What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Fans of Japan’s most celebrated novelist won’t be surprised that his first shot at memoir follows the same line of oblique storytelling as his fiction. Though the book is ostensibly about his love of jogging, it turns out that what Murakami talks about when he talks about running isn’t really running at all. The title provides a cheeky nod to What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, the seminal short-story collection by Raymond Carver, whom Murakami serves as chief Japanese translator. And like Carver, Murakami quietly teases out his themes.

The author began running at 33, after the publication of his first two novels persuaded him to close his Tokyo jazz club and take up writing full time. Finding himself sitting at a desk around the clock, he needed to some form of exercise to keep him mentally sharp. Now 59, Murakami has run in more than 20 marathons and competed as a triathlete, all the while publishing more than 20 books of fiction. Of course, the two activities—marathon running and novel writing—share more than a metaphorical connection for Murakami. The focus and endurance that both acts require—and the need to view pain as a constant and suffering as an option—informs both pursuits.

Those who turn to Murakami for his leaps in imagination will find a much more meditative author here, particularly when it comes to aging. As he writes, “I’ve gotten older, and time has taken its toll. It’s nobody’s fault. Those are the rules of the game.”