Murakami Haruki is one of Japan's most famous and critically acclaimed novelists, with legions of fans globally. But do you know he is also a serious runner who makes it a point to run one marathon a year?
In a new collection of essays, titled 走ることについて語るときに僕の語ること (Hashiru koto ni tsuite kataru toki ni boku no kataru koto, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running), Murakami reveals his passion for running. This book, which was published in Japan late last year, features works written between summer 2005 and autumn 2006 while he was preparing to run in the New York Marathon.
"One thing I noticed was that writing honestly about running and writing and writing honestly about myself are nearly the same thing. So I suppose it's alright to read this as a kind of memoir centered on the act of running," he said in the foreword of the English translated version of the book (translated by Philip Gabriel).
He took up running in 1982, just few years after he began his writing career. While he loves long distance running, Murakami doesn't recommend it. "I think I've been able to run for more than 20 years for a simple reason: it suits me", he said.
He shares the life lessons he's learned from running, such as enduring pain and focus.
"Most of what I know about writing, I've learned through running every day. I know if I hadn't become a long distance runner when I became a novelist, my work would have been vastly different. How different? Hard to say. But something would have been different", he said.
I'm planning to get a copy of this book; undecided to get the original Japanese or the translated English. Murakami is simply brilliant, and although I'm not into running and stuff, this ought to be another marvellous literary piece.
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rosesnchaos) wrote,
peaceful
