Haruki Murakami is a writer I recently discovered after a friend gave me a copy of the 2003 novel Kafka On The Shore. I was impressed by the vivid characters and the immediacy of his style that (in translation at least) is intelligent yet not self consciously literary. His writing has an elegant economy that you find in American writers like F.Scott Fitzgerald and Raymond Carver , both of whom ,not coincidentally, Murakami has translated into Japanese.
To learn more about the man behind the fiction I turned to What I Talk About When I Talk About Running which he wrote between 2005 and 2006. The title is a variant on a short story collection by Carver called ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’.
Murakami describes it as a memoir although the focus is quite a narrow one in that it centres mainly on his twin addictions of long distant running and novel-writing. These two activities are, for him, indelibly linked. In terms of inner motivation, commitment and self-discipline he says that “writing novels and running full marathons are very much alike”. Both are solitary pursuits which are not done to gain outward approval but rather to satisfy personal needs. He confesses to being obsessive and to enjoying his own company – “I’m the type of person who doesn’t find it painful to be alone” he admits.
Murakami does not suggest that running guarantees you will live longer, but recommends it as a way to maximise your capacity and ability to make the most of your waking hours. The focus and stamina needed for writing is equivalent to that required for serious running.
He claims not to be competitively minded, yet his running goes well beyond being merely recreational as a means to keeping fit and healthy. He has taken part in over 20 marathons, one ultra-marathon (62 miles in one day!) and numerous triathlons.
His practical insights into what it takes to be a good novelist are both inspiring and daunting. The book is full of valuable tips for budding authors yet gives no illusions that completing a novel is an easy task. He argues that training to be a long distance runner and honing your skills as a novelist demand a “persistent repetition” and means that you must be prepared to continually push yourself to the limits of your potential.
He says that to write a novel you need to maintain a consistent level of discipline for anything up to two years: “if you concentrate on writing three or four hours a day and feel tired after a week of this, you’re not going to be able to write a long work”.
I was particularly interested to learn that each day he stops writing at the point when he feels he can write more, in the same way that he plans his running programme so that the exhilaration carries over to the next day. The process is infinite : “No matter how much I write I never reach a conclusion”.
This is a book that gives fascinating and honest insights into what drives this great novelist. If you love running, writing or reading you’ll find plenty to inspire you.
