This is a relative thin book, not a novel but a kind of memoir for running.
Haruki is a famour Japanese writer, I have read several novels (Chinese version) from him, but really not my cup of tea.
However I love this one. It is not story telling, as mentioned, but talked about his personal training log for marathon to tiathlon, as well as his beliefs. Also, the language is really easy for understanding.
I am definitly not sporty person but I began to run 2-3 times a week since this year. Up to now, I can only run for around 30 mins every time, not very successful for training, but it is already the best as I can! (Imagine that I seldom do sports and never run for more than 3 mins before!) And now, I can feel how satisfy when I run for 30 mins or above.
Therefore it drew my attention when I started running. After finished reading, however, I lovedthe part of his beliefs that I touched me so much. Here are some quotation:
"I'm the kind of person who likes to be by himself. To put a finer point on it, I'm the type of person who doesn't find it painful to be alone ...... when, given a choicem I much preferred reading books on my own or concentrating on listening to music over being with someone else. I could always think of things to do by myelf." --- (p.15)
"From elementary school up to college I was never interested in things I was forced to study. I told myself it was something that had to done, so I wasn't a total slacker and was able to go on to college, but never once did I find studying exciting ..... I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me, and I could study it at my own pace and approach it the way I liked, I was pretty efficient at acquiring knowledge and skills..." --- (p.35)
These is exectly talking what I am!!
