What is Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running about?
It is a short memoir in which Haruki Murakami writes about the running he started in the early 1980s and how it connects to his life as a novelist. It moves between marathon training, races including an ultramarathon and a triathlon, and the slow, daily discipline that both running and writing ask for.
Murakami published the book in Japanese in 2007, and Philip Gabriel's English translation came out from Knopf in 2008. It is not a novel, not a training guide and not a self-help book, although people regularly try to use it as all three. It is a working writer thinking out loud about a habit he has kept for decades.
What the book actually covers
The memoir has a loose, notebook-like structure. Murakami describes how he came to be a novelist, how running entered his life in the early 1980s, and what years of it have taught him. Much of the book sits around his preparation for the New York City Marathon, but it also travels: a run from Athens to Marathon, an ultramarathon in Hokkaido, a triathlon in Murakami, a town in Niigata Prefecture that happens to share his name, and plenty of ordinary training runs in between.
The thread running through all of it is the link between the body and the desk. Murakami treats running as exercise and as a way of thinking about the patience, repetition and stubbornness that writing novels requires.
What it is not
- Not a plan. There are no sessions to copy and no advice on pace or gear.
- Not a triumph story. Nobody wins anything that matters to anyone else.
- Not a philosophy lecture. The reflections are plain and personal rather than grand.
That modesty is the appeal. It feels like a long conversation with someone who has been doing the same quiet thing every morning for years and is still interested in it.
Who it suits
- Runners at any level, especially those who are not fast and never will be. The book takes ordinary, unglamorous training seriously.
- People with a creative job who want to think about routine and output without reading productivity advice.
- Murakami readers curious about the person behind the novels. You get his voice with none of the surreal machinery of the fiction.
- Anyone between books who wants something short and steady.
It is less likely to suit readers who want drama, a strong plot or practical instruction. If that is you, try Born to Run instead, which we cover in /books/best-books-about-running/.
How to read it
Slowly, and preferably in the same spirit as the running it describes: a chapter at a time, not in one sitting. It is a good book to keep near the door, read on a train, or pick up after a run when your head is quiet. If you are reading in English, you are reading Philip Gabriel's translation, which keeps the plain style intact.
FAQ
Do you need to have read Murakami's novels first?
No. The memoir stands on its own, and it is often the first Murakami book that runners pick up. If it makes you curious about the fiction, that is a pleasant side effect.
Is it motivating?
It can be, but not in a poster way. The book does not cheer you on; it shows what a long, unspectacular commitment looks like from the inside, which many readers find more useful on a cold morning than a pep talk.
Is it only about marathons?
Marathons are the backbone, but the book also covers an ultramarathon, a triathlon and the day-to-day business of training, ageing and writing.
Where does the title come from?
It was inspired by the title of Raymond Carver's story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Fans of Carver will recognise the borrowed rhythm immediately.
Sources
Written by the Zestasy editors. General information for curious adults, not medical, nutrition or training advice.