The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life (Paperback)

"The Legend of Bagger Vance" is a retelling of this epic, and a summary of the Bhagavad Gita, in a wonderful golf story. In the Mahabharata, Arjuna must fight a war against his step-brothers and cousins over possession of the kingdom. It is a righteous war, for he and his brothers are the heirs. But he refuses to fight, saying that war is futile and that it would be better to die than to fight one's family. So his charioteer, Lord Krishna, an incarnation of God, has to park the chariot and give him a really long lecture about why he should put aside his doubts, do his duty, and fight. Of course, it takes him the whole Bhagavad Gita to explain why this is a good thing to do, and it involves helping Arjuna understand who he really is, who God is, and what the nature of reality is. Along the way, he explains how to find peace in the midst of action, and to discover our true nature.

The Bhagavad Gita explains how to find union with God in the midst of daily life, and "The Legend of Bagger Vance" gives a very readable restatement of how to live a truly authentic life (and play great "golf" - whatever your form of "golf" is).

In "Legend," our hero, Rannulph Junah (R.Junah for those who like things spelled out) is a world-weary war veteran who is asked to play a game of golf with Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones. He reluctantly agrees, then tries to withdraw, saying that in a world torn apart by conflict and the Depression, it was futile, senseless, stupid, and insulting to hit a small dimpled ball around a course in yet one more form of combat. His caddy, Bagger Vance (Bhagavan, an honorific title for the Lord or for a spiritual master), then spends the rest of the story talking him through the 36-hole tournament, stripping away his confusion and delusion to help him find the truth of his Authentic Stroke and see the value of doing our inborn duty that life presents to us.

Does he succeed? Can we? Read this fun story and find out!

Afterwards, get Kamala Subramaniam's version of the "Mahabharata" and enjoy an even more interesting story.

I am not a golfer so I found all the paragraphs devoted to the perfect swing, the right club and every other minute nuance of golf to be quite boring and tedious. I did, however, enjoy the lessons on life taught by Bagger Vance to anyone who would listen.

The overall story is good. In order to save Krewe Island Golf Club from going under during the depression, the owner comes up with the wonderful idea of having a first class golf match between professional golfers Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. Unfortunately, the founding fathers of this great Southern city of Savannah will not support it unless one of their own golfers gets to compete. They choose Rannulph Junah, who once was a great golfer in his own right -- before he went off to fight in the war and returned a troubled man who likes to drink heavily. He initially refuses to compete but Bagger Vance convinces him otherwise. He helps Rannulph to reconnect with his "authentic swing" -- the swing that is ours alone -- the swing that each person is born with. At this point I'm thinking that every golfer out there is loving this. But Bagger Vance's message is farther reaching than just finding your authentic swing. While you're there, find your authentic self -- the one you were born with before you were deluded by life's experiences.

Throughout the book, you wonder if Bagger Vance is real or someone just sent here to help Junah through the match. Junah himself, in referring to Bagger, says in the book that "he was unable to assimilate his (Bagger's) wisdom or any wisdom. Nothing he said worked, then or later, except one single truth: the fact of his existance and of his love. That is all I needed then and all I will every need."

Isn't this all any one person needs in life? And it is there for the taking. That is the message of Bagger Vance or whatever higher power you deem him to be. Do yourself a favor after reading this book -- go see the movie to continue your fascination with this character and your connection to a higher being.

The journey is magically told through the innocent eyes of a boy. A must read for a golfer or individual that needs to escape into the past.