Moving and funny ( )

Despite being only 180 pages long Bernard Malamud packs a lot of action into the plot of The Natural. Roy Hobbs is a rookie baseball player on his way to try out for Chicago's pro team, the Chicago Cubs. Just as he arrives in Chicago he is shot by a serial killer, a woman bent on killing professional athletes. Fastforward 16 years and Roy has survived being shot and is now playing for the New York Knights. He has made it to the big time only to have to deal with a mid-season slump, a crooked co-owner, Judge Banner, an infatuated woman who says she is carrying his child, Iris Lemon, and his unresolved relationship with the fans. When Hobbs is bribed to throw the game, he counters with a bigger bribe and the deal is done. The book ends with a newspaper boy confronting Hobbs after the game, asking "Is it true?" and Hobbs cannot reply. ( )

Having read Malamud's "Magic Barrel" I knew to expect a degree of magic realism, so was not too surprised when Roy performed hits that literally ripped the cover off the ball, etc. Nevertheless, I was so caught up in the story, I didn't catch the mythic symbolism, until I read a few web sites after concluding the book. I figured there was symbolism, a foot, Pop Fisher being some kind of father figure, but Of course, he is the Fisher King! Roy's is the mythic quest, which, alas, fails because he longs for the skinny woman, rather than the plump one (yes!). I have read that the movie, in typical Hollywood fashion, tacks on a happy ending, and that is a shame. Perhaps now more than ever we need to be able to sit with our failure, and with how our gluttony is destroying us. ( )

Very strongly told baseball yarn with a theme of personal achievement ( )

Bernard Malamud was a Jewish author writing in the postwar period, when many artists were disillusioned with the events that had occurred in Europe. "The Natural" starts out with the story of Roy Hobbs, a young pitcher with remarkable natural talent and ability. However, by the end of the book, after having finally entered the major leagues as an outfielder, accompanied by his handmade bat Wonderboy, Hobbs is forced to retire from the game in disgrace with the possibility of having his stats stricken from the record books. How Roy Hobbs went from a legend in the making to a sellout has largely to do with two women who utterly ruined his life and one woman who tried, too late, to save it. "The Natural" may not have a happy ending, but it is a classic of sports literature and also of literature at large. I was, however, surprised at how little I ended up enjoying this book, although I am very glad that I read it.