Shoeless Joe
by W. P. Kinsella
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Book Summary Information
Author: W. P. KinsellaEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-04-28
ISBN: 0395957737
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Mariner Books
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780395957738
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Shoeless Joe
Book Review: "If you read it, it will come."
Summary: 4 Stars
"If you build it, he will come." Cheered, shamed, analyzed, and even parodied, these seven words first written by W.P Kinsella, later glorified by the early 90's film "Field of Dreams", have come to represent baseball and the meaning it holds for its players, fans, and for Americans in particular. For half a century, from 1903 to 1953, baseball survived unscathed by modern day chaos; with the same 16 major league baseball teams playing in the same American cities. This stability along with the calming, pastoral effect of the game helps to answer readers' questions as to why baseball is so severely cherished. The book's strength is its lush description that gives the reader's imagination no limits; whether it be envisioning ghastly White Sox players in a perfect Iowa cornfield or running their fingers through a delicate patch of left field grass. The book's only weakness is that the plot sometimes get lost among the detailed travels of the main character. While chronicling a man's journey from building a baseball field in his corn crop to his realization of why he was selected to hear the voice that started it all, the book manages to bring its theme home. This is not just a book about an extraordinary person but rather the story of an ordinary person (perhaps like the reader) with a love for his family, a love of memories, a respect for the land, and a long regretted mistake. While the story revolves around baseball, it is simply a metaphor for the larger picture of a person's unrealized dreams, or unrealized life in general. The reader comes to understand that a love for ny sport or hobby, not just baseball, can give way to dreams and a stable calmness, even a oneness. In the second to last chapter when he gathers enough courage to talk to a catcher on the team we realize why Ray, the main character, was selected to build the field. At the same time readers must face their own journey. One day if a voice were to whisper to you, "If you build it, he will come," what would you build and who would come?
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