A small American college. Five very different lives. One terrible mistake.
At Westish College, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for the big league until a routine throw goes disastrously off course. His error will upend the fates of five people. Henry's burgeoning self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight falls unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz realizes he has guided Henry's career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight returns to Westish, determined to start a new life.
As the season counts down to its climactic final game, all five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets.
It has been a while since I read a book where I was 100% submerged in its world. I really loved this book, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. I do have a soft spot for vaguely academic-set novels and this didn't disappoint.
I want to say now that my personal knowledge of baseball is limited but this did not ruin my enjoyment of this book, so please do not be put off. Although it is mostly set in the present, the novel manages to create really well-rounded characters, each with their own history. Through this novel you watch the rise and fall of the five excellently drawn characters, feeling genuinely uplifted at their achievements and nail-bitingly frustrated when things go wrong - and things do go wrong.
The world itself is probably Chad Harbach's real achievement here. Even though Westish College can be seen as claustrophobic, incestuous and, at times, bleak, you can completely understand the characters' attachment to it. It is, generally, a loyal institution that provides a home and family for people who are young and desperately hoping to find themselves and know their respective futures. Some of the characters' futures have already happened, some are being shaped.
As you can tell, I'm a bit of a fan and it gets a good 8.5/10
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