新年伊始，推荐村上春树的一本书

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running--A Memoir

By Haruki Murakami

     I rarely read translated books, but this one is an exception. I don't read Japanese writers either, but again, this one is an exception. Look at the table of contents:  

Foreword: Suffering Is Optional

One: Who’s Going to Laugh at Mick Jagger?

Two: Tips on Becoming a Running Novelist

Three: Athens in Midsummer—Running 26.2 Miles for the First Time

Four: Most of What I Know About Writing Fiction I Learned by Running Every Day

Five: Even If I Had a Long Ponytail Back Then

Six: Nobody Pounded the Table Anymore, Nobody Threw Their Cups

Seven: Autumn in New York

Eight: 18 Til I Die

Nine: At Least He Never Walked

Afterword: On Roads All Round the World

Please read the titles of Chapters 2, 3 and 4 again. For someone who has just recently run a half marathon and wonders about how it feels like to run a full one, someone who is interested in writing and has attempted to write some training logs, isn't the book written for me? That may sound a little bit self-centered, but I did devour the book within two days. I want to peruse it in the new year and also read Haruki's other works, starting with 1Q84, which wasn't under my radar but was recommended to me by several friends at the end of 2012.   On the first day of 2013, I want to introduce this book to all my friends on MYSJ, esp. runners like Yugong, Livingsoul, 好学又好问, Sportswoman, Erjie and NewVoice. It is not a book on how to stay healthy/fit or how to run a marathon, but is on Haruki's own thoughts and feelings towards running, writing and life(or existence) in general. By the time he was writing the book, he had run 25 full marathons(one race each year since 1982), an ultramarathon (62 miles, 11hours 42 minutes) and several triathlons. The book is both inspirational and thought-provoking. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Happy New Year to you all and looking forward to another productive year of passionate reading!