Murakami - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

I've read a few of Haruki Murakami's novels. They tend to be strange, haunting and vaguely unsettling. So it was interesting to read his quasi-memoir about running and get to know the seemingly very normal writer himself. The book is folksy and rambling and earnest. In that way, it struck me as totally unlike his fiction writing. But Murakami himself comes off as a dedicated work-a-day writer and runner.

I liked the book for its random goofy insights about running and writing and how similar they are in his mind. Also fun are his descriptions of essentially having surreal out of body experiences while running super long marathons.

The motto he mentions in the book is an interesting one. "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." It is almost as if to him running is about embracing pain.

On another note, his discussion of translating Raymond Carver into Japanese and his love of the Great Gatsby makes me want to read them next.