Naturally...

 

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I was watching The Natural this evening for the umpteenth time.  The 1984 movie starring Robert Redford and directed by Barry Levinson is a true classic.  It was set in the pre-World War II heyday of baseball.  The film captured the essence of noirish grit of the depression era ever so well. 

The story in the film is so well crafted, I have often thought about reading the novel of the same name by Bernard Malamud (1914 – 1986) on which the film is based.  It is on my list, but I have yet to do it.  For some odd and unsubstantiated reason, I think the novel will be some combination of tedious and disappointing.  Why do I think this?  I have no clue and given that Malamud is relatively respected writer though The Natural on the list of his works that I actually recognized.

In typing in his name in Google, one of the suggested searches was “Bernard Malamud quotes.”  I clicked on it.  The first on this list impressed me and opened a floodgate of thoughts:

We have two lives the one we learn with and the life we live after that.

The first thought was that one is lucky if they can live these two lives.  That means that one learned enough about themselves, what life is all about, and learned to use this knowledge to navigate through it.  My second thought was there are probably lots of people who never learn or care to learn enough to pass the first stage.  There are others that spend a lot of time learning and I wonder if I am one of them.  Does that make the second short part all that much sweeter?  Lastly, there are those that are blessed with the learning part early and easily.  These folks then spend the large part of their lives in that second phase.  I believe the people we refer to as “salt of the earth” are in this last and enviable category.  Maybe, just maybe, what we need to learn and strive to learn is different for each of us. 

A second quote I liked was almost a corollary to the previous one:

Without heroes, we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go.

 I certainly buy into this.  I love stories, books, and movies about people who have done great and amazing things:  inventors, innovators, great thinkers, leaders, artists of every ilk.  I love these stories especially the military and sports heroes.  I have written about these books and movies.  I also look for and find inspiration in family, friends, and coworkers.  There are examples all around and it is good to be inspired. 

There was a third quote that I liked as well:

Life is a tragedy full of joy.

It is a very Taoist or Zen view of things.  Life is a tragedy.  It is a tragedy and a human comedy.  It is also full of joy.  It is mélange of opposites.  One cannot truly experience joy and sadness without the other.  Maybe this is something to be learned in the learning part of life Malamud refers to.  The Natural is a movie that perfectly embodies this quote.

Maybe I need to read The Natural.  I am now thinking that it is probably even better than the very good movie.