Author research : "What I talk about when I talk about running"

"Being active every day makes it easier to hear that inner voice"

"That was the age when began my life as a runner, and it was my belated, but real, starting point as a novelist"

"As I run I tell myself to think of a river. And clouds. But essentially I'm not thinking of a thing. All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, my own nostalgic silence"

"In this sense, writing novels and running full marathons are very much alike. Basically a writer has a quiet, inner motivation, and doesn't seek validation in the outwardly visible"



I think out of the books I have read by Murakami this has been one of the most valuable in helping me understand him as a writer. It provides a very intimate look into his inner most thoughts and feelings in relation to running and writing. I find his relationship between these two key aspects of his life very interesting, as well as his emphasis on a structured and healthy lifestyle mostly lived in self-made isolation.