LITERATURE
There are many books on running, training and racing and most are of a factual and technical nature. Those are not featured here, it is only books that have something special, that deal with the spiritual side of life or perhaps open a window on the soul that get a mention on this page.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
Murakami is a very successful author and this shows through. If you are an aspiring writer then this book contains some good tips and comments. If you are also a runner then in the middle of page 71 there is a great paragraph on the theory of training which I will not repeat here because I want you to read the whole book. And in the second paragraph on page 73 there are some profound words on why you should keep running.
However most of the book is a reminiscence of Murakami’s journey through life, from running a jazz bar in Japan to becoming a successful and contented author and runner. It takes you from Japan to Boston, USA and back to Japan, meeting Olympic athletes and pretty women on the way.
Run Like Hell by Matt Beardshall
This is an extraordinary book; below is my review that appears on the getultrarunning website.
This book surprised me. I had read Matt's previous book, Coast to Coast, and was expecting something similar. I got a lot more than I was expecting, yes the book is about running, but it is also an insight into how a family copes with fighting cancer.
The running parts are exquisite, the power of the descriptions means that you are actually there experiencing it. I was transported from sleepy Cornwall to a bustling hotel foyer in New York and then on to the streets. Later it was out onto the rain-lashed moors.
The parts about Matt's wife fighting cancer made me feel humble and honoured to be allowed to intrude into this family's very personal moments.
This is very powerful and extraordinary writing, but somehow it is very ordinary. The training, fitting in runs in around work and family, getting it wrong in races, struggling against the elements and self-doubt are all normal things to me. What was extraordinary was that at the end of the book I cried; I don't do that very often and never when reading a book.
To Be A RUNNER by Martin Dugard
The sub-tittle to this book is "How racing up mountains, running with the bulls, or just taking on a 5-k makes you a better person (and the world a better place)" is a bit of a turn-off, but it redeems itself at the start of chapter 1 by using the great quote from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar "Now bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible".
I will leave you to decide whether the sub-tittle is justified.
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