Started: Jan. 15
Finished: Jan. 16
Notes: Having recently delved into some baseball reading, I continue the trend here with this novel, which became a Kevin Costner movie. I've seen the film, and though it doesn't seem to get much fanfare, it is one of my favorite baseball movies, with "Bull Durham" being my favorite baseball movie. I've been wanting to read this one for a while, so here's my chance. It's the tale of an aging pitcher, his personal struggles with the woman he loves and his personal/professional struggles with the game that has occupied his life, all on his last day of playing, when he pitches a perfect game.
Mini review: Very much follows the basic plot of the movie, but approaches the story from a different angle, with the characters themselves being quite a bit different than the film version. Is the book better than the movie? Yes and no. It mostly has different dimensions to it, in some ways more deep than that of the movie, but in other ways, not so much. The film version looks at the game more in depth, in my opinion, but the book is much more in tune with the characters, especially the lead of pitcher Billy Chapel. Fine, fine reading, worth the time for any baseball fan.
I did like the recent "Moneyball" movie. I thought it was pretty good.
ReplyDelete