The Legend of Bagger Vance

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Summary: Would God Help Your Golf Game
Review: The story tees off with a golf caddy named Bagger Vance, a local hero and golfer named, Jonas and two world reknown golfers at a local country club in the deep humid south of the 1930's. The event of a fictional golf game is watched and recorded by a young boy who years later retells the story of the game to another young man. After the author takes us on a stroll through a southern golf course we come to the realization, God is every where, even on the links. The story is a metaphoric tale that puts the work of God into a human perspective. We also realize that we all possess inate abilities that often are lost by our earthly desire to conform with our environment. After reading the Legend of Bagger Vance you will want to begin working on "your" game and never again will you look at inane activities without considering the past. Great book should be read by anyone who loves the south, golf, history, and God.

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Summary: Worth the price and buy it in hardback!
Review: This book will run the gambit of reviews. Some will love it, some will make fun of it, some will lie about it, some will just walk around with it having never read it and hope someone just sees them walking around with it. I enjoyed it. I read it in two sessions and if it hadn't been for having two teenagers I would have read it in one. I will read it a second time. Great story by a man who obviously loves the game and loves to write. If you love the game I believe you will love this book and not give a hoot what anybody else thinks. Well done Mr. Pressfield.

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Summary: Wisdom for the links and the life beyond
Review: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance meets Field of Dreams. In this fantastical voyage, a local champion, along with his mystical caddie Bagger Vance, take on two of golf's giants for 36 holes. While the literal conflict occurs on the links, Pressfield delves deep into the psyche of Jonah (the local champ), a lost soul who has been teetering on the edge, struggling to find the purpose and meaning of the larger conflict that is human life itself. Pressfield has created a gem that reflects both the majestic soul of golf and the spritual journey of the human spirit.

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Summary: Very thought provoking
Review: On the whole I throroughly enjoyed this book. It's not the strongest writing and I thought the ending was too unresolved, but it does get you thinking. The idea that we don't "learn" golf, but we "remember" it was very intriguing. Being an avid golfer I appreciate how the book brings out what a mental game it is, more than any other sport. You against you. As to whether it has significance to the meaning of life, well...

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Summary: Influence
Review: A great person once told me,"you are influenced by people you meet and books you read." This book influenced my life!

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Summary: An Outstanding Story
Review: In anticipation of the screen play scheduled for November 2000, I purchased the book and was thoroughly pleased with the story and its characters. The novel was writen to transform the reader to the early 1930's. I felt as if I were there to see the story unfold. I would recommend the novel for anyone who would like to see the mystical side of the sport.

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Summary: bagger should be bagged and dumped
Review: What a mistake it was to buy this book. It stank on ice. Instead of being serious and meaningful it was just plain silly and shallow. Do yourself a favor and read the Indian (sub-continent) source material that the author ripped off. I'm not sure I buy into this mystical connection between sports and spiritualism. Buy a good biography instead.

Rating:
Summary: So good, you'll read again.
Review: This book will remind golfers why we play, and it will helpthose that don't to better understand why the passion for the game canrun so deep. I have read it once a year since 1995 and everytime I am reminded that golf is more than just a game.

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Summary: Golfers will love it
Review: This is Pressfield's first book and it is a very readable tale of a great, mythical golf match in Savannah in 1931. If you like Golf you will find this an intriguing book with a few mystical pages that may be confusing or seem pointless but a lot of vivid almost lyric description of the people, the game and the era. It is a fun read but maybe especially so for golfers. It is totally different from his Greek novels and that may be a tribute to the range of his writing skill.

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Summary: A complete lack of subtlety
Review: Although my book group had a great discussion about the themes in the book, I can not say I enjoyed reading it in the slightest. First, the golf scenes are long and extremely detailed. You need to have some basic understanding and appreciation for golf in able to digest much of the story. Second, I found the author's use of metaphors extremely heavy handed. The author not only alludes to certain things - he reiterates explicitly that he was in fact referring to those things (I won't say what and ruin the story). At least it was a quick read.