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The Art of Fielding
by Chad Harbach
by Chad Harbach
Is there a way to give a book six stars on here? Because I'd keep adding them if I could, I loved "The Art of Fielding" that much. Truly, I didn't want this novel to come to an end. Last night, I put the book down with 30 pages left. I honestly thought, "I want one more day to delve into this world." But then, 20 minutes later, there I was, picking it back up to reach its final page (and discovering a wholy satisfying resolution, which rarely happens for me with most books).
This is one of those novels where the characters don't just live on the page. They live WITH you. Here I was, book nowhere in sight, and yet I still found myself at points of my day, wondering what Henry and Schwartz and Pella were doing at that very moment. The hype for this one? TOTALLY WORTH IT.
And to say "The Art of Fielding" is a book about baseball is to say "Friday Night Lights" is a TV show about football. Yes, yes, the book's protagonist is short stop (and baseball phenom) Henry Skrimshander. Yes, there are plenty of scenes that involve the diamond and batting cages (and a central plot point that involves Henry's first-ever errant throw). But it's SO much more than that so don't let all the sports talk dissuade you from reading it. Because wrapped up in all those baseball analogies are the universal themes of suffering and failure and that age-old question of "What am I doing with my life?" It may be a stretch for some, but for me, this is as good as it gets in earning that rare title of Great American Novel.
Finally, my love for "Art" may very well be jaded but that's only because I've learned so much about how it came to be. Chad Harbach spent NINE years laboring over this, his first-ever novel. NINE YEARS. Only to go from a poor guy with debt collectors after him to landing a book contract worth more than $600,000. If you've made it this far in this review (god bless you), and if you love "Art", you owe it to yourself to find a way to read the Vanity Fair story that details how this book came to be. Find it either in the October 2011 issue of Vanity Fair or online in this eBook (which, it may be $2 but it's worth the investment if you have an e-reader. It's a fascinating piece: http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/eb...)
This is one of those novels where the characters don't just live on the page. They live WITH you. Here I was, book nowhere in sight, and yet I still found myself at points of my day, wondering what Henry and Schwartz and Pella were doing at that very moment. The hype for this one? TOTALLY WORTH IT.
And to say "The Art of Fielding" is a book about baseball is to say "Friday Night Lights" is a TV show about football. Yes, yes, the book's protagonist is short stop (and baseball phenom) Henry Skrimshander. Yes, there are plenty of scenes that involve the diamond and batting cages (and a central plot point that involves Henry's first-ever errant throw). But it's SO much more than that so don't let all the sports talk dissuade you from reading it. Because wrapped up in all those baseball analogies are the universal themes of suffering and failure and that age-old question of "What am I doing with my life?" It may be a stretch for some, but for me, this is as good as it gets in earning that rare title of Great American Novel.
Finally, my love for "Art" may very well be jaded but that's only because I've learned so much about how it came to be. Chad Harbach spent NINE years laboring over this, his first-ever novel. NINE YEARS. Only to go from a poor guy with debt collectors after him to landing a book contract worth more than $600,000. If you've made it this far in this review (god bless you), and if you love "Art", you owe it to yourself to find a way to read the Vanity Fair story that details how this book came to be. Find it either in the October 2011 issue of Vanity Fair or online in this eBook (which, it may be $2 but it's worth the investment if you have an e-reader. It's a fascinating piece: http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/eb...)
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Amanda
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Nov 17, 2011 05:57am
I have this on my list to read, but have been avoiding it because it's about baseball. I'm glad you wrote this review. I'm going to move this book to the top of my list. Well, as soon as NaNoWriMo is over. :-)
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Ha, I felt the same....I have a really hard time getting excited about baseball - which is possibly the most boring sport on the planet. Except maybe for curling - but the jokes you can make watching curling make it more interesting than baseball. :)
OK, see, I agree with you, Lynn. Watching actual sports does tend to get boring. But I LOVE sports related movies/books/etc. Like, Moneyball? GOOD. The Fighter? GOOD. This book? REALLY GOOD. Taste is relative, I know...but I just really loved how Chad Harbach wrote this, how no words felt wasted and how, even though it's a brick of a book, it never FELT that way to me.
Sort of sounds like The Art of Racing in the Rain for baseball, not auto racing. Anyway, 5 stars. Wow. May have at this one.
Gail, You've made me want to read this book with your wonderful review. I keep seeing it on our library's new book shelves and wondering what it was about. I've added it to my to-read list.
Erica,You won't be disappointed. Another friend of mine whose taste in books I deeply admire just praised it as her new favorite book. It's certainly mine. Rare to see a debut novel flow this well. Then again, Harbach was at it for 9 years. It truly is a work of art.
