Helpful Score: 3
Powerful, mythic, wonderful use of language.
Helpful Score: 2
THE FINEST NOVEL ABOUT BASEBALL SINCE RING LARDNER LEFT THE SCENE.
Helpful Score: 1
Malamud's prose does a wonderful job capturing the essence of what baseball is: brief moments of chaotic action amid long stretches of patient passivity.
Helpful Score: 1
As a fan of baseball I eagerly anticipated reading "The Natural" by Bernard Malamud. I, personally, was disappointed. Not that the writing was bad, it wasn't but I do not believe that the author has ever watched a game of baseball or if he has then he doesn't know enough about the game to write intelligently about baseball. There are just too many instances where the story lost me because the time wasn't taken and experts consulted to get the rules of the game straight.
Helpful Score: 1
Liked the movie so much better, which is not usually the case for me.