...and the air had a special clarity to it. I could also smell the deep grass of the beginning of summer. I saw a few foxes, too, gathered in a field. They looked at us runners curiously. Thick, meaningful clouds, like something out of a nineteenth century British landscape painting, covered the sky."

Murakami hasn't confined his athletic activities to long-distance running. In the 1990s he competed in his first triathlon. His account of the training to overcome the panic he experienced at the beginning of the swimming leg in an event in 2000, ultimately disqualifying him, is both candid and instructive. In the final triathlon described in the book, he makes gentle sport of how the Vaseline he applied to make his swimsuit easier to remove fogged his swimming goggles and how his shoelaces became untied during the running leg.

Although Murakami offers brief glimpses into the subjects that engage him and his view of the writing craft ("manual labor," as he describes it at one point), there's no strained effort here to draw parallels between his running and writing lives or to import cosmic lessons from one realm to the other. More by indirection, he hints at the ways in which similar qualities --- dogged persistence, attention to detail, a willingness to press on in a solitary way through extended periods of effort --- inform and enrich both pursuits.

Although he admits to something of a prickly nature, Murakami's tone throughout is self-effacing, even self-critical at times. He's a realist about the ravages of age: "Even when I grow old and feeble, when people warn me it's about time to throw in the towel, I won't care. As long as my body allows, I'll keep on running." And while he hopes to pursue his passions for many years, he has already decided he wants to be buried under a tombstone that reads, in part, "At Least He Never Walked."

Murakami's small memoir didn't inspire me to leap from my chair and lace up my Nikes, but you don't have to be a runner to enjoy this reflective book by one of Japan's most prominent contemporary novelists.

--- Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg

Haruki Murakami offers an extended, albeit concise, meditation on distance running that is both introspective yet absorbing. Unpretentious and not self-absorbed, Murakami draws interesting parallels between the life of a distance runner and that of a writer, in his specific case, a novelist.

He also offers trenchant insights on the aches and pains of distance running, triathlon competitions and the lifestyle issues that confront those who pursue such pastimes. Murakami is not in any way attempting to proselytize and his understated style may win many converts nonetheless.

My sole quibble is his bias against walking in marathons. He wants his tombstone epitaph to read, "At least he never walked." Yet, I firmly believe that there is nothing shameful - either in a race, a training run or a life -- in stopping to walk. The point is not always the completing time, but the fact that one keeps moving forward, even at a walker's gait. Sometimes slowing down to a more measured pace is good.

Walk or run to get a copy of this book to read. If you consider yourself a runner or an endurance athlete - whether it's a journeyman or an elite competitor -- "What I Talk About:" is a genuine treat and may give you more to talk about, and think about!

To say that Haruki Murakami is a fantastic writer is to shed light on the obvious. Unfortunately, only two of Murakami's nonfiction books have been translated into English (Underground and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running), but what's been given to us has showed that Murakami's charms and talents transcend that found in the pages of his novels.

With What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (a great play on a Raymond Carver collection title), Murakami gives us a memoir that incorporates the theme of running into tales of aging, relationships, perception, drive, wisdom, and fear.

To non-runners, we see this theme as a means to an end, but it seems that runners are also taken by the familiar scenes that Murakami enters into the text.

The reason this writer in particular can draw in such a wide degree of readers is simply because he tends to have no overbearing agenda. Simply speaking on the issues and events that have struck him as important on a personal level, Murakami preaches nothing, he simply speaks. And when he speaks what he speaks, people tend to listen.

If you're not a Murakami fan, then this book may be a great introduction. Small in content but just as effective in its goals and performance as several other Murakami writings, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is quite simply a great read.

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.

You do not have to be a runner to be inspired by this little book. Murakami's memoir details his hard work, perseverance and dedication with regard to a certain craft, long-distance running, and the positive affect it has had on his life and writing. Murakami's lessons can applied in life no matter what your profession or passions may be. For myself, his dedication, hard work, focus, goal-setting and commitment to a quality life are all inspiring. Plus, this a very enjoyable, fun read.

I have placed this book atop my listmania group of literary running books. Haruki Murakami's marvelously entertaining WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING is about his running, yes, but it also touches on other interesting ideas, including the author's affinities for music, literature, and baseball, Japanese and American:

"As if to lament the defeat of the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs (they lost every game in a Sox vs. Sox series with Chicago), for ten days afterward a cold rain fell on New England. A long autumn rain. Sometimes it rained hard, sometimes softly; sometimes, it would let up for a time like an afterthought, but not once did it clear up."

"From beginning to end the sky was completely covered with the thick gray clouds particular to this region. Like a dawdling person, the rain lingered for a long time, then finally made up its mind to turn into a downpour. Towns from New Hampshire to Massachusetts suffered damage from the rain, and the main highway was cut off in places."

Murakami says he took the title of his book from the title of the Raymond Carver short story collection, WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT LOVE, and thanks Carver's widow for giving him permission. Murakami has translated many of Carver's works into Japanese, as well as other American fiction. He says:

"One other project I'm involved in now is translating Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY, and things are going well. I've finished the first draft and am revising the second. I'm taking my time, going over each line carefully, and as I do so the translation gets smoother and I'm better able to render Fitzgerald's prose into more natural Japanese."

"It's a little strange, perhaps, to make this claim at such a late date, but GATSBY really is an outstanding novel. I never get tired of it, no matter how many times I read it. It's the kind of literature that nourishes you as you read, and every time I do I'm struck by something new, and experience a fresh reaction to it. I find it amazing how such a young writer, only twenty-one at the time, could grasp--so insightfully, so equitably, and so warmly--the realities of life. How was this possible? The more I think about it, and the more I read the novel, the more mysterious it all is."

Music, baseball, literature, and running. My kind of writer. Runners looking for a similar read might want to try Don Kardong's THIRTY PHONE BOOTHS TO BOSTON. Readers new to Murakami who enjoyed this one might be inspired to try one of the author's many novels, and I highly recommend THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE.

I have not finished this book yet. I opened it up this morning, took it to the beauty salon to keep me company and to blot out the standard gossip going on around me. As I started reading it, I felt that he Haruki Murakami was speaking directly to me, soothing my soul, for I too write about running, and run alone, oftentimes in a void. This book put me in a pensive mood, making me introspective, and allowed me to say, "Hey, your struggles are okay. Your successes are to be measured by your own desires and standards, and your failures are to be expected. " Actually Haruki said this so well, that I just imagined I was saying this.
It's a book that has already made an impact on me after reading only a few chapters. As a writer, I was taken by the common themes we experience. Haruki says, "Emotional hurt is the price a person has to pay to be independent." I just discovered this author - have already put his book "Wild Sheep Chase" on my list as my next novel to read. I am just so curious. He says his readers loved this book but his editors were not too enthusiastic about it. Writers, artists, creators? Does this sound familiar? Who has not experienced this as a true person who follows his/her heart.