jp_riemersma's review against another edition
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
myralane's review against another edition
3.0
It was very similar to prayer for owen meany and I liked it. If you like baseball you will love it.
kellymc03's review against another edition
5.0
I put off this book so many times because I didn't want to read about baseball. I am very glad that I put aside those feelings because once I picked up this book - I couldn't help but devour it! This is a must read for everyone!
jbmorgan86's review against another edition
2.0
This book has as much to do with baseball as Grey's Anatomy has to do with medical practice. He's sleeping with her, she's sleeping with him, he's sleeping with him, and they're all unhappy about it. The book is about 300 pages too long. Characters (such as the burly catcher of the baseball team) recite ancient Greek and Roman philosophers. The girl who never finished college randomly recites phrases such as "Amor vincit omnia."
Forget the nine (NINE!) pages of high praise at the beginning of the book. This is just a soap opera with a dash of baseball, a dash of Moby Dick, and large dollop pederasty. Go read the Brothers K instead.
Forget the nine (NINE!) pages of high praise at the beginning of the book. This is just a soap opera with a dash of baseball, a dash of Moby Dick, and large dollop pederasty. Go read the Brothers K instead.
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
2.0
Somewhat puzzled by the praise heaped on this novel. The writing isn't bad, the college setting is charming, and I'm sure all the baseball stuff is interesting for those who know anything about it. The characters though - none of them seemed believable to me. At first, I was eager to know what lay beneath the surface of Mike's devotion to the team, Guert's lovesickness, Owen's composure, Henry's innocence, Pella's general snottiness. Turns out, there's not much there. The insights these people have are so banal it's hard to care. The whole thing felt artificial, from the precious names (Guert? Pella?) to the lovable Owen (look! a black gay man on the baseball team and nobody raises an eyebrow!). I'd rather read "The Sperm Squeezers".
robbschuneman's review against another edition
5.0
It has been a very long drought since the last time I read a book and instantly wanted to read every word the author had put down about anything anywhere. At least five years.
This is that kind of book and that kind of author.
This is that kind of book and that kind of author.
shukriabdullah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
jmtaylor1981's review against another edition
4.0
"Each of us, deep down, believes that the whole world issues from his own precious body, like images projected from a tiny slide onto an earth-sized screen. And then, deeper down, each of us knows he’s wrong."
The Art of Fielding is a book about, what else - baseball, it's also about a small group of people, the President of the college, his daughter (coming back to live with her father after a failed marriage) and 3 of the baseball players, whose lives intertwine at a Midwest college. The backdrop of the story is the college baseball team and its star players sudden loss of his talent after a freak accident.
Chad Harbach's writing is simple but eloquent. There is a lot that goes on in the story but you're not overwhelmed. I read a review of the book somewhere calling The Art of Fielding a big-hearted tale, that's a perfect description. It's a good story!
The Art of Fielding is a book about, what else - baseball, it's also about a small group of people, the President of the college, his daughter (coming back to live with her father after a failed marriage) and 3 of the baseball players, whose lives intertwine at a Midwest college. The backdrop of the story is the college baseball team and its star players sudden loss of his talent after a freak accident.
Chad Harbach's writing is simple but eloquent. There is a lot that goes on in the story but you're not overwhelmed. I read a review of the book somewhere calling The Art of Fielding a big-hearted tale, that's a perfect description. It's a good story!
nicolemhill's review against another edition
4.0
Like just about everything I read published within the last 10 years, The Art of Fielding would have been better for me with about 75 or 100 fewer pages in the middle. That said, it's a non-baseball baseball book that will leave you a little verklempt. Even with all the poetry references.
nakedsushi's review against another edition
4.0
At first, I wanted to write this off as a Middle Class Problems book -- a guy who's crushed because he can't throw a baseball perfectly anymore, a spoiled woman who's unhappy at her married life, and an old academic who's new to being gay. It still is about that, but it's nicely written and the characters started growing on me.
For the first half of the book, I was annoyed with how earnest and honest the characters were. Maybe it was because I read in Vanity Fair's How a Book is Born about the Disney-esque characters, but I couldn't shake that thought. Luckily, once more serious problems showed up, the characters started acting more like real people.
Something that happened in the end was a little *out there* but all in all, a bittersweet book. It makes me want to read Moby Dick. I do have to give Harbach props on getting me excited about the fictional baseball games. It made me excited for a spectator sport in the same way Friday Night Lights does.
For the first half of the book, I was annoyed with how earnest and honest the characters were. Maybe it was because I read in Vanity Fair's How a Book is Born about the Disney-esque characters, but I couldn't shake that thought. Luckily, once more serious problems showed up, the characters started acting more like real people.
Something that happened in the end