Sunday Sports Selections: Malamud’s The Natural
The True Story of Roy Hobbs
In the Sunday Sports Selection series, we showcase a sports-related product (gadget, book, film, equipment, etc.) that we have enjoyed and think you may find of interest as well.
Almost every sports fan has seen what Roy Hobbs (portrayed by Robert Redford) can do with a baseball bat in the classic 1984 baseball movie The Natural
However, in the film he falters due to poor choice of acquaintances and having to be sent to the hospital because of a previous injury. He then makes his triumphant return and gives this remarkable performance, which made Uncoached’s list of 10 sports movie moments that will give you chills:
Unfortunately, the cinematic version pales in terms of story and character in comparison to the 1952 novel written by Bernard Malamud from which the film is loosely based.
Malamud’s The Natural
Malamud’s tale of Hobbs was also the first baseball novel ever published. Some would also add that it is the best baseball novel ever published, but I’ll leave that for you to decide.
Four decades later, Alfred Kazin’s comment still holds true: “Malamud has done something which—now that he has done it!—looks as if we have been waiting for it all our lives. He has really raised the whole passion and craziness and fanaticism of baseball as a popular spectacle to its ordained place in mythology.” (from Kevin Baker’s introduction in a more recent edition)
Regardless of whether you come to this opinion or not, The Natural
| 2.5 |
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