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schnaucl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a very well written book. Each chapter of the nine (naturally) chapters starts with a few pages written by a sports journalist who spent part of his career covering the (fictional) Lions baseball team. Those pages are usually a little philosophical and help set up the rest of the chapter, which is always from a different character's point of view. Each of the chapters serves as a character study of one or two characters that are in some way related to the Lions or connected to someone who is. As character studies it works well.
It took me a while to pin down why I wasn't enjoying the book despite the fact that it's well written. Nearly every character is miserable. Their bodies are failing them or they're getting old (nearly every adult woman is worried about aging and losing her looks, which of course, like the baseball players themselves means she's starting to be old in her 30s and 40s), or they have money problems. Many of the characters seem to only be able to think of other people as rivals (for a spot on the team or for attention or affection). There's almost no affection between any of the characters whether they're friends or lovers or teammates or spouses. Most of the spouses don't even seem to like each other all that much.
I read this book because I was trying to fulfill a reading challenge prompt for reading a book about a sport. I'm a lifelong baseball fan (I mostly follow my home team, the Seattle Mariners) and I picked up this book thinking I'd really want to go to Peoria and see Mariners Spring Training. I still do, but only because I wanted to before I started. If I didn't know anything about baseball this book would make the prospect seem bleak. Nothing about this book is going to make someone who wasn't already interested in baseball want to check it out. There's no joy here. Even the players who are in their first Spring Training in the major leagues are too worried about being cut to enjoy any of it. No one feels joy at hitting a home run or making a spectacular catch or pitching a scoreless inning or striking out a tough batter. No one seems at all excited about the opening of a new season. (It's a little hard to tell how good the Lions are supposed to be. They sort of strike me as about where the Mariners have been most of their existence. A middling team with one really good player). I get that for most the people in the novel it's a job, and who among us goes joyfully to work every day? But you can tell when the players are enjoying the game or at the very least have a sense of satisfaction.
I was hoping to feel even more excited about baseball and instead the whole thing seemed very depressing.
I wondered if the author was a fan of the Mariners since they seemed to turn up a little more than other teams, but I thought it was also possible that I just noticed it more when they were mentioned since they're my team, but the author's note does mention attending Mariner games.
It took me a while to pin down why I wasn't enjoying the book despite the fact that it's well written. Nearly every character is miserable. Their bodies are failing them or they're getting old (nearly every adult woman is worried about aging and losing her looks, which of course, like the baseball players themselves means she's starting to be old in her 30s and 40s), or they have money problems. Many of the characters seem to only be able to think of other people as rivals (for a spot on the team or for attention or affection). There's almost no affection between any of the characters whether they're friends or lovers or teammates or spouses. Most of the spouses don't even seem to like each other all that much.
I read this book because I was trying to fulfill a reading challenge prompt for reading a book about a sport. I'm a lifelong baseball fan (I mostly follow my home team, the Seattle Mariners) and I picked up this book thinking I'd really want to go to Peoria and see Mariners Spring Training. I still do, but only because I wanted to before I started. If I didn't know anything about baseball this book would make the prospect seem bleak. Nothing about this book is going to make someone who wasn't already interested in baseball want to check it out. There's no joy here. Even the players who are in their first Spring Training in the major leagues are too worried about being cut to enjoy any of it. No one feels joy at hitting a home run or making a spectacular catch or pitching a scoreless inning or striking out a tough batter. No one seems at all excited about the opening of a new season. (It's a little hard to tell how good the Lions are supposed to be. They sort of strike me as about where the Mariners have been most of their existence. A middling team with one really good player). I get that for most the people in the novel it's a job, and who among us goes joyfully to work every day? But you can tell when the players are enjoying the game or at the very least have a sense of satisfaction.
I was hoping to feel even more excited about baseball and instead the whole thing seemed very depressing.
I wondered if the author was a fan of the Mariners since they seemed to turn up a little more than other teams, but I thought it was also possible that I just noticed it more when they were mentioned since they're my team, but the author's note does mention attending Mariner games.
Content Warnings
Minor: Car accident, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Drug use
caitlinjadams's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I suppose a book around baseball doesn’t need to be fun…but it seemed like this one would be and then it absolutely wasn’t. (Not that it ended up needing baseball to tell its story much either.) So. That was a disappointment. Pacing and character development and threading all the pieces together just seemed off. And the ending was finally feeling like the threading would pay off…and then it abruptly cut off without letting you enjoy that.
One star because I did finish it, but I can’t recommend it.
One star because I did finish it, but I can’t recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Sexism, Abandonment, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content
Child neglect, gambling, unhousedheyitsflipper's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Goodness, The Cactus League, just might be one of the best behind-the-scenes, fiction, baseball books I've ever read. Actually, it's the only fiction, baseball book I've read that delves into what life is like for a professional athlete. The desire to win, the different people they interact with, and how all those stories intertwine. As a member of a professional baseball team's front office, I can say that I've seen these characters in real life and found that Emily Nemens portrayed them well.
The book is separated into nine chapters - or innings - and each chapter has an introduction from the book's narrator, a sportscaster. Each inning focuses on a new character, but all the characters are part of the Los Angeles Lions outfielder Jason Goodyear's world. He's the character that ties every other character's story together and he shows up in some way throughout the book. The Cactus League is a book full of the secrets we try to hide - addictive feelings (gambling and drugs are mentioned), unworthiness in relationships, fear of failure, medical diagnoses we aren't quite sure how to deal with - you see the gambit throughout the different characters' stories. In end, I enjoyed this book because it's a reminder that professional athletes are human beings too and have personal struggles that we don't always see. And through the stories of the other characters, it was a reminder of you never know what someone else is going through and dealing with.
The book is separated into nine chapters - or innings - and each chapter has an introduction from the book's narrator, a sportscaster. Each inning focuses on a new character, but all the characters are part of the Los Angeles Lions outfielder Jason Goodyear's world. He's the character that ties every other character's story together and he shows up in some way throughout the book. The Cactus League is a book full of the secrets we try to hide - addictive feelings (gambling and drugs are mentioned), unworthiness in relationships, fear of failure, medical diagnoses we aren't quite sure how to deal with - you see the gambit throughout the different characters' stories. In end, I enjoyed this book because it's a reminder that professional athletes are human beings too and have personal struggles that we don't always see. And through the stories of the other characters, it was a reminder of you never know what someone else is going through and dealing with.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
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