Books No. 43-44

Book No. 43 was "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir" by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is best known for his novels, but this is a memoir, though very narrowly focused on his life as a marathon runner (and later triathlete). His life as a long-distance runner neatly overlaps his life as a writer, with him taking up writing and running roughly the same time, in his late 20s and early 30s. He notes that some of the same skills and mindset needed to run a marathon overlap with those needed for the "marathon" of finishing a novel. Notwithstanding a really snarky review from the NY Times I recently ran across, I enjoyed the hell out of this book. I knew Murakami would probably write some about his writing process, and he does, but the bits about running are great, too. He talks about how he got started and some of the memorable races he ran, including the original route from Athens to the town of Marathon that inspired the name of the 26.2-mile races. He has lots of interesting insights about writing, life, and aging. I thought it was interesting that he knows that his personality is something of a niche preference and that he doesn't expect that many people to enjoy it. That seems so un-American to me, but possibly a healthy way to look at things, especially if you're an introverted loner whose pastimes include shutting yourself up in a room to write for 3-4 hours a day and running for an hour or more a day. I had this feeling that the book was written just before he published his novel "1Q84", and when I looked up their publication dates, it looks like I was right. I recognized that he used his own personal experience of winning a new writer's prize in parts of "1Q84" that involve the charactger Tengo winning a similar prize (if I'm recalling correctly - it's been a while since I read "1Q84"). I enjoyed this a lot and was tempted to pick it up and read it a second time right after finishing it -- and I rarely feel that way about a book. I'd recommend this to runners, Murakami fans, and anyone who enjoys books about the writing process.

Book No. 44 was the ancient Greek play "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes, Translated, with Introduction, Notes, and Commentaries, by Sarah Ruden. I've read two other classics Ruden has translated, "The Satyricon" and "The Golden Ass", and really enjoy her commentary and updated translations for those. I knew I'd enjoy her treatment of "Lysistrata," the classic Greek comedy about the women of Athens going on a no-sex strike to persuade the menfolk to stop warring and broker a peace. The story is extremely bawdy, but as Ruden notes in the introduction, older translations feel stiff and serious, and it's supposed to be a comedy. She plays loose with the translation because sometimes references to old feuds or myths just don't resonate with modern readers, but she usually footnotes when she does this. She'll indicate something like, "This is a pun that is untranslatable into English" or "I've taken out the name for an obscure god's obscure festival and generalized to "chaotic merriment" in the text here." I found some of the very modern language ("Darn tootin'!" one character says) jarring at times, but I feel Ruden did a good job of capturing the campy, bawdy feel of the play. As usual, her commentaries are great, giving context on Greek comedy vs. tragedy, Athenian democracy, women's status in ancient Greece, and ancient Greek warfare. If you always wanted to know more about Lysistrata but were intimidated by older, more academic translations, this might be the version for you!

 

( The other books I've read so far this year: )