Review: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
View all my reviews
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki MurakamiMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Haruki Murakami, prolific best selling writer, avid fan of vintage LPs, cat lover and fastidious runner. Except for the running part, Murakami Sensei and I seem to share a lot of common traits. Now, if I can only figure out how to write as well as him.
In this book, which is part Journal and part Memoir, perhaps the closest we’d get to an Autobiography from the master, Murakami speaks at length about his three decades long strict regimen of long distance running; along with other exercise and lifestyle habits he follows.
Having closed his jazz café after publishing his first few novels, Murakami found himself leading an unhealthy lifestyle. He was smoking countless lights a day, and the constant sedentary lifestyle was leaving him with less energy. The solution he found, cut out all smoking, and run for an hour or so everyday.
Now this is not like the half hearted new year resolutions that you and I are used to. Where you follow the regiment for perhaps a few weeks before finding some reason to not do it. Murakami is the type of person who, when taking on a new project, tends to dedicate his whole life to it. Just as an example: when his books were starting to gain traction, he decided to close his business and concentrate on writing full time. Even when his friends advised him to keep the shop open, or perhaps hire someone to run it, Murakami was adamant in his decision. He found the notion of having his feet in two boats distasteful. If his writing career never took off, he wagered, he was young, and could afford to come back and restart his business.
As fortune has it, for him and for us, he never had to look back. Sometimes I envy the kind of unwavering sureness which can prompt people like him to jump into the bottomless chasm, not knowing what the future holds. But I digress.
Much like in everything he does, when Murakami decided to take up running, he committed to it 120 percent. One should learn from this man, as to how to make long term sustainable habits, as a means of improving oneself.
For little over three decades (at the time the book was published), Murakami has followed this unflinching regimen in his everyday life, to make himself best prepared to write well. He wakes up at 4 a.m., spending around 5-6 hours immersed in writing. In the afternoon, he goes for a long run of 10km, or a 1500m swim. On returning, he spends his evenings reading or listening to his LP, tucking in at 9 p.m. Like a machine, day in and day out, he follows this routine to a T. For, according to him, these activities and the discipline it cultivates gives him the necessary mental as well as physical strength to fully immerse in his work.
When you read this, much like everything in Murakami’s writing, it feels simple, concise, and neat. No fancy diets, no complicated acronyms worth of exercise, no weird savant level creativity hacks (he leaves the weirdness for his pages).
One thing you have to say regarding his habits, is that he is pig-headed when it comes to executing them. No shortcuts, no easy ways. Even though Murakami mentions how he doesn’t like traditional team sports such as tennis owing to its competitive elements, the man is competing when he runs, but against himself. He feels that if he cannot complete ‘the race’, as he had envisioned it, it wouldn’t be worth it. This pigheadedness led him to complete an almost 100 km long Ultramarathon, even if it left him with utterly spent knees and runner's blues afterwards. Fitting, to one who has been nicknamed, as the ‘Running novelist’.
Being the world renowned bestseller that he is, Murakami, along with his wife, have lived in many nations. To him however, what this offers is an opportunity to familiarize himself with the roads and jogging tracks of his new home. Be it the serene countryside of Cambridge, the hustle and bustle of New York, the ancient allure of Greece, and the familiarity of the Home islands.
With how he describes the places he’s been and the races he’s participated in, Murakami is also a gifted travel writer. Of particular interest is his description of the Solo run he took from Athens to Marathon, reversing the mythical run of Pheidippides in 490 B.C. following the Greek victory over the Persians.
In this book, which is part Journal and part Memoir, perhaps the closest we’d get to an Autobiography from the master, Murakami speaks at length about his three decades long strict regimen of long distance running; along with other exercise and lifestyle habits he follows.
Having closed his jazz café after publishing his first few novels, Murakami found himself leading an unhealthy lifestyle. He was smoking countless lights a day, and the constant sedentary lifestyle was leaving him with less energy. The solution he found, cut out all smoking, and run for an hour or so everyday.
Now this is not like the half hearted new year resolutions that you and I are used to. Where you follow the regiment for perhaps a few weeks before finding some reason to not do it. Murakami is the type of person who, when taking on a new project, tends to dedicate his whole life to it. Just as an example: when his books were starting to gain traction, he decided to close his business and concentrate on writing full time. Even when his friends advised him to keep the shop open, or perhaps hire someone to run it, Murakami was adamant in his decision. He found the notion of having his feet in two boats distasteful. If his writing career never took off, he wagered, he was young, and could afford to come back and restart his business.
As fortune has it, for him and for us, he never had to look back. Sometimes I envy the kind of unwavering sureness which can prompt people like him to jump into the bottomless chasm, not knowing what the future holds. But I digress.
Much like in everything he does, when Murakami decided to take up running, he committed to it 120 percent. One should learn from this man, as to how to make long term sustainable habits, as a means of improving oneself.
For little over three decades (at the time the book was published), Murakami has followed this unflinching regimen in his everyday life, to make himself best prepared to write well. He wakes up at 4 a.m., spending around 5-6 hours immersed in writing. In the afternoon, he goes for a long run of 10km, or a 1500m swim. On returning, he spends his evenings reading or listening to his LP, tucking in at 9 p.m. Like a machine, day in and day out, he follows this routine to a T. For, according to him, these activities and the discipline it cultivates gives him the necessary mental as well as physical strength to fully immerse in his work.
When you read this, much like everything in Murakami’s writing, it feels simple, concise, and neat. No fancy diets, no complicated acronyms worth of exercise, no weird savant level creativity hacks (he leaves the weirdness for his pages).
One thing you have to say regarding his habits, is that he is pig-headed when it comes to executing them. No shortcuts, no easy ways. Even though Murakami mentions how he doesn’t like traditional team sports such as tennis owing to its competitive elements, the man is competing when he runs, but against himself. He feels that if he cannot complete ‘the race’, as he had envisioned it, it wouldn’t be worth it. This pigheadedness led him to complete an almost 100 km long Ultramarathon, even if it left him with utterly spent knees and runner's blues afterwards. Fitting, to one who has been nicknamed, as the ‘Running novelist’.
Being the world renowned bestseller that he is, Murakami, along with his wife, have lived in many nations. To him however, what this offers is an opportunity to familiarize himself with the roads and jogging tracks of his new home. Be it the serene countryside of Cambridge, the hustle and bustle of New York, the ancient allure of Greece, and the familiarity of the Home islands.
With how he describes the places he’s been and the races he’s participated in, Murakami is also a gifted travel writer. Of particular interest is his description of the Solo run he took from Athens to Marathon, reversing the mythical run of Pheidippides in 490 B.C. following the Greek victory over the Persians.
Murakami’s thoughts on writing
Haruki san refuses to give any writing advice, for he feels that each person will have different approaches as to what helps them write. He does however share his thoughts as to what helped him write. Much like Ernest Hemingway, Murakami likes to stop when he is the most productive, and then pick up that thread from the next day.
His thoughts on how to get good in this craft are hardly novel; Be consistent, devote completely to the craft, and perhaps practice. Simplistic, but Murakami is right, in that he doesn’t give writing advice. I read somewhere that Murakami has never experienced writer’s block; that much like Harlen Thrombey from Knives Out, the story just flows through him naturally. Despite what he says, and as one would expect from his mesmerizing compositions, Murakami is a master at his craft, who also happens to have the discipline of a hard worker. Just because he is not out partying, or drowning himself in smoke and booze, doesn’t mean he isn’t the poster child of the idiot savant artist, who is exceptional at his craft. Murakami has a natural acumen, to commit fully to whatever he sets his mind to; be it quitting smoking, running, writing. That sort of will and diligence is quite envious. Me, I can barely say no to a cheese sandwich at night.
What Murakami offers different, and perhaps something Mr. George.R.R.Martin completely ignores the influence of a healthy body in good writing. Murakami believes that a strong mind and body, allows him to write at his best. His sleep schedule, lifestyle choices and his obsessive running form all serve this purpose.
But hey, at least the guy puts his money where his mouth is. As of writing this review, Murakami is 73, and he still runs everyday, and completes at least one marathon a year. He has never not completed a marathon, he says as a matter of personal pride. Perhaps part of the reason for his fastidiousness, is, as he describes, running while listening to music on his Walkman, at some point became a form of meditation to him, allowing him to enter a zone of tranquility, peace, clarity, who knows. But like a positive feedback drug, it makes him want to come back for more.
Back to writing, Murakami believes himself to be not very talented in writing. So he makes up for it, by cultivating focus and endurance, via his physical activities. One of his concerns as old age sets in, is that he would no longer be able to run as he once did, and perhaps be confined to his bed.
The book ends, with his hopes of being able to continue indulging in his twin passions of running and writing, till the day he dies. In the typical fashion of his ilk, he even has the words ready to be written on his tombstone.
Or alternatively,
‘At least he never walked’
View all my reviews
Comments
Post a Comment