Bang the Drum Slowly - Questions

Well, according to Goodreads, I am the only one that has finished the book. Since tomorrow is the first, and I expect that we will be getting a new book to read, I figured I would post some questions and see what you all thought.

1. What was the role of baseball in this book?

2. What did you think of the style, having Wiggen narrate as the "Author", with his folksy tone?

3. What was the message? Have you seen this in other books?

4. What does Wiggen mean in the closing phrase: ""He was not a bad fellow. No worse than most and probably better than some and not a bad ball player neither when they give him a chance, when they laid off him long enough. From here on in I rag nobody."

5. Is there anything we can learn from Bruce and Henry?

Just pick a few questions to answer and I will answer some after you all have.

April's Book - Bang the Drum Slowly

Since baseball season just started, I thought that we should read a baseball book. Thus . . .

Bang the Drum Slowly

Here is the write up from Amazon:

Sure, Harris's most acclaimed novel, the second of his Henry Wiggen books, centers around a pair of ballplayers for the fictionally fabled New York Mammoths--the novel's narrator, pitcher Wiggen, and Bruce Pearson, his tag-along catcher and best friend. And sure, on one level, it's the conventional tale of a disparate dugout population cohering over the course of a season and marching ineluctably toward the World Series. But convention, like a 55-foot curveball, ends there and then scoots off in its own unpredictable direction. Harris's story--funny, bittersweet, and affecting--is, in the end, a haunting meditation on life, death, friendship, and loyalty. That it's set against the backdrop of the Major Leagues makes it a baseball novel. That it's a brilliant study of human nature, passionately felt and beautifully crafted, makes it enduring literature. --Jeff Silverman

Better Late than Never!

I am sorry that it has taken me until now to post my comments. So, enough with the intro- here we go!
1. Do I feel like "Jack" needed to die?
No. At least, I didn't feel that way at first. I was kind of disappointed at how abrupt the book ended, and that the only closure we received was because Jack died.

2. Why do I think he (Jack) ended up dying?
Well, I guess I kind of explained my feelings in my overboard explanation of the first question, but I also think he ended up dying to conclude the story with the main character that it begins with- Grace. It is interesting to me how the whole story reflects a sort of "Karma"- and everything came back to Grace. Jack's death gave Grace, herself, insight into this which probably wouldn't have surfaced had Jack survived. So, I guess there's another reason why Jack "needed" to die.

3.My favorite Character:
I said Grace at first, and for the sake of being different I'll keep it that way, but I really liked Charlaine's character too. No matter how pathetic she seemed by our first impressions of her, she had some strong, redeemable qualities. Human, like Thom said. My favorite parts of the story were following Grace, though. I liked her stubborn attitude and determination to not give up no matter what the cost- and she paid a heavy price for that. My heart went out to her, and I guess that's what disappointed me in the end- that it wasn't a "happy" ending for Grace.

4.Coben's Writing Style:
I liked it. I was intrigued from the beginning, and I really enjoyed that, but sometimes the jumping from one scene to the next so suddenly was frustrating- it required too much patience. And, some of the details of the murders and stuff were gruesome- I don't think I could stomach any more of that.

5. Birds?
I LOVE to be close to you, Sam. :)