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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There's always been a bit of magic in baseball. As the game was originally invented, it had no boundaries, either in space or time. The outfield went on forever and the clock never ran out. Kinsella grabs these elements and builds a story around them, a story equally devoid of limits on space and time. This novel might be what it'd look like if Gabriel Garcia Marquez sat down to write The Natural. Although it lacks Marquez' poetry and The Natural's singularity of purpose, it is still a fascinating journey.
The Iowa Baseball Confederacy : A Novel by W. P. Kinsella (2003)
Even my undying love for the Chicago Cubs couldn't save me during this book. This book was WEIRD. I genuinely thought that this guy was high the whole story. The ending was kind of sad for me because well it's sad. I won't re-read this and Loren Glass is proving to me time and time again that I don't like fiction based off of Iowa City.
Like the game that is its centerpiece, this novel carries on...and on (maybe that's the point). Kinsella is a gifted writer, but like Shoeless Joe, this book could use a hard edit in the final third of the narrative. That said, if you like baseball, it's worth the read.
Disappointing. Much as I loved Shoeless Joe, I found this baseball time-travel fantasy too slow, too unbelievable, trying too hard to duplicate the success of his earlier masterpiece.
Engaging tale of time travel, a baseball game between the Cubs and a small town All Star team, and an Native American quest. Great book!