What do I talk about running?

You know when you read a book and it just speaks to you? Something about the time and place and just all the circumstances match up and you know you read the book at the perfect time? This was that.

My drive to immerse myself in the world of writing keeps growing, and I've found so much fun in collecting books about writers and writing that I can't wait to sink into. I had to start somewhere, so I picked up What I Talk About When I Talk About Running because, back when I bought it a few months ago, I'd read the first few pages in the bookshop and it had really piqued my interest.

This book is definitely about writing. We learn about Murakami's methods, his work ethic, why he became a writer in the first place, what keeps him writing now. But more than that it is a book about running. About why he loves running, how it has influenced his life, how it interlinks with his writing. It's a journal about his training, his ups and downs, and for a person who really really hate running (no, really, friends, I HATE IT) I found this an absolute pleasure. Sure, this was about running, but it was really about a person who loves something, and I learned so much from his determination and passion and consistency.

It was such a meditative reading experience for me, a chance to listen to someone talk about their life and the lessons they've learned, through a journal on running and writing.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a memoir by Haruki Murakami in which he writes about his interest and participation in long-distance running.

Murakami started running in the early 1980's and since then has competed in over twenty marathons and an ultra-marathon.

Murakami gives reasons that make him run. Physical fitness is important to him and the constant challenge of breaking the record of the previous day is what motivates him to keep moving until he is forty.

The point at which he finds that he cannot improve his times any longer gives him a shock.

A motive is thus lost. He is struggling with the fact of getting old and accepting the associated limits of his capabilities.

In describing his sport, Murakami also describes his character and his way of coping with life.

Without feeling his physical limits again and again, he could not follow his calling as a writer.

He combines running with writing in a symbiosis: the one is not possible without the other.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «از دو (دویدن) که حرف می‌زنم از چه حرف می‌زنم»؛ «وقتی از دویدن صحبت میکنم در چه موردی صحبت می‌کنم»؛ نویسنده: هاروکی موراکامی؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز نخست ماه آوریل سال 2011میلادی

عنوان: از دو (دویدن) که حرف می‌زنم از چه حرف می‌زنم؛ نویسنده: هاروکی موراکامی؛ مترجم: مجتبی ویسی ؛ تهران، نشر چشمه، 1388؛ در183ص؛ شابک 9789643627553؛ چاپ سوم 1389؛ چاپ چهارم 1390؛ در 179 ص؛ چاپ ششم 1394؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ژاپن - سده 21م

عنوان: وقتی از دویدن صحبت میکنم در چه موردی صحبت می‌کنم؛ نویسنده: هاروکی موراکامی؛ مترجم: علی حاجی قاسم؛ تهران، نگاه، 1390؛ در160ص؛ شابک 9789643627553؛ چاپ سوم 1389؛ چاپ چهارم 1390؛ در 179ص؛ چاپ ششم 1394؛

وقتی از دویدن صحبت میکنم در چه موردی صحبت میکنم، آرام و ساده است؛ یادمانهای «موراکامی» است، نویسنده ی محبوب «ژاپنی» برنامه ای دقیق و منظم برای دویدن، و شرکت در مسابقات ماراتن دارند، و در این کتاب از لذت این ورزش استقامتی، و تاثیراتی که میتواند روی زندگی و حتی نویسندگی و شخصیت داستانها بگذارد، حرف میزنند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 06/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 09/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Listening to Murakami speak about the very universal way our inner voice functions with random thoughts - like clouds in the sky that come and go - was a little taste of heaven for me.

Given that I, too, was a runner for 25 years of my life - running marathons - and hilly trail half marathons - often beginning my training runs in the dark with a flashlight — this was absolutely a lovely delightful Audiobook. I enjoyed it very much.

I’m familiar with the language- the culture- the drive - the speed training - the setbacks - the injuries- the exhaustion- the pain - the adrenaline rush on race days - the replacement drinks - the log books - the socks and shoes - the chaffing - the spirituality- the emotions - the runner’s high and exhilaration.

I’ve been away from running almost as many years as I spent running obsessively......
Would I have enjoyed this tape 25 years ago? Not really. I was too busy ‘doing’ my own thing. I wouldn’t have appreciated ‘my own’ accomplishments back then either It wasn’t as though I woke up at 4am - to dress for 33° outside to begin my run and say to myself, “aren’t I inspiring?”
Not a chance. BUT NOW.... as an older fart who wouldn’t even consider running today, I can indulge in a few semi- inspiring ( or crazy) - memories from my younger running days. I remember ‘starting’ a marathon in Oakland in the pouring rain.....and it ‘never’ stopped the entire 26.219 miles. Nuts! I was nuts! And exhilarated. Breakfast was delicious afterwards.

Listening to Murakami share about himself - his daily running schedule- his running in Hawaii- his attempts to answer the questions “what does he think about when he is running” MIGHT EVEN BE MORE ENJOYABLE - or at least as much - TO THE NON RUNNER - than the runner. As I said .... I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed this audiobook as much when I ‘was’ a runner, as much as I did now.

Murakami says .....
..... he doesn’t really think of anything worth mentioning.
...... he runs to avoid
...... occasionally he runs not to get fat
...... The only people who ever even ask him the question of what he thinks about when he’s running are people who have never been running and don’t have a clue.
...... he’s not the type of person, we are being alone for five hours, is painful. He enjoys being by himself.
...... he mostly listens to rock music when he runs because the rhythm is the right beat
......he talked about being a young runner - then turning 50 - he talked about his emotions about growing old.
...... he talked a few times about competition, and how that is not the world and lifestyle he is after. He simply competes with himself.

There’s a lot of wisdom from Murakami. He’s likable and humble. A meditative type of listening and appreciating for me!

Lovely as can be! YES....I’m inspired!

Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. pairs running and the art of writing (and its demands on focus and endurance). After reading Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage a few weeks ago, I had wanted to read more from this author. Admittedly, What I Talk About has a very different (one might say non-literary) quality which differentiates it from his novel. Still, it was an interesting account in which Murakami describes a nearly lifelong connection between running and how that running impacts his writing, and between aging and the potential decline of creative and physical power. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

If you love running, reading, or writing, or are a fan of Haruki Murakami's, this book is for you. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a short ~~ by Murakami's standards ~~ memoir on running, life, music and writing. In addition to this, we discover some of his favorite authors, and their works. Note to self: must track down Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.

Confession time ~~ I'm not a runner. I have no desire to be, but this is a book by Murakami after all so it must be read. To quote the New York Times reviewer: “I’m guessing that the potential readership for “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” is 70 percent Murakami nuts, 10 percent running enthusiasts and an overlapping 20 percent who will be on the brink of orgasm before they’ve even sprinted to the cash register.” I fall into that 70%.

While reading this book, I became enamored with Murakami, the man, and his dedicated, practical, and philosophical approach to life, writing, and running. Murakami didn’t begin running seriously until he was 33, and now runs 6 miles a day rain or shine. He has competed in many marathons, has run a 62K, and competes in triathlons. And thru this all, Murakami describes himself as an average runner, listening to his musical selection for the day ~~ note to self: must track down Lovin' Spoonful Greatest Hits on Spotify ~~ and taking in the beauty of the world around him. Throughout the book, his running consistency and the dedication he shares with the reader becomes a metaphor for his life and the many accomplishments he has earned throughout his career. Murakami doesn't run to win win races; he runs to be healthy and active. He loves to run. I get that. I love to practice inversions. I once spent 40 minutes standing on my head. My friends thought I was nuts, but Murakami would understand.

Murakami does not make any claims about how running has completely transformed his life. Nor is he trying to sell us on anything. What he does here is simply share his thoughts on running, and the profound impact it can have on a person without even realizing it. Murakami's dedication to running every day, just like his dedication to writing, comes from his belief that maintaining consistency in anything you do will lead to accomplishing the goals you are seeking. This is not to say that there won’t be fears to be faced, injuries, delays, or frustrations, but that’s part of the experience. This is much the same philosophy Jack London espoused in Martin Eden, a book I highly recommend.

The philosophy Murakami most wants to share with us here is that life is about getting a little bit better than where you were. This is also a major theme of his novels. This is mind expanding ~~ it is a lesson for everything we do in this life. Murakami says it even better: “For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself. At least that’s why I’ve put in the effort day after day: to raise my own level. I’m no great runner, by any means. I’m at an ordinary – or perhaps more like mediocre – level. But that’s not the point. The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.”

"Nothing in the real world is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness."

Murakami's mind has always fascinated me; that he transcends the normal and dull, spreading them into a realistic, dreamlike, colorful, soulful reality, amazes me. And I think when most of us read someone that fascinates and/or amazes us, we want to know what that person is like -- what makes him or her tick. And obviously we're almost always disappointed: an amazing mind doesn't equal an amazing person: an interesting mind doesn't equal an interesting person. Who can live up to the novel they write? If the novel is any good, it's impossible. Life is like that: full of disillusionment. What takes place in our imagination sure as hell beats "reality". And yet we go through moment to moment thinking we're living in reality-- but really we aren't: Why else do we all disagree so much? We're all living in our own alternate realities and no two are the same.

Getting into a "runner's zone" is an experience in which you immerse yourself in your own reality while simultaneously escaping "reality" by seeming to look down at it and poke fun of it from afar. During this time your own reality is a directly elevated version of itself; a mimicked but increased version -- full of, and due to -- pain and body awareness. While this is happening your consciousness -- while in part far more adeptly aware than normal (because of the pain) – also seems to float away, allowing you to view your reality from high above. All together, you feel how silly everything is: how intense it all is: how lacking it all is: how everything it all is. And you feel....and you float. And you realize how very much the body and mind are connected, and that patience really is a dear virtue. Life itself is enhanced.

"Emotional hurt is the price a person has to pay in order to be independent."

One thing I really like about running is how individualistic it is. You choose where you run; you choose when you run; you choose your own pace; you don't have to worry about getting hit in the head with a ball; no asshole is going to wrestle you to the ground or kick you in the shins: you are by yourself in every important way. It's all you. You listen to yourself, the inner rumblings of your mind and body; you get to know pain and pleasure at their extremes. It's all within you: your choice, your body, your consciousness.

We know the world better by knowing ourselves better. And let's be honest: you is all you'll ever be able to trust. You was there from the start and is there now. And you is all there ever was and ever will be.

I've never read a book by Murakami, other than this one. But, the interesting way in which he views the world makes me think that I'd probably enjoy his stuff.

I listened to this, rather short, audiobook on my daily commute. Murakami shares a lot of intimate details about his life that fans of his writing may really enjoy.

Before he took up running, Murakami said he was overweight and smoked around 60 cigarettes a day. 60 per day!

He wasn't just looking for a way to become fit. He wanted a exercise where he was left alone with his thoughts and challenged to focus for long periods of time.

Murakami says that, when he writes a novel, it is a matter of focus and endurance. He finds it difficult to "drill down through the rock of the mind to hit veins of creativity." (Quoting from memory, please forgive the inaccuracies.)

The focus that runners use to finish a long race is similar, he believes, to the focus needed to write page after page until the end of a novel. I think that type of mental ability is something that could be used in any creative endeavor, not just writing. For Murakami, writing is how he makes his art.

I liked that, even though Murakami loves running and extols its virtues, he says that he never tells other people that they should take it up. He thinks that our life paths reveal themselves to us in a unique way that only we know.

He runs because he loves it. If you love it too, run. If you don't, do what you love- walk, skip, jump, swim, whatever.

I can get behind that philosophy. Do what makes you happy because that happiness is a clue to what you were born to do.

Recommended for writers, runners, Murakami's fans and anyone who enjoys memoirs. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running made me wish that I loved running more. Because I don't.

First of all, I would like to say it's totally bizarre to rate a memoir as is similarly felt by many readers and reviewers. I can understand today what they meant by that.

And yes, I can also totally understand when a memoir is rated really low. I have done so too with the memoirs about celebrities and famous people because I just picked up the 'memoir' without actually knowing the personality at all or when the so called 'memoirs' are just pictures and only describe their work as a form of promoting themselves or when the book is written really bad or when it seemed like someone else might have written them or it happens when there is nothing much in them.

This particular memoir made me feel like I was reading one of the best written Murakami books. Because I can see the similarity in the writing style/pace as with his other books (fictional). Never have I ever read something about 'sports' like running, marathons, swimming and cycling this invested and I absorbed everything from cover to cover with such zeal.

This is one of those rare few books which I am able to relate so much and something which I plan to reread after a decade. This memoir is already like an old friend who I trust with my life and who I would turn to when I feel lost.

This book is game-changing for me. This particular memoir has given me so much than I had anticipated. Actually I was a bit apprehensive as I really did not know what to expect from this book as it's a non-fiction by my favourite author who's written only fiction and it seemed to talk about running. What should I expect from this book?

Anyway it turned out to be really outspoken and straightforward. To be honest, never in my entire life I would have believed anyone telling me anything that's happening in this memoir to be true unless it's Murakami himself. And it's so amazingly written!

The book has nine chapters/essays with an afterward. As the title says, this book talks mostly about the author's journey of running marathons and the other few sports mentioned.
He has included some parts regarding his writing and his love for music. I would like to say here that it's better to dive into this memoir blindly without expecting much or as to know more about his work or writing or personal life.

And yes, I also feel like you will enjoy this book as much as I do if you like his other books.

I started this book with two prejudices.

First, that the most tedious dinner party conversations typically start with your interlocutor telling you they are in training to run a marathon.

Secondly that an author’s work should stand alone from the author - I am with Elena Ferrante here - and that writers writing about themselves or even, perhaps particularly, their writing habits add nothing to their works. The rare exceptions tend to be authors who are a) extraordinary writers and b) whose write their autobiographies in the style of their novels (Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Thomas Bernhard).

This book did nothing to dispel either view.

Murakami is also no prose stylist, at least as rendered into English. In his novels this doesn’t entirely matter as his prosaic sentences are enlivened by his fantastic imagination, but writing non-fiction one loses that. Take away the talking vanishing cats, girls with pointy ears and the bottom of wells and there is little left.

So here for example when discussing his return to Cambridge (the lesser version) and the Charles River we are blessed with the insight that “I’d aged ten years, and there’d literally been a lot of water under the bridge.” Or that the profound thoughts he has while running include “on cold days I guess I think a little about how cold it is. And about the heat on hot days.”

There are a tiny handful of interesting nuggets in here about how Murakami became a novelist, perhaps just about enough to make a good New Yorker article, but it doesn’t make for a compelling book when one has to wade through running logs (why would anyone else care how many miles he ran in August 2005?! Or what time he did in the New York marathon?) to dig them out. And even with the nuggets it is more interesting to read the versions of his life as represented in his fiction (e.g. loner starts a jazz cafe) than here.

He may have been better writing a book about his bowel habits. More universal and of greater relevance to books (reading at least). And imagine if he had done so and we were greeted by comments such as - books are like bowel movements: sometimes one rushes out of you while others are only squeezed out with lots of time, effort and even pain. Genuinely that is the level of the 'running is like writing a book' insights we get here.

Tedious and not at all illuminating.

I bassically try to avoid Murakami's novels as I want to be positive and I don't like the sorrow in his stories, it rottens my heart and stings my head. But this book is excellent. There are a mild sadness and deep philosophy typical of him, but it gives me practical lessons and strength to act, on my writing and running. His writing is so great that reading this book makes me want to swear and quit writing on one hand, yet keeps me passionate and eager to write and run more on the other hand.

I'll be in a triathlon sometime.

I was originally more of a sportsman (or a sportsboy) than an athlete.

As a schoolboy, I absolutely hated running any distance over 100 meters. I was the second fastest in my year at the 100 meter sprint (there were two able males in my grade!), and for a while I could even do the 100 meters hurdles. Although I loved surfing and body surfing, I was hopeless at swimming anything but across the pool. I just wasn't made out for anything but team sports (where I could be hidden from the opposition).

Nevertheless, I continued to run for about an hour almost every day or night until I was 40. My motivation was that the more I exercised, the more I could eat and drink.

My wife, F.M. Sushi, and I got married when I was 33 and she was about 29. She had been a national heptathlon champion and was then a personal trainer.

We only ever ran with each other twice. Once was at Noosa national park on our honeymoon, when I twisted my ankle on the dirt path along the ocean edge of the park. The other was when we decided to run the Gold Coast Half Marathon "together" (no, it wasn't a three-legged race!).

I had practised a lot for it by running up to 15 kilometers each day, but I had never run any distance longer than this. From that point onwards in the actual race, I just couldn't continue physically or mentally, though I nevertheless finished it in two hours.

F. M. Sushi described running so slowly that she could keep up with me as the most tedious thing she had ever done in her life. She was literally running circles around me and I could still never get ahead of her.

I ran for a few more years after that (once I recovered), but eventually gave it up, first in order to use an exercise bike, and then to walk. From that point onwards, I walked at least one hour pretty much every morning of the week. Until about three years ago, I actually boosted the time to three hours, but I was finding that I suffered from fatigue and muscular tightness in my calves.

I now walk 75 minutes every morning. My average speed is about 10 minutes per kilometer. So that's about 7 1/2 kilometers per day. I also walk our dog, Charlie, for about 30 minutes most afternoons. I have to walk circles around him every time he finds a tree.

I listen to music when I walk. I have hundreds of playlists that I've made of my music collection, and this is about the only time I get to listen to them. I used to type messages and compose faux-poetry on GoodReads during my walks, until I tripped over a fallen branch on the footpath and almost broke my arm towards the end of last year.

Apart from these injuries, I found that walking as soon as I woke up (usually to get home) cleared my mind and boosted my mental energy, so that when I started work or my writing, I was ready to commit a full day to the task. I also assumed that it might have prolonged my life, but I'm not sure whether that is the case. I've almost been run over three times on my walks, twice by buses and once by a cyclist being chased by a magpie.

I broke my arm a few months ago, in a fall on the courtyard outside our home. Some complications with my shoulder muscles or tendons prevented me walking for a few weeks (I should clarify that I normally walk on my feet!). When I resumed, I felt that things I could once do easily (hills, distances) were more demanding than they had been, and I've had a greater sense of mortality than ever before.

What I Talk about When I Talk about Running Writing

Haruki Murakami started running about the same time he started writing novels (at age 33). He describes the physical aspects of writing as unhealthy or bad for his body or a "toxin". Part of his reason for running is to prolong his writing life, by expelling this toxin.

Running is also vital to the frame of mind he requires for his creativity:

"I'm the type of person who doesn't find it painful to be alone. I find spending an hour or two every day running alone, not speaking to anyone, as well as four or five hours alone at my desk, to be neither difficult nor boring...the hour or so I spend running, maintaining my own silent, private time, is important to help me keep my mental well-being.

"When I'm running I don't have to talk to anybody and don't have to listen to anybody. All I need to do is gaze at the scenery passing by...I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it another way: I run in order to acquire a void...

"I probably shouldn't be looking up at [clouds]. What I should be looking at is inside me. Like staring down into a deep well."

Despite its energetic subject matter, this non-fiction work is written in a relatively relaxed and conversational style. It describes the self-discipline required to be a long distance runner and consistently imaginative writer. Murakami reveals a little of both his soul and his soles. This is probably as close to a memoir as we're likely to get from one of my favourite authors.

The book is a kind of meditation on the act of running and what it means to Murakami and his work as a novelist. I cannot say that any of it is especially profound; but if you write or run it will likely be compelling. Not that Murakami has any special knowledge about training methods or the history of running or anything along those lines. Rather, his reflections are purely introspective. Why does he run? What role does running play in his life? How has his attitude towards running changed as he got older?

This was my first Murakami book, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed his writing style. He comes across as humble, private, and introverted, but full of a determination to live life on his own terms—which is by far his most attractive quality. In fact, as I listened to this audiobook on my own runs, I found Murakami’s quiet determination so inspiring that I ran faster and farther than I have in quite a while. Now, that’s a quality book.

The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Writer

In this slim but not slight memoir, the best-selling and prolific Japanese novelist chronicles why and how he took up long-distance running, which coincided with selling his jazz bar in the early 80s to write full time.

In clear, deceptively simple prose (occasionally hampered by cliché), Murakami touches on intriguing themes like aging and perseverence, making a solid case comparing running to novel-writing. The book, of course, takes its title from Raymond Carver's early short story collection, which Murakami had translated into Japanese.

He's merciless in his honest assessment of his achievements both literary and athletic, and there are some great descriptions of runs, including one in sweltering conditions from Athens to Marathon (site of the first marathon), and an "ultramarathon" (62 miles) that was so punishing he could barely walk afterwards.

I used to run regularly, but hardly the sort of distances depicted in the book. Reading this master craftsman makes me want to head back outside again, if only for the mind-clearing rush.

Maybe it'll happen. If so, I'll likely refer to this book again after dusting off my jogging shoes and stretching my tired old muscles.

Although I know I will never pick up running - love my knees too much to wear them out more, among other things - it's interesting to read what it's like for those who do. And reading about Hawaii and the Massachusetts Cambridge was also worth the reading. So it's definitely a recommended read. :)

I decided to only listen to the audiobook while I was out for my runs. I’d been averaging 30-minute runs, with the occasional foray into longer runs and Murakami’s chapters roughly equaled the length of my runs. Reluctantly, I replaced the bass-heavy hip-hop that usually soundtracks my runs for the voice of Ray Porter as he read what is essentially a memoir about running.

I’ll admit that it took a chapter or two before I was fully committed to my initial plan. I’ll occasionally throw on an audiobook or podcast during my runs, but usually once a week while the rest of my running time is reserved for pouring over new and old music. Soon my need for earth-shattering bass and bar-spitting over trap beats gave way to the calm and tranquil ponderings of a man that runs far further distances than I had ever dreamed.

My thoughts during runs before this book ranged from you should stop, you should stop, you should stop to this is slightly better than dying early from cardiovascular disease. Murakami’s cool philosophy and matter-of-fact account of his sufferings during his runs helped both to let me know I wasn’t alone and that I didn’t have much to complain about. I mean, the man is running for 1-2 hours daily for 6 days of the week. My god! It is also reassuring, in some perverse way, that Murakami’s legs still scream out, cramp, and he stops from exhaustion even after all his training.

His honesty was my favorite part of the book: he doesn’t achieve some insane goal, destroy records, and get a personal best every race. He struggles, he persists, and that struggle in and of itself is satisfying. I’ll admit that when I started to run seriously, at least 3-4 times per week, I did so for three reasons: to stave off morbidity and mortality from a family history of obesity, to have a convenient form of exercise, and—I’m not shamed to admit it—vanity. But those aren’t the reasons I kept running. Even when my schedule got busy, I kept up with my regular running and had to admit there was something more than my initial reasons for starting to run.

Murakami helped to crystallize this motivation for me. Running for running itself is rewarding. The attempt to pound yourself and your screaming muscles, lungs, and psyche into submission yields both an amazing sense of personal accomplishment and a supreme runners’ high. The act of running became less of a chore for me as Murakami spoke of brutal courses and events in which he’s participated. Most runners, like myself, will find much to sympathize with here and it is that sense that you are not alone, but the run depends entirely on you, that helped motivate me run after run.

For those of you who follow my reviews religiously—hi mom!—you might be surprised to read that I took on more Murakami after a pretty acrimonious split in the fall. Lisa was kind enough to gift me with the audiobook after a particularly challenging rotation. She hoped the book would help to encourage both my running and my writing. I’m sure that there’s a lot of difference between his nonfiction and fiction, but this book has opened the door for Murakami to come back into my reading life.

Today, for my final run with Murakami, I decided to listen to the entirety of the last hour in a single go. The run started out brutal. The lateral aspects of my feet both ached and there was a constant dull throb in my calves despite a decent stretch the night before. I’m just getting over a cold too, so I was still hacking, spewing, and snorting as I ran. This was exactly the type of run that I would have aborted twenty minutes in before this book. So, despite my body’s protests, I persisted. I’m happy to say that Murakami helped to get through a run that I would have abandoned before his audiobook.

Thanks to this audiobook I’m a better runner, and I believe it’s helped out my writing too! I’ve avoided talking too much about Murakami’s revelations about reading, writing, and running since they are so much of what makes the audiobook great. Suffice to say, it all works very well as a companion on the trails and treadmills. To my fellow runners out there, I can’t recommend this one enough

Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers by his Western influences.

Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse 'Peter Cat' which was a jazz bar in the evening in Kokubunji, Tokyo with his wife.

Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music, such as the three books making up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's opera), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as The Prophet Bird), and The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells' song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), Norwegian Wood (after The Beatles' song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).