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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

The Haruki Murakami Running Memoir

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Not Quite What it Seems

Jun 23, 2010

by lemoncircus
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

A friend gave this to me for travel reading and inspiration just before I ran my last marathon. The book turned out to be an interesting read, but isn't much about running at all. There are certainly moments that are inspiring, and indeed reading the book on the plane and finishing it just before bed the night before the marathon definitely helped to put me in a positive frame of mind and get me pumped up for the race. However, despite that, the book is not truly about running, but about Murakami's life as seen through the filter of running. Anyone interested in Murakami will certainly enjoy reading this--whether or not they run--and most runners will likely enjoy it, too, so long as they know that they're reading a memoir of the life of an amateur runner, rather than a memoir of running. Murakami's writing is simple and clean, which I found particularly refreshing amidst the hectic background of stressed out travelers (though I am fairly certain it would be equally refreshing read in a bathtub with a glass of gin). A quick and worthwhile read that will provoke personal reflection for both runners and non-runners alike.

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More What I Talk About When I Talk ... reviews

Quick Tip by Blurgirl. July 06, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

A Quick Tip by Blurgirl

This book is less about running and more about life.

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review by Alfonso_Mangione. April 17, 2010

What I Don't Want to Read When I Read About Running or Writing

I hate to say it, but this is probably the worst thing I've read by Murakami. On paper--or rather, on the back of the paperback--it sounded like a sure thing; I'm a writer, and I've got a few marathons under my belt, and I was spellbound by the three other books I've read of his. So I thought I'd hit the trifecta when I pulled this off the shelf at Border's and saw that he'd written about writing and running. And by and large, I felt a rush of … more

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see all What I Talk About When I Talk ... reviews (3)

About the reviewer

lemoncircus
Ranked #849

I have a mild obsession with schizophrenia, mulitple personality disorder, and serial killers. I have a slightly more than mild obsession with chick lit that doesn't assume I have no brain. I like … more