• What I Talk about When I Talk about Running

  • A Memoir
  • By: Haruki Murakami
  • Narrated by: Ray Porter
  • Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (4,577 ratings)

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What I Talk about When I Talk about Running  By  cover art

What I Talk about When I Talk about Running

By: Haruki Murakami
Narrated by: Ray Porter
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Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Kafka on the Shore comes this rich and revelatory memoir about writing and running, and the integral impact both have made on his life. Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers Murakami's four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon.

Settings range from Tokyo, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston, among young women who outpace him.

Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a cornucopia of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after age 50, of having seen his race times improve and then fall back.

Translated by Philip Gabriel.

©2007 Haruki Murakami (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Murakami crafts a charming little volume notable for its good-natured and intimate tone....An early section recounting Murakami's transition from nightclub owner to novelist offers a particularly vivid picture of an artist soaring into flight for the first time." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A brilliant meditation on how his running and writing nurture and sustain each other....With sparse, engaging prose....Murakami shares his runner's high." ( Sports Illustrated)
"Provides a fascinating portrait of Murakami's working mind and how he works his magic on the page." ( The Plain Dealer)

Featured Article: The Best Running Audiobooks You Should Be Listening to


Running can be an arduous task, especially for those who are new to the sport. It can also be a life-giving force for those who are already more involved in the running community. Either way, it’s one of the best athletic ventures to couple with a great audiobook. Listening to the inspirational stories of other runners can be just what you need to push through a difficult jog or set a new personal record. Our list of great listens about running has you covered.

What listeners say about What I Talk about When I Talk about Running

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

It is what it says it is

I don't understand the negative reviews that some other people have given. This book is exactly what it claims to be: the memoirs about running of a writer who runs. It's not meant to be motivational or educational, nor is it either.

Yes, it is obvious that Murakami has control issues. No, his style of running and training will not work for everyone. No, you're not going to gain some existential epiphany from this book. (Unless, of course, you happen to have unacknowledged control issues of your own.)

What it is, however, is well-written, well-narrated, and entertaining. It's a little on the short side, but by the same token it is an appropriate length. None of the stories drag on too far, nor do any of them leave you wanting for more information. The work is concise but not dry, amusing but not cute.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Murakami's other works, with the caveat that it is much more straightforward.

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92 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

For Runners

I am an avid long distance runner and share books I find on Audible with my wife who is not a runner. Haruki Murakami writes earnestly about running as a void or space in his day. Being the space between his activities he doesn't write about running as a pathway to mind blowing revelations about writing - although running does help him stay motivated to write. The book is about a quest that got underway by trying to use running from Athens to Marathon as a magazine topic piece, leading to an enduring race against his younger self in besting his marathon times; to a transcendent ultra marathon that led to less running. In other words, things mostly dedicated runners tend to understand and have enough interest to listen to or read. Ray Porter was smooth in his reading of the translated material and seamlessly made me think that the author himself was reading. If you are a runner this is a "must read" along with "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall... if you are not a runner you might, like my wife, get a little bored with "all the runner insider stuff." You can always find a writer who shares a hobby you like and read his/her book about it.

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48 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow!!!

"Running" is really about being yourself and thinking about it. If you want to reflect honesty in your writing, you have to check out this audiobook! In short, it is about being truthful, not about being liked.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Gem

This is a short monologue on endurance and continuing to pursue difficult projects and goals. I listened to it as I ran or exercised and the author stimulated me to continue my work.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

i am my own therapist and hero

murakami is a neurotic, nonathletic, indulged and observant guy
he works hard to make a genuine, deliberate life for himself
society's demands for conformity and interaction surround him

in the midst of this struggle he discovers long distance running
he does it because "... it suits me..." / it lets him be himself
in the process of running he becomes his own therapist and hero

the book doesn't try very hard to dazzle or entertain or engage
murakami wants to connect to those who have travelled the same path
he then shares the process by which he came to know his true self

in an increasingly sedentary and interactive world he found a way out
he has created a private, moveable, reliable place to retune his compass
if that speaks to your soul great / if not, murakami would say "...move on..."


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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but a bit disjointed

3.5 stars. A sort of odd mix of musings on running and thoughts on being a novelist, sprinkled with bits of memoir. I enjoyed getting a look at Murakami's life and a peak into his mind, but it was hard to discern a real thread -- if this were just a set of essays, it would cover a wider range of topics, but it doesn't read smoothly as a memoir or as a manifesto on running or as a chronicle of how he came to be a novelist. Still, for fans of his novels, time well spent.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Running

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. I didn't enjoy the way Murakami talks about other people running while he singles out his experience. It's not cool to consider your pursuit for setting running goals as sacrosanct and assuming that "the girls with their ponytails" are doing it for superficial reasons. It takes discipline on everyone's part and a healthy goal not necessarily a beauty goal just because one is a woman. I liked the audio, I did not care for the story/essay (memoir?).

What do you think your next listen will be?

Nothing on this topic or by this author.

Have you listened to any of Ray Porter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Ray Porter was a good reader/performer. I did listen to the Silver Linings playbook and he was great there too. After a quick search it looks like all the OTHER books he narrates are awesome. I will definitely try his science fiction reads/performances in the future.

Was What I Talk about When I Talk about Running worth the listening time?

nope. no. no.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Murakami Nonfiction

I've found the Murakami's nonfiction can be both insightful and lacking depending on the section you read. With WITAWITAR (whew!), I found the book meters above Underground, which was a bit repetitive. With Running, you get anecdotes that come across as both touching and insightful. These two words are often used to describe Murakami's fiction (along with weird, surreal, etc.), but here they come across through the effort of journaling.
I will say, however, that HM's nonfiction doesn't hold a candle to his novels, or even his short stories, but for the price they're asking here, you can't go wrong with this selection.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautiful treatise on how to be an artist

This memoir is about running and about being a writer, but it is more fully a document on how to manage all the details of life while still keeping ones goals in site.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • K
  • 09-06-14

Interesting peek into Murakami's life experiences

Until I listened to "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running," Stephen King's "On Writing" was my favorite nonfiction memoir-like book by a novelist. Both books are a rare treat, peeling back the veil on the novelist's mind to reveal something of their daily life and motivation for writing. While a significant portion of Murakami's book is indeed focused on running and his thoughts during his runs (which are usually quite philosophical), he also shares experiences from his stay in Cambridge MA, his earlier career as a tavern owner, his search for a swim coach, and how he runs in order to do his "day job" more effectively. I found this book absolutely fascinating and like King's "On Writing," it gave me a greater appreciation for Murakami as a writer. Highly recommended.

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4 people found this helpful