Customer Reviews:
 The Only Author Who Fits Into No Genre But His Own April 11, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Steven Pressfield has written one of the most important books of the century. Yes, it has a play-the-game-of-golf theme, but if one is willing to go where few will brave - this is a deeply profound book about love, truth, honor, betrayal, despair, fear courage, hope...and faith in God (that has nothing to do with man-made artifice of law and state). Indeed, the book is the only one I have ever read that perhaps transcends the meaning of time, place and space itself as part of a vast mystical wonderful experience. For many, as children of a Living God - know that He is "with" the least and last of us right now: a confused child in need, a down and out golfer somwhere who can't find his authentic swing, a woman who has lost the only man she ever loved, a husband & father who can't feed his own family. Yet, the book isn't that pat either for me to place in any slot. If anyone has ever faced a blank page in life itself with the hope to create one meaningful thought and/or kindness (perchance even sacrifice for the sake of another soul) encompassing both the human condition and far-beyond what human eyes can see - you will love this book by the one and only magnificent artist & author, Steven Pressfield. Buying ALL of his books (including this one) could be the best investment you make for yourself and your life. Great art does that sometimes....
It you think it's on golf, you may be missing the point. May 18, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Last winter in a philosophy class I was assigned to read a book called the Legend of Bagger Vance. At first, I rejected the entire idea of the book. Golf and philosophy? he had to be kidding right? And the main people in the book - Bagger, Junah, Hardy, Michael - how could they all take a silly game of golf so seriously? (I am not really much of a sports fan.)
It took a few class discussions, but I quickly realized my error. The Legend of Bagger Vance is a rare gem. Packed with religion (it is, after all, based on the Hindu text the Bhagavad-Gita), philosophy, and a rare kind of literary magic, Pressfield has rewritten and submitted a doctrine for the ages in the guise of a book about golf.
Most of the book focuses on a famous game played at Krewe Island between a local has been golf hero, Rannulph Junah and his caddie Bagger Vance, and the two best players of the day Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. (The latter two men did actually exist). The story is retold by Hardy as an old man, who was a young boy at the time of the game, to his young friend Michael. Michael recently quit med school, which Hardy can understand. He is a doctor himself and understands the stress and pressure of pursuing such a career. But when Hardy hears that Michael also quit golf - he decides to do something to bring his young friend back to the game. Through his retelling of the story, an excursion to a local friend, and a few other things I'm not mentioning, lest I spoil it for you, he tells us a magical story about duty, struggle and doing what you were meant to do.
I would suggest this book to anyone, but more specifically certainly any golfer (may you find your authentic swing), anyone who has an affinity for Eastern wisdom, and any person who is searching for meaning in this very confusing world. The movie, which I will not get into here, I would not suggest seeing, simply because it distorts a beautiful story. Main characters are deleted and romances are added - maybe you'd likeit, but I know I wouldn't.
But the book is marvelous. I'm what you could call a book worm, reading 10-20 books a month, but a semester has passed since I closed Bagger Vance, having read its final pages, and it still impacts me daily. The wisdom, philosophy and magic in this book are almost too powerful to convey on paper. But I have tried. Please, give this book a chance. It doesn't look like much, but it is.
I know myself and my friends have all enjoyed it immensely. Maybe it could change your life too.
 Golf is more than a game! May 11, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I agree with the reviewer who reccomends reading this book even if you've seen the movie. This is one of those rare cases where the movie and the book are both very different products but are strengthened by their differences.
This book is a must for anyone who plays golf with any amount of passion, especially if you saw and enjoyed the movie, because the two are so different. If you're not a golfer, after reading this book you may find yourself with a newfound appreciation for the game. Personally, after reading this book I can't wait for a chance to go to the driving range, and this would not be true if I had only watched the movie. Thankyou Steven Pressfield for writing this book.
Very good - Very different from the movie. February 11, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read this book after seeing Robert Redford's movie of the same name. Interestingly, Redford both added to, and took away from, the book in order to arrive at the story for his movie.
The book is intended to be a modern version of the Bhagavad Gita, told using golf as a metaphor rather than war. It is an ambitious effort by Pressfield that comes across far darker and deeper than the movie. Redford, on the other hand, focuses his movie on portions of the book and gives it a lighter feeling, making it a more clear-cut tale of redemption.
Both are very good, but they are also very different. I highly recommend the book even if you've already seen the movie - you'll only recognize a little of what's here.
WELL...MAYBE NOT. April 21, 2004
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
The title, THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE, is a very loose tie between the movie and this book. Beyond that, things get a little dicey and I am not sure that I can give the book the same rave reviews that I gave the movie. Well, actually, it's a lot easier than that. The book falls considerably short of what the movie became under the masterful touch of Robert Redford. Like his work on THE HORSE WHISPERER, Redford was able to make a movie that improves upon a book and get to the nugget of a great story, leaving out stuff that seems sometimes to ooze from the imagination of an author who gets too caught up in and excited about the supposed profoundness of his own story. In the end that's the real problem with THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE (the book). Pressfield, obviously an individual who feels much for the game of golf and its parallels with life, gets sucked into the out-of-control upward spiral of his awe for the game. He likely collapsed after writing several of the more revved up passages. It wasn't enough to call golf a game, Pressfield had to take the next step and try to build a case for golf as the basis for a lost and resurgent religion. Bagger Vance as a wild pagan god of war? Junah as a bizarre victim of what can best be described as Jack Nicklaus on a bummer trip? The golf swing--the Authentic Swing--as an essential component of and precursor to achieving a peaceful and happy existence? All way too weird and ethereal for me! But there are many redeeming factors to this book. Read chapter 11 with its descriptions of the golf swing as a metaphor. Read chapter 12 with its descriptions of the game in comparison to other sports and the sheer difficulty of the game. Read chapter 16 with its wonderful wordsmithing about the importance of a good grip, more on the game's difficulty and the individual nature of golf competition. Finally, the beginning paragraphs of chapter 20 speak briefly, but eloquently, about the need for a golfer to be keenly aware of the clubhead and the power that comes in the golf swing from a deliberately wide swing arc. Other than these references you are on your own. Rent of buy the movie and enjoy its simple but profound appreciation for golf as probably the greatest game ever devised by man and leave most of the book to the arena of too much information or, perhaps, to too much imagination.
|
