A true slice of that American pie...or rather a slice of the true American pie (with a dusting of nuts on top)...(I mean "crazy" nuts)...(jesus, this metaphor is falling apart like a...like a bad analogy!).

For the better part of the last hundred years, baseball has meant America. The Natural is about baseball, thus The Natural is about America. The American dream of working hard and making something of yourself is encapsulated herein. The protagonist, Roy Hobbs is a young baseball prospect with the world ahead of him. Malamud uses a train metaphor to show Hobbs' "inevitable" path to glory. Well that train gets derailed, the promising athletic career is sidetracked until it's almost too late, leaving Hobbs with only a fast-closing window of opportunity. That is a more realistic version of the dream. Some make it big, most fade away.

Obviously there is a good deal of baseball-talk, so I'm not sure I'd recommend this to everyone. In that respect, for me it was nearly perfect. I love following sports, and if you pair that with a ripping yarn, I'm yours. Malamud put together a pretty good story. I was tempted to give it 4 stars, but instead I'm going with a really strong 3. There were a couple strange, almost nutty scenes that had me shaking my head and thinking the Three Stooges had just barged into this otherwise perfectly good book.

This seemed a little different than the other Malamud I've read. Maybe because it was so early for him. Pretty decent stuff though. I like some of the more ragged edges, though I don't know if those were intentional or not. It's a bit bitter, and I know it needed to be, but there is still some human hope in it. I can at least see why so many people know this one.

This book had its good points and its bad points, but in the end I felt underwhelmed. The movie left me feeling the same way, but at least that had Randy Newman's great score.

The good:

Malamud's writing can be humorous, at times even makes-you-chuckle-on-BART humorous. The introductory sequence with greenhorn Roy Hobbs on the train with the world-famous Whammer and pretty, mysterious Harriet Bird is unforgettable: evocative, inspiring and sad (those first 50 pages would have made a great short story on their own). For someone writing in the 50s, Malamud writes dream sequences that are admirably Freud-free and realistic. The book is also refreshingly straightforward and frank in its inclusion of sexual elements in the story. Also, this may be one of the few stories I've encountered, ever, where the drunkard character is not only sympathetic, but is in fact the only likable character. And then there are the food-porn passages: "Memo kidded him about the way he wolfed the sandwiches, but she showed her affection by also serving him half a cold chicken which he picked to the bone. He demolished a large slab of chocolate cake and made a mental note for a hamburger or two before he went to bed."

The bad:

Malamud's writing is weirdly inconsistent, and during the parts that he fills with flowery descriptive prose, it can get so over-the-top that you want to throw up your hands and toss the damn book into the BART tracks. The bulk of the book, regarding bitter 35-year-old Roy Hobbs's return to baseball, has almost nothing to do with the beginning. (Parenthetical note: If 19-year-old Hobbs is such a crack pitcher, why does 35-year-old Hobbs only play outfield? If he's retained his fantastic batting prowess, wouldn't he have retained his considerable pitching prowess too?) At least half of the characters in the book have a common or proper noun as a first or last name: "Memo Paris," "Red Blow," "Goodwill Banner," "Max Mercy," and so on. I am told that this is a literary thing, and such names are symbolic, not merely annoying. I suppose that Malamud's world is one in which the majority of parents are clairvoyantly channeling Sarah Palin's unique genius for name-giving (see Track, Trig, Willow, et al.). And then, the drunkard character is only in the story for the first 50 pages, and virtually all the other characters are unlikable. Roy Hobbs in particular comes across as a pathetic, childish jerk. I frequently enjoy depressing books with flawed protagonists, so I'm not sure why the lack of likable characters made this one difficult to enjoy. Oh well.

Not at all the feel good story the movie was, and I liked it more for it. The writing was sometimes rambling but always captivating. The story was more process of a person than it was a plot, and I liked it more for it. An intriguing read.

Warning: only read this book if you *really* like baseball! The main character, Roy Hobbs, is a dark, brooding anti-hero haunted by unintelligible nightmares from an unexplained past. Malamud spends more time describing one-dimensional fans at the ballpark than actually narrating the games'progress. Even the grammar is difficult to follow...this example is from page 152, "He felt for her a gratitude it was hard to hold in." The movie version is completely different than the book yet manages to emanate an artistry clearly lacking in this novel, so I suggest you watch the film instead.

Loved the book but I have just one comment to make; Roy Hobbs is a Dick!

I can't believe how many low star ratings this book has from Goodreads members; reading them after the fact came as a bit of a jolt, because I found the book suspenseful, artistic, beautifully surreal, and funny.

The book begins in medias res with Roy Hobbs "prick[ing] a match with his thumbnail and hold[ing] the spurting flame in his cupped palm close to the lower berth window." There's a train chugging to Chicago, a tunnel, a moon, reflections in the window pane, dreamy hills, a "bone-white farmhouse with sagging skeletal porch," and a long, lonely train whistle. From the first line, I was impressed with the film noir-ish aspect and the dark heart of this American fable (overtly about baseball, but more honestly about mythic heroes).

Roy is the golden hayseed, the boy from nowhere with a special baseball bat (kept in a bassoon case) called Wonderboy. He uses it just once - at a whistle stop carnival - while trying to impress a woman and accidentally kills Sam, the scout who discovered him. He then is lured to the hotel room of the mysterious Harriet Bird, who drops a black veil over her head and shoots him in the gut with a silver bullet. Good lord!

Fast forward and now Hobbs is over 30 and "too old" for baseball's finest teams. Still, he hasn't lost his abilities and Wonderboy is still with him. He signs on to the most losing-est team in the league, the New York Knights, who have lost forty-five innings in a row. Hobbs replaces their star player, Bump Bailey, who dies from slamming himself into the back wall chasing down a ball. The Knights begin to win and win some more. And then they stop winning. Hobbs has lost his focus to a woman in a red dress......and then there's a woman in a white dress......and then the World Series is on the line. The end is nothing like the movie.

It's hard not to like a book that features a man with a glass eye, a profane dwarf, and femme fatales who act as sirens to lure the hero away from his greatness. I could easily take umbrage at the sexism here, but I don't have the heart. The Natural is a surprisingly dark book about the creepy underside of our hero athletes.

The Natural by Bernard Malamud
The fourth superb novel by an amazing author that I am grateful that I could read- 11 out of 10

This is the fourth masterpiece by Bernard Malamud that I enjoy.
What a fabulous writer, that I knew nothing about only a few months ago.
I can only hope that I Stumble Upon Happiness again by finding writers that are as good as Bernard Malamud...
The strange thing is that I had doubts regarding The Natural, concerning first of all the subject of the novel.
In subsidiary, there was probably a worry that after a series of three fantastic works, the fourth might not be on the same level.
But the fact that The Natural deals with baseball was the main drawback in my perspective, as a man with no knowledge of the game.
-tHow will I cope with a work that talks about third base, strike and so on?
There was a misfire, as I started reading under the worst auspices.
The book was abandoned after about 30 pages, luckily for another marvelous novel- Dubin’s Lives, which is delightful.
Utterly convinced by Dubin’s Lives I started again to engage with The Natural and what a good decision that was!
I did not learn anything about baseball to understand how the ball is supposed to move and why, who winds and for what reason.
But the novel is so great that I did not need to go to third base and get the meaning of it and lived the tension with maximum intensity.
Roy Hobbs is the hero of the book and he is played by Robert Redford in the movie adaptation that I would like to see.
He comes from a small town and wants to make it in the Big League, for which he appears to have all that is needed.
On the train that takes Roy to Chicago he meets a good looking woman that favors a former baseball star.
That is until The Natural proves his worth in an improvised practice, near the railway line, while the train is stopped.
Alas, when they reach the city and the mysterious femme fatale calls Roy to her room, instead of wild sex, we have…a gun shot.
-tThat was extraordinary
As in the movies and elsewhere, you do not expect the main personage to be taken down after the very first act.
Yes, we have some stories that start with a hero telling his shenanigans from the deathbed or somewhere near.
But after so few pages it is shocking for this reader to find the hero shot.
The crazy woman did not kill Roy, but he has to make a comeback- there is a second and third chapter after all- at the age of 34.
The Natural becomes a magnificent player and the fate of his new team; The Knights depend almost exclusively on his skill.
That does not happen on the first day or week, and there is a fight for the place in the team which adds to the suspense.
After the lunatic female gunner, two strong female characters introduce themselves into the plot that has the reader gasping for breath.
-tWill the team win the series?
-tCan The Natural pull it off?
-tAnd what about his personal life?
This is the fourth miraculous book by Bernard Malamud that I enjoy thoroughly.

Summary: The story of Roy Hobbs, whose promising career in baseball is nearly ended by a strange woman with a silver bullet and his attempt at 35 for one more season of greatness.

The story of Roy Hobbs is that of the tragic hero come to baseball. A number of you may remember the 1984 movie starring Robert Redford. I haven't seen the movie but I sense the book is darker. The story begins with a young Roy Hobbs on a cross-country rail journey that recurs in dreams throughout the book as a symbol of futility. At one stop, he encounters The Whammer, a fading star who he strike out. He also encounters Harriet Bird who turns out to be a crazed serial killer of athletes, who nearly ends Hobbs's life in a Chicago hotel.

Flash forward to Hobbs at 35, who finally makes it back to the majors landing a spot with the hapless New York Knights, their aging manager Pops, their star clown, Bump, his girlfriend Memo (where does he get these names?), the shrewd skinflint owner,Judge, the gambler, Gus, and the sportswriter, Max Mercy, who senses this is not the first time he has met Roy. Hobbs lands a spot, taking Bump's place after Bump died running into a wall chasing down a long fly ball. Roy, and his bat Wonderboy, help lift the club into first place. Hobbs tries to get Memo back in his bed (he had slept with her after trading rooms with Bump only to have her, thinking he was Bump, jump in bed with him).

When he fails in his efforts, he ends up in a slump, only to meet the one woman who really cares about him, who he avoids after a one night stand finding out that she, though younger, is a grandmother. But she restores his self-confidence, the team gets into first place, and has to win one more game, which it fails to do because Hobbs voraciously eats himself sick. They are tied with the Pirates and have to win a playoff game to win the pennant. Hobbs is released in time for the game but offered a payoff if he will throw the game--a payoff allowing him to provide a life of style for Memo. Will he take the payoff, or remain loyal to the team and Pops.

The quest for greatness, the voracious hunger, and the penchant for dangerous women suggest a man searching for significance in the face of onrushing death. He is the hubristic tragic hero. Yet all this seemed cliche, from the names, to the "dangerous women" to the language he uses to describe these women. Maybe this portrays his shallowness, but it seemed overdone and heavy-handed, which surprised me in a writer of Malamud's reputation.

This is considered a baseball classic but I was disappointed. A bit more subtlety would have been welcome. From what I can tell, this was early Malamud and perhaps he was learning his craft. Whatever was the case, this is a classic I can't recommend, as pleasant as this might have been to read.

I mostly read this because I somehow had it in my mind that I was remiss in not having seen the movie starring Robert Redford, and since I like to read the book a movie is based on first, well. It had to be done. And it is done. Except now I don't want to watch the movie.

Roy Hobbs is, as the title suggests, a natural in baseball. He goes around talking pretty big about how bad-ass he is and how badder-asser he will be once he makes the big time... and then he goes and gets all involved with some vagi-gi instead. That's what ya get for being all snooty about your skillz, boy. Ya shoulda kept your eye on the ball. (The one coming over the plate, and not one of the pair in your pants.)

So it's a story about baseball and women and money and ego. It failed to keep my interest. I pictured Robert Redford in every scene of the book just because people talk about him anytime the book or movie comes up. I don't know that I even need to see the movie as his performance in my head was pretty good. (Said performance in my head really consisted of Redford as the Sundance Kid as a baseball player. Infinitely cooler than the real version I'm sure.)

But the writing itself left a lot to be desired. Kevin Baker's introduction comments on the fact that there are no redeeming characters in this book, and that was pretty dead on. However, unlike Baker, I don't find that part of this book's charm. As I've complained before it's okay to have horrible characters that are difficult for a reader to connect with, so long as the writing is capable of making the reader care about the actual story. And I don't feel Malamud was able to do that. For that reason alone I have to stick with 2 stars for this one. And I just put the movie back towards probably the bottom of my Netflix queue.

I grew up watching and enjoying this movie quite a bit. I hated this book.

An interesting tale by a great writer. It's a first novel, much simpler than some of Malamud's other work, the dialogue a little awkward, but perhaps intentionally so. Do not read further if you don't like spoilers. It is hard to say anything about this novel without giving away pivotal events.
****************************
We first meet Roy Hobbs as a young prospect who is being taken by a down-on-his-luck scout to a tryout for a big league team. Fate intervenes, the scout dies, and Roy is very seriously wounded. His chances for a career in professional ball are completely derailed.

We next see a much older Roy as he arrives in New York to join the Knights, a major league team that is down on its luck. Roy is a mysterious figure with a dark and passionate nature and almost unbelievable skill. There are intimations of magic, perhaps contained in the bat he uses (which Roy made himself as a young man), but nothing is explicit or amplified. Roy is a bundle of sensitivities and nerves and desires. There is nothing warm or sunny about him -- he is irritable and often antagonistic towards his teammates, the fans, and management. As he begins to contribute to the team, he resents his poor salary as he aspires to to court a woman with expensive tastes.

Roy knows his age will limit the length of his career and his ability to cash in on his skill. He longs for the greatness he has always felt is in him, and wants to break every record so that he will be remembered as the greatest baseball player that ever lived. But in the end, hard living, age, and temptation catch up with Roy. His body broken, he realizes that the only way he can gain the riches he needs to win the woman of his dreams is to throw an important playoff game.

Roy resolves to do so, but changes his mind as the game progresses. In his last at-bat, Roy tries to win the game, but fails. The end of the book beautifully evokes the Black Sox scandal and the great Shoeless Joe Jackson who was believed to have thrown (along with several of his teammates) the 1919 World Series. It's a strong finish to a book that occasionally meanders. Malamud seems to be suggesting that an athlete, being but a human being, can be simultaneously great and incredibly flawed. Cheating is eternal even while it takes different forms, whether it be athletes taking illegal substances to improve performance, or athletes intentionally underperforming.

We are much more aware now of cheating as a part of the professional sports scene than when Malamud wrote this novel. Outstanding performance is now often greeted with suspicion as well as excitement. Roy brings to mind the many baseball greats that are currently under dark clouds, those formerly assumed "first ballot Hall-of-Famers" whose records are now tainted by substantial evidence concerning performance-enhancing drugs. Just as Roy did, those modern players tried to defy the ravages of age and biology to break records and achieve what others could not. Roy at least seems aware of what he has lost and his own responsibility in his tragedy, while many today's players seem not to have grappled with the meaning of their actions, whether it be their original transgressions or their vigourous denials after the fact.