Haruki Murakami fans discussion

Anyone else reading the new one? I felt decadent buying the book at twenty-one bucks, with the book so small, but I picked up a copy for 12 (yay Borders discounts) and started a couple nights ago. I'm about 50 pages in and enjoying the book immensely so far...glad I bought it. More soon.

i did! i couldn't help but read it in a single sitting (even though i had meant to pace myself so as to make the feeling last...). i am also a runner, although nowhere near murakami's level, and i found his perspective on running and how it relates to his work and his life in general completely fascinating. i'm curious to hear other readers' takes on it.

Here's my review!

"Spare and meditative. I'm not a runner (more of an elliptical guy) but this book is as much about aging, creativity, acceptance, and finding your own peace with who you are (ok, that sounds way more new agey than I mean) as marathons. Murakami fans will recognize the author's lean, simple prose and new readers may find an easy introduction to Murakami's work. Don't be fooled by the slim nature of this volume; you can tell Murakami put a lot of soul into What I Talk About When I Talk About Running."

Ha, Ilima...that would essentially be a very short book about watching DVDs and Sportscenter. Spin Class would probably be better for a book.

My Review:
I can't say that I had high expectations for this even though it was my favorite writer writing about one of my favorite subjects. I've read a lot of book on running and there just isn't that much to say about putting one foot in front of the other that hasn't already been said.
It was interesting to get a glimpse into Murakami's day to day life, in fact that was the aspect of the book I enoyed most.
I've gone through periods of racing road marathons and trail ultramarathons and I'm currently having to deal with the sad fact that running may be something I have to do without from now on, so it may not have been the best time to read a running book. While reading this I kept wishing that Murakami would do some trail running as I think that pursuit is a lot more interesting and lends itself to more philosophical-type reflection than road running.
It struck that someone who doesn't run probably wouldn't have much interest in reading this, even if that person was a big fan of Murakami's novels. You get a very different type of writing style from this book than in his novels, it's much more straight foreward. It couldn't really be any other way and I accepted that and enjoyed the book but it's not something I'll keep going back to like I do with his novels.

i'm not a runner at all and i'm enjoying this book a lot. i'm about 3/4 of the way through it now. i like how he talks about his philosophies on life based on his own personal experiences and how he compares it with his running regimen. maybe i'm missing a kind of deeper meaning because i'm not a runner? i'm not sure...but i do know that this will end up being one of my favorite books that he's written. i found much of it relates to my own non-running life -- by analogy, of course. thank you haruki ^___^