I knew nothing about this book before reading it. I thought it was a novel about Sydney. I opened it and it turned out to be about the Sydney Olympic Games.

But the Olympic Games described in the book is totally different from what I saw on TV, probably because the media has a certain tendency when reporting, which is more inclined to the stadium, the best, and the enthusiasm and beauty of the Olympic Games. This tendency is not unreasonable, but it makes many other things ignored. We have seen a series of results, good and bad, but we know little about the preparation process and the details of the game. However, the running list is easy to forget after the game. What you really remember is often people and things that seem to have nothing to do with the game, but when you think about it carefully, you feel that it is related to the connotation of the game.

The Olympic Games seen on the spot may be chaotic, not as neat as those edited on TV, but because of this, it can provide a brand-new perspective, and everything is our own pursuit. Remember those moments that you think are worthwhile, and don't have to be led by the media. Murakami described a lot in the book, such as what he ate every day, the traffic on the road, the unique customs and personality of Australia, various audiences, and so on. Many things will not appear in the Olympic reports, which are really insignificant, but they do exist during the Olympic Games. Thanks to Murakami, for the first time, I feel that the Olympic Games can be a day of fireworks, not only the stadium, but also life.

I am looking forward to going to the scene to watch large-scale sports events. After all, the atmosphere and smell of the scene can't be broadcast on TV. I have never been very interested in the NBA, but I am very excited to watch the basketball game in our class. I can still remember the figure of boys running in the evening, the sound of basketball touching the basket, and the selfless cry on the sidelines. This is the charm of being on the spot!

Murakami's analysis of the Australian personality process is really interesting. In his view, Australia is like a good boy forgotten by his father. He has been imitating his father enthusiastically, but he is ignored because of his high height. When he found that his father was no longer brilliant, he began to rely on his powerful brother. At last he realized that he was on his own. In fact, many people are also like this. They always want someone to lean on, but it doesn't work out.

Of course, most of this book is about sports. There are Cathy Freeman, who rehabilitated his real name, Gao Qiao Naoko and Yuko Arimori, who are strictly self-disciplined for the gold medal, Fu Xiaoxing, who is not willing to just be a running machine, dogs who know the difficulties but still insist on the impact, and East Timorese athletes who cheered after completing the marathon ... This huge group of athletes is hard to sum up in a few words. They are flesh and blood people, and we see our yearning and our shadow from them. To some extent, we are no different from them.

There is a passage in the book that touched me very much: athletes use surreal efforts and even gamble their lives on some occasions to challenge the goals that the body can achieve. However, what is expected and (in some cases) realized? It's just "the dislocation of the material world." People are facing the unreality, but they are waving the banner of reality. What people-in other words, the public-are pursuing is actually this great dislocation.

Perhaps, this is why we are keen on fighting in the stadium; Maybe this is why we are desperate to move forward again and again. Because, in our bones, we all want to live like summer flowers.