I've read it, won't reread it this month, but I think it's a good choice. Hopefully will generate some discussion and I think a lot of you will really enjoy it based on what it seems you guys like. Definitely has some sports aspects to it as well as coming of age storylines. I gave it 3 stars, I liked it but it was just lacking something to push it over the 4 star edge to me. Not sure what looking back. Would give it a solid 7/10 though. Looking forward to seeing what you guys think.
Same here. Probably going to stop Brief History and start this to get in line with everyone. Started that one late and currently crawling through it.
I will be finishing my reread of The Passage tonight and then either diving into this after that or tomorrow. Super excited.
As someone who played baseball from the age of 4 though college - 2 Chapters in and this book feels tailored made for me. Main Characters is a StL Cardinals Fan - Check. His role is the best defensive SS of all time - check I even played Am Legion Tourneys in Peoria and Central Illinois - check I love this book right from the start.
I'm to the same point. Not a Cards fan at all but I am enjoying it nonetheless. Good pacing, writing, and story thus far. Looking forward to more.
Through Chapter 30. No specific comment. Enjoying the story and it's a quick read. It's clear Harbach played baseball is really good a the little idiosyncrasies of baseball players. Yeah - just liking it.
I'm done with five chapters/10% in. Not done for the night but I am really enjoying this book right now. Spoiler Just started his junior season and he's off to a really strong start in that season. I think it's interesting, and I really like it, that there's 90% of the book left and we've kinda zoomed through early college/parents being weird/etc. I imagine more worry will come from his folks (a death of one wouldn't surprise me) but I like that it's now about him being good. Big fan so far.
I'm 20% through and I am liking this a lot but... Spoiler Being a conservative 43 year old baseball fan and purist why does he have to have the president of the university have a gay crush on a student? I can live with Owen Dunne being an openly gay teammate etc as part of the story and his character thus far adds interest but now another gay element? Seems like the author is almost trying too hard here. Hopefully he doesn't ruin this seemingly excellent book and story pushing a homosexual storyline. Long way to go though. Hopefully there is a lot more baseball as the book progresses.
Spoiler As a Penn State fan I figured you would love an authority figure having gay sex with a young male at a University.
Through 36 Spoiler Mike and Henry have to have some kind of falling out. Schwartz is too invested in Henry. Keeping that video of him is kinda creepy
45% through... Spoiler . Great story that I am enjoying other than the fact that I keep having to read about the 60 year old chancellor discovering his homosexuality. For fuck sakes stick to Schwarz, Skrimm, Pella and the team stuff. I'm thinking Pella ruins the relationship between Schwartz and Henry and It causes Henry to at least temporarily quit the game.
20% Spoiler So we kind of have the main players of the book all involved now. The stuff with Owen will be really interesting. Not only his injury, but an affair as well - have they had sex? It felt more like just a crush and flirting than anything, though I'm guessing they have. Chapter I finished last had the agent calling Henry. He's in such a bad place mentally right now. Error that injured his roommate. Agent calling him. Draft stuff. Best friend and his plans for the future. Can't wait to see where things go. I continue to really enjoy it, even if I haven't been able to sit down for a couple hours and read it. Been busier than expected the last few nights. Should have some free time this weekend though so I'm hoping to knock out a bunch more.
I may well be out of touch on things but is "freshperson" common lingo now for freshmen or is just in this particular book? Its use annoys me every time I see it.
Annoyed me too. Something out of PCU. Finished the book. Really liked it. 7.5/10 Spoiler The ending was a little weird with exhuming the body and shit, but I really liked this book. Liked all the characters, especially Schwartz. Thought he was really well written. Cant believe Henry banged Pella. Took me a long time to decide if Schwartz really had Henry's best interests in mind, or just had a weird obsession with him. I lean towards him being sincere, however if he was - he'd never let Henry come back and pass up that contract. This bothered me way more than it should, but lol @ Pella being at to reach Schwartz in the dugout from an outside line. Especially in a minor league park. That's really being nit-picky though Props to whoever selected this book ( I think it was LKRFN88jp ). It was on my to-read list forever and I just kind of forgot about it. Really glad I read it.
To this point/49% in Spoiler In a way I would say they've already had their falling out. Started with Schwartz's rejection letter (then letters) secret, kept going with Pella, and now it's like they're both off mentally. Henry on the field, Mike off the field. And neither of them can fix it by themselves, even though together they've been an amazing team since college. I'm really enjoying it and am not even that bothered by the affair stuff. All of this is obviously going to come to a head at some point and I'm very curious as to how all the parties involved will respond. And dammit if every ground ball to shortstop doesn't have me on the edge of my seat. Felt like I held my breath in anticipation during the last game only for the throw to (once again) suck. Book is really good, happy to finally get around to it.
Through chapter 56/67% Spoiler The tension in the room when Henry suddenly heard steps in the hall, realized it was Owen, door opened and it was (plus Schwartz), right after him and Pella hooked up? Sweet Christmas that was great writing. Maybe it's just me but this book has read like a damn thriller at times with the waiting for what's going to happen from scene to scene. Great stuff. Meltdown on the field when he had to give the damn ball to the pitcher was rough. Sheesh.
Finished... Spoiler I really liked this book. It was a good story that kept my attention throughout. At different times I found myself rooting for Henry, Mike, Pella et al. I enjoyed the baseball angle and the championship run. I thought the digging up of Guert's grave was stupid. I expected Schwartz to end up a coach at some point so his job after graduation made sense. Henry returning to college to get himself right again was a good ending. I'll give it a 7.5/10
Done. Cliffs: 7.5/10 Spoiler I agree w/the others itt who finished it re: digging up the grave and bringing his body out to the water. Just felt a little too weird, a little too on the nose for the book. I get why it was done, but idk if I really agree w/the decision. Other than that (and the phone call to the dugout, couldn't agree more Truman) I really enjoyed the book and found it a fun/easy read. Flew through the last 2/3rds the last couple of days and happy I did. I thought it was fascinating how big of a depression Henry went into. I thought was a good touch and one I really haven't seen too often. The last chapter w/him and Schwartz was really good, especially the last few lines.
I'll wait it out a bit more, thanks though. I saw that discussion had stalled a bit in here and it made me think of it
These reviews are BRUTAL http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/T...f=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1458322710&sr=1-1
25% in. Book took a turn from the direction I was expecting Does fresh person get explained? I've never heard it before and I saw it mentioned up top. He uses "freshman" when he's talking about Harvard
Finished yesterday. I have several thoughts on the book in spoiler. Spoiler Okay, so I enjoyed the book overall. It was very well written, and that strengthened the story overall, I thought. I didn't play baseball past fifth grade, but I would consider myself a baseball fan (and I'm a lifelong Cardinals fan) so I enjoyed the subtleties Harbach put in the baseball narrative. Unfortunately, I thought the book strayed from that a little too much. Not that I didn't care about the ancillary story lines, but I thought that the rise and fall of Henry could have been explored closer. Other things I liked about the book: I thought the introduction of Affenflight was incredible (his discovery of Melville and the establishment of his relationship with Pella). I loved the characters of Mike and Pella (they were by far the most interesting to me). And, again, the actual baseball sequences. Some things that I wasn't a huge fan of: The Affenflight/Owen narrative. The homosexuality wasn't an issue for me. It was more along the lines that I thought the description of Affenflight's love seemed more like infatuation. There wasn't a lot of basis for it; everything was based on Owen's appearance, or Owen's enjoyment of poetry or literature. The entirety of their experiences seemed like sex in an office, reading to each other, and then sneaking around with a heavy dose of Affenflight pining thrown in. I don't know, but I didn't really buy the relationship. Maybe I'm looking for too much. I would have liked to see him expound upon Henry's struggles and depression more. Those were interesting chapters to me. I didn't like the ending. So Affenflight just randomly dies? And Mike and Pella get back together? And the body exhumation was odd. Meh. Could have been stronger. All in all, I enjoyed it but I thought there were some flaws. I gave it a 7/10.