A little book report about Bernard Malamud's The Natural

This post is about The Natural, a book that--after seeing the movie--it "only" took me 36 years to get around to reading.

Do I need to write a synopsis of the plot? Should I assume everyone knows about it by now? If not, here you go: young talented baseball pitcher Roy Hobbs is on a train to Chicago for a tryout with the Cubs. Once he arrives in Chicago, he is seriously injured in a tragic event (no spoilers). Fifteen years later, having bounced around and somewhat rebuilt his life and reclaimed his baseball talent, Roy is called up by the fictional New York Knights. Stuff happens: some great, some bad. (Once again, no spoilers).

I had always heard that The Natural (the book) was quite different from movie version, and this is definitely true.  

The book is darker—much darker than the movie. Roy Hobbs is, well, kind of a jerk. Not always a jerk, but frequently a jerk. He is far from the heroic version played by Robert Redford in the movie. Hobbs is certainly a bit clueless and is overly swayed by women who are shallow and/or mentally ill. (And yes, I agree with people who have noted that the female characters in the book are fairly one-note). Roy’s worst moment is when he reads a letter sent to him by one of his love interests, Iris Lemon. In the letter she explains in painfully honest detail the struggles she faced as a young mother—but once Roy is reminded that Iris’ daughter had a child—making Iris a grandmother—Roy rips up the letter and throws it away. Dick move, bro.).

Most of the characters in the book are disagreeable to just plain unlikeable. There are some exceptions. Pop Fisher (the Knights manager) is a good guy just trying the best he can, aware that he is not a great baseball manager. All he wants is to win the pennant once, and then retire from baseball and become a gentleman farmer.

Red Blow (where did Malamud come up with these names?) is a coach on the team who takes Hobbs under his wing and offers sage advice.

There is only one “good” woman in the book, the aforementioned Iris Lemon. Unlike Memo Paris, Pop’s niece whom Roy pines after, Iris actually cares about Roy. She’s also the only one to understand him and not afraid to call out his bullshit. Unfortunately, Roy can’t get over the fact that Iris is a grandmother (albeit a young grandmother). Late in the book it is revealed that Roy got Iris pregnant when they had a romantic rendezvous on a beach at Lake Michigan. It is implied that perhaps Roy will finally come to his senses and make a life with Iris, but the book’s rather abrupt ending never brings any closure to the Roy/Iris relationship. (Anyone who has seen the movie knows that its ending is completely different from the book—and it is obvious that Roy and Iris do end up together).

Perhaps my problem with Roy is really MY problem and not Roy’s. As I already mentioned, it took me 36 years to get around to reading the book, so inevitably I compare the Roy of the book to the Roy of the movie, and of course the Roy of the book will come up lacking. He is not the pure handsome hero as portrayed by Redford, and that is entirely the point of Malamud’s book.

All of these observations are about The Natural as a story, and I have not looked at the allegorical aspect of the book, which I suppose is about the illusory nature of the American Dream and all that high falootin’ jazz.

I enjoyed the book and am happy that I finally read it. Baseball fiction is not easy to do well. Up to this point, The Celebrant (Eric Rolfe Greenberg) and Shoeless Joe (W.P. Kinsella) were the two best I'd read in the genre. (I have yet to read Bang the Drum Slowly, but I should some day). The Natural easily reaches the level of those books as good baseball fiction. As a novel, it's good, but falls well short of greatness. (Quite frankly, the writing is a little clunky at times). However, if anyone reading this is a baseball fan and has not given The Natural a try, I encourage you to crack it open.