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A review of the classic baseball novel The Natural by Bernard Malamud.

Book Review: The Natural

One can determine a lot about a person from what they choose when they are given two or three options. From obvious choices like political ones (Democrat, Republican or Independent and Conservative, Liberal or NDP) to less obvious choices such as Macs or IBMs, the answers are very revealing. Most frequenters of Da Box are part of the great Canadian minority that chooses baseball over hockey, and it reflects very well on them.

A great example of a choice like this is presented when one looks at The Natural (the movie) versus The Natural (the book) .

They are both fine products. Everyone here loves a good baseball movie, and The Natural is exactly that. The 1984 film features strong performances by some classic actors such as Robert Redford, Wilford Brimley, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger and Glenn Close, which really bring the characters to life. The baseball scenes look quite authentic, and the old uniforms and ballparks are brought to life wonderfully on the screen.

However, like most adaptations of books, the movie simply isn’t as good as the novel on which is it based. Bernard Malamud’s novel is a classic story, about life, told through baseball. It details the story of Roy Hobbs, a baseball legend beyond his time. Hobbs experiences a fall from grace, but then receives a chance for redemption in his thirties.

The novel opens with a teenage Hobbs on a train for a tryout with the Chicago Cubs. He is accompanied by Sam Simpson, a recovering alcoholic scout who discovered him in the country and who hopes to permanently return to the scouting world with his discovery. A naïve Hobbs has never traveled further than Boise, and on the train he soon meets three-time MVP Walter “The Whammer” Wambold, newspaper reporter Max Mercy and a woman passenger, Harriet Byrd, who he develops feelings for.

After some heated talk between Simpson, who is trying to sell his star to the established press, and Mercy, who is a good friend of The Whammer, a challenge is agreed upon. Hobbs has to strike out The Whammer on three pitches. The two players, who are both competing for Harriet’s affections, agree to the challenge and the opportunity to show one another up.

Hobbs, an outfielder by trade, throws the first pitch by The Whammer. The next pitch evades his bat as well, setting up the penultimate third pitch with an anxious crowd, including Harriet, looking on. Roy throws the third pitch by The Whammer to strike him out. The unknown prospect has struck out the three-time MVP and his future seems unimaginably bright.

The train nears Chicago, and Simpson falls ill to the effects of alcohol, leaving Roy without his mentor. Roy checks into a hotel and tries to prepare for his upcoming tryout with the Cubs. Coincidentally, Harriet has checked into the same hotel, and she invites Roy over to her room. The soon-to-be star accepts, and rushes over for an amorous encounter. However, the scene is a trap laid by Harriet, and she shoots Roy, injuring him seriously.

The book jumps ahead sixteen years when the New York Knights, a club spinning its wheels at the bottom of the standings, sign Hobbs to a contract, where he’ll serve as the last option off the bench. The Knights are managed by the warm, caring Pop Fisher, who has a lifetime contract to manage the Knights. He fell into monetary problems and is fighting off an unscrupulous owner who owns a large portion of the team and is trying to drive Fisher away from his managing job and any voice in the franchise’s future. Stuck with a lame duck team Pop doesn’t take kindly to a player who plays the same position as his star player, Bump Bradley; especially not one who refuses to hit without his lucky “Wonderbat.”

Everything in this novel is significant, and while I couldn’t always tell if the symbolism stood for something in particular, recurrent themes helped highlight key events and draw the reader’s attention to a detail. From old mentors (Sam Simpson and Pop Fisher) to believers in Roy’s talent (carnival girl and Iris Lemon) to proven stars Roy is trying to outshine (The Whammer and Bump Bailey), everything in this novel seems to repeat.

His second chance around is the exact same as his first chance, with everything having a different name. Roy gets an opportunity to experience what so many have wanted which is a second go at something, and he knows the pitfalls that led to his demise the first time.

Malamud is an outstanding writer, and his prose alone makes me want to pick up some of his other novels. As the Time review on the inside cover of my copy says, the novel is “preposterously readable.” Malamud’s writing has aged in the fifty-two years since the book has published, but I would still describe the book with that phrase, as it doesn’t make it any harder to read. He makes the book come alive with wonderful descriptive passages and very believable interactions between the characters, especially Roy Hobbs and his female love interests.

He describes the scenery with vivid penmanship, and while many find the fantastical elements of the novel to be a negative, Malamud’s writing makes it very easy to suspend your disbelief. It reminded me a lot of W.P. Kinsella, another writer who many accuse of being too fantastical, but whom I love to read. It was hard to believe that Max Mercy wouldn’t remember Hobbs sixteen years later, or that Roy could accomplish some of the feats that he did. To Malamud’s credit I found myself barely noticing that element, which often bothers me in other books.

Malamud draws upon real baseball incidents for some of his plot devices. One scene, where a trucker with a boy in the hospital begs Roy to hit two homers for the child is drawn from a famous incident with Babe Ruth, and a hilarious, although fictious, one with Paul O’Neill.

Apparently the entire story is based on a MLB player named Eddie Waitkus , who was shot by a 19-year-old female fan devastated over his trade from the Cubs to Phillies. Waitkus had been an all-star in 1948 and 1949, but after his shooting he would never be an all-star again, nor would he ever have a slugging percentage over .400. The most amazing part of his story might be that he was playing baseball in 1950, the year after he took a rifle blast in the chest and underwent four operations. He helped the Phillies to the 1950 National League championship, but the formerly sociable and easygoing first baseman apparently turned into a suspicious recluse after the incident.

Malamud is obviously using baseball as a metaphor for life; exploring the opportunity of a fallen hero to receive a chance at salvation. It’s an unusual theme for a baseball novel, but it works wonderfully. The movie and the book are quite different in parts, so if you have seen the movie don’t think that the book will be a repeat. I much prefer the book, both because of the detail and the differences. The differences might not be for everyone, but it resonates with me in a way that the movie never did.

The Natural is an excellent novel, both in terms of plot and style. It works well for both fans of baseball and those who aren’t interested in the sport, as it’s about much more than baseball. If you think you’d be interested in the novel, do yourself a favour a pick it up, it’s well worth reading.
Book Review: The Natural | 27 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_jsoh - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 12:35 PM EDT (#37462) #
Excellent write-up Thomas! Having seen the movie many times (to the point of wearing out tape :) prior to reading the book, I have to say that I was sorely disappointed (but not all that surprised) at the way that the movie dealt with the ending.

If you havent seen or read the movie/book, I heartily recommend going for the book first - tho I say that for all book/movie combos.
_Mick - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:01 PM EDT (#37463) #
If you havent seen or read the movie/book, I heartily recommend going for the book first - tho I say that for all book/movie combos.

Couldn't agree more! I made sure I read Crichton's Jurassic Park (excellent) before seeing the movie (putrid by comparison0 and remember thinking, "did the script adaptor even READ the book?"

Same with "Shoeless Joe" and "Field of Dreams." Haven't read "The Natural" ... yet.
Mike D - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:23 PM EDT (#37464) #
Outstanding, Thomas. What a great read!
_jsoh - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:32 PM EDT (#37465) #
I recall exiting a screening of Starship Troopers (fantastic book, umm... not so fantastic movie) and declaring that the movie was based off of the back cover of the novel.

I'm still trying to figure out why the movie 'Field of Dreams' changed the author from JD Salinger to Terence Mann. Other than maybe they'd already signed James Earl Jones, and well. He dont look much like JD Salinger :)
_Dan H - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:36 PM EDT (#37466) #
This is one book I've been meaning to read. I'm going to definately have to pick it up.
_Willy - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#37467) #
Well done, Thomas. It's nice to see something here that isn't locked into the 13 to 29 year old demographic. (Wow. A book! Not a video game or some bleeping lousy music.)
The story draws upon many sources, including ancient literary ones, and Waitkus has a place in it but it's not really 'based upon' him (he hit the first ML hit I ever saw--a triple at Wrigley Field in the late '40's. He was a very good player for a while.) There's lots of good commentary on the book available.

Have you ever read Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association? Fantasy Leaguers might really like it.
_Mick - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:53 PM EDT (#37468) #
Have you ever read Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association? Fantasy Leaguers might really like it.

Have it, read it, didn't like it (sorry)It seemed to me more a manual for fantasy players on "What can happen to you mentally if you start to invest too much real life into Doug Mirabelli's HR/AB ratio."
_Moffatt - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:55 PM EDT (#37469) #
It seemed to me more a manual for fantasy players on "What can happen to you mentally if you start to invest too much real life into Doug Mirabelli's HR/AB ratio."

So it's like this:



But aimed at fantasy baseballers?

I know a few people who could use it.
_Mick - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 01:55 PM EDT (#37470) #
Oh, and on the Terence Mann thing ... I recall reading that Salinger was none too pleased that his name had been used without his permission in a fictional account of something many people now probably believe was based on reality. So the movie people didn't even try to negotiate for permission. The action in the move makes the character seem more like Jack Kerouac than J.D. Salinger, though.
_jsoh - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#37471) #
Mick: That wouldnt surprise me. Salinger is kinda touchy about things like that, if what I've read is accurate. I wonder if he has a legal leg to stand on about the use of his name tho (IANAL, in case anyone cant tell).

ObSimpsonsRef: On the subject of noted recluses, the appearance of Thomas Pynchon on the Simpsons this past season absolutely killed me :)
_jsoh - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 02:10 PM EDT (#37472) #
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/trivia
Google is your friend. COMN for the IMDB's explanation of the whole Salinger/Mann thing (scroll down a bit.
_Willy - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 02:56 PM EDT (#37473) #
Have it, read it, didn't like it (sorry)It seemed to me more a manual for fantasy players on "What can happen to you mentally if you start to invest too much real life into Doug Mirabelli's HR/AB ratio."

Too bad, Mick. Your loss. Or maybe not--I'm not sure that it's not partly a rather frightening depiction of "what can happen to you mentally..." No need to be sorry; it's not "a manual" though, but a skillfully written book.
Craig B - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 03:02 PM EDT (#37474) #
I'll just fixing these italics and bite my tongue on Coover.
_SF - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 03:11 PM EDT (#37475) #
What, no debate on the different endings? Think Malamud would've liked the movie?
_Mick - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 04:32 PM EDT (#37476) #
I think Malamud would've liked the movie in the same way Shakespeare would have appreciated "West Side Story" and "Kiss Me Kate."
Craig B - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 04:53 PM EDT (#37477) #
Think Malamud would've liked the movie?

I'm not sure Malamud liked the book. Heaven only knows what he would have made of the movie (didn't it come out right around the time of his death?)

The Natural was Malamud's first novel and it doesn't really do much with the themes that he developed later on. He sort of picks up the ideas of myth as the shaper of man, and the conflict of fate and moral choice, but he pokes them and prods them and just sort of moves on. (I think that's one great reason it's so much-loved by English professors... it gives them a pretty blank canvas on which to paint, and let their students run around a bit).
_Willy - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 04:57 PM EDT (#37478) #
O.K., you don't care for Coover. Anyone read Eric Rolfe Greenberg, *The Celebrant*--about Christy Mathewson and John McGraw and their times. A good read. Or Harry Stein, *Hoopla*--both books from 1983.
_Mick - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 05:05 PM EDT (#37479) #
Willy, no, haven't, but are you volunteering to pinch-hit review them for Da Box?
_bird droppings - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 05:18 PM EDT (#37480) #
Moffatt, that is hilarious.

The documentary that I'm currently working on as the assembly editor for is about Midnight Movies and I was actually working on a segment today about Reefer Madness. Too weird.
Craig B - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 05:46 PM EDT (#37481) #
I've never read The Celebrant but I bet I'd like to. Willy, you should review it for Da Box... if you want to, send me an e-mail at craig@battersbox.ca and we'll arrange it.
_Willy - Thursday, September 02 2004 @ 06:05 PM EDT (#37482) #
Thanks for the suggestion. For the moment, I'd prefer not to; but maybe later when circumstances are a bit different I'll take you up on it.

And yes, Craig, I'm sure you'd enjoy *The Celebrant*.
_Tanner - Friday, September 03 2004 @ 08:12 AM EDT (#37483) #
It took me quite a while to track down a copy of The Celebrant, but once I finally did (in a book store in Cooperstown), it was worth the wait. Aside from Shoeless Joe, which I have a soft spot for, it was probably my favourite baseball novel.

I've was highly anticipating Coover's Universal Baseball Association, having heard a lot about it, but it didn't blow me away. It was ok, and I can understand why people like it, but it wasn't for me.

Phillip Roth's "Great American Novel" , on the other hand, now that's one that I didn't have great expectations for, but it had me laughing out loud pretty often. It's a great read.
_NYJaysFan36 - Friday, September 03 2004 @ 10:27 AM EDT (#37484) #
This may be heresy but I didn't like the book...
It was just SO weird. Right down to the midget who taunted him all the time.
That imdb thing for Field of Dreams has a mistake. Moonlight Graham did go back to the minors after his one game in 1905. Found this stuff online:

Sporting Life 9/16/05: "Says the Scranton Tribune: 'Graham personally denies the story that he was traded to Syracuse by New York. Graham says he is still retained by New York and that he has been assured by manager McGraw that he will continue on the Giants roster next year, which means that he will likely be again with Scranton in 1906."

Boston Herald, 3/21/1906: "NY Giants send Graham to Memphis."

Sporting Life, 5/19/1906: "Memphis has released outfielder Doc Graham."

Sporting Life, 8/31/1907: (In New York State League Nuggets column) "Doc Graham, of Scranton, was the first player in this league to register his hundredth hit."
_SF - Friday, September 03 2004 @ 11:54 AM EDT (#37485) #
The movie came out two years before he died. This is the only quote I can find on the subject. I think it answers just about everything:

"Well, this may or may not be a good picture but it isn't what I wrote. It certainly isn't my book."

Talking Horse: Bernard Malamud on Life and Work

The author of that book notes, "There's a quasi-comic irony in the commercial fact that his name has been kept largely alive since his death -- for the reading public at large -- by paperback sales of The Natural."
Craig B - Friday, September 03 2004 @ 02:16 PM EDT (#37486) #
Which has largely been kept alive - I think - by college English courses. Which in a way is fitting, given that he spent 46 years as an English professor...

SF, do you know Malamud's God's Grace? Fascinating book, one I managed to read twice alerady without being to decide if I like it or hate it.
_SF - Friday, September 03 2004 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#37487) #
Nope -- Just The Natural and The Fixer. And I read both of those ages ago, back in the "double-day," as it were.
_SF - Friday, September 03 2004 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#37488) #
Nope -- Just The Natural and The Fixer. And I read both of those ages ago, back in the "double-day," as it were.
Book Review: The Natural | 27 comments | Create New Account
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