"What I Talk About
When I Talk About Running: A Memoir" by Haruki Murakami (Knopf, ISBN
9780307269195, $21.00)
Haruki Murakami can pinpoint the exact minute he decided he wanted to write
his first novel: April 1 1978 at 1:30 p.m. He was sitting in the bleachers
at Jingu Stadium, sun shining, batter up, pitcher throws, and then the swing
of the bat. Seconds later a loud crack; the ball slams into the sweet spot
of the bat. That is the moment.
He set out to write a novel-—not to become a novelist. Thirty years later,
he is a novelist, having written multiple novels.
Similarly, Murakami is also now a runner. He began running to keep fit. In
1982 he closed the jazz club he owned and operated and started working at
the sedentary task of writing. He has now run multiple marathons.
"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir" is pure pleasure. It
dissects a runner's and a writer's experience, the daily routines that
manage to transcend the mundane and provide true fulfillment.
No "how-to" manual, this slim, spare memoir is so skillfully conceived and
translated that at first it seems almost shallow. But upon reflection, it
succeeds by presenting universal ideas in a series of well-chosen details.
Starting out, running 20 minutes per day left Murakami exhausted, heart
racing and legs shaky. Focusing on his health, he added a few minutes at a
time and had soon built a long run into his daily routine. Then, he "went to
a sports store, purchased running gear and some decent shoes that suited my
purpose. I bought a stop watch too. And read a beginners' book on running.
That is how one becomes a runner."
Because his running and writing careers began almost simultaneously Murakami
shows how each is necessary and how each complements the other; in marathon
running, the runner will feel pain but must choose not to suffer. When
beginning a new novel, the novelist must chisel off the layers to reach the
imagination that stimulates the writing. With both, one must endure the
early miles and drafts to arrive at the place of discovery.
Runners will appreciate Murakami's observations: on the strong, fast runners
who pass him daily, with their bouncing pony tails and strong legs; on the
difference between slow- and fast-twitch muscles and why we can't all have
both; on how long it can take to warm up, then how it feels to outlast the
other speedier starters.
Writers will appreciate Murakami's thoughts on the creative life of a
novelist: how each beginning is its own challenge; how important readers are
and how to think about them in a constructive way; what it means to stop
when you might go on forever, not depleting the excitement of your work on
any given day.
"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is one of those books that
sticks with you, through the heat and humidity on the road, to wherever it
is you find yourself.
Review by Sarah Bagby,
August 7, 2008
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