In Search of Burningbush : A Story of Golf, Friendship, and the Meaning of Irons

Rating:
Summary: Unexpected Masterpiece
Review: As a frequent flyer Delta, I have been an avid reader of Michael Konik's golf writing for more years than I care to admit. I'm a fan. He writes with a lot of passion and sentimentality for the great game of golf. He's at the same time also very funny and dry when he has to be. I appreciate Konik's style, which stands out from the mainstream golf writing. However, even though I own his other golf book about caddying for Jack Nicklaus I was somewhat unprepared for "In Search of Burning Bush." To say this a "great" book is not doing it justice. This is THE book that captures exactly why golf makes a difference in my life. As soon as I finished it and caught my breath, I gave it to my wife and said, "If you read this book you'll understand."

I have already written a personal note to Mr. Konik to express my appreciation for his honesty and his eloquence. I am rephrasing some of it here because I truly believe anyone who cares about golf will feel grateful that he read "In Search of Burning Bush." I know many people from the Shivas Irons Society will consider what I'm going to say offensive, but I've got to be honest. Konik's books, which is based on "Golf in the Kingdom," is far superior to the original. The emotions in "In Search of" are much deeper, and more powerful. It's very real. I came away feeling like I knew the author and his friend Don like they were old family members without any secrets.

Don is very eccentric and likable character. I would love to play a round with him or just talk golf. As he's described in the book, Don is a very inspiring guy who doesn't let his physical ailments get inthe way of his love for golf.

On a side note, if you have ever played golf in Scotland you will find yourself saying "yes!" when you read the descriptions of what golf is like over there compared to America. Excellent descriptions that really capture the spirit of Scottish links golf vs. American park golf.

I expected Michael Konik's next golf book to be good. However, I was unprepared for it to be so powerful and so effective.

I can't recommend any book I've read in the last year any more highly.

Rating:
Summary: Read This Book!
Review: I just finished In Search of Burningbush and felt compelled to write. The author's true voice and passion for golf come through in every chapter, and many of the passages describing the Scottish links and countryside are simply beautiful.

I was also drawn to the spiritual aspects of the author's quest as I am in a mid-life search for my "Burningbush". In Hinduism, I have read, the main thrust of the belief system is that people think they want certain things such as pleasure and worldly success. But ultimately, in this life or another, even noble life pursuits become unfulfilling. What people really want is something else - infinite being, infinite awareness, and infinite bliss. We can only get brief spatterings of true joy; we feel as though some great harmony exists in the world, then our bodily limitations take over.

Golf is like that. We feel the sensation of perfect body and soul in a golf shot, but then it is instantly extinguished as we remember the double bogey on the last hole. I wish the feeling would last forever. As I read this book, I sensed the same longing. I think what many of us are looking for is there, just past our conscious selves. When our bodies are quiet and our minds are still, the door opens for an instant. In that instant is an eternity that we simply cannot comprehend.

As I write this review, I am looking at a picture of the Old Course at St. Andrews hanging on the wall of my den. I bought the picture many years ago because it looked like a great den picture. But now, after reading In Search of Burningbush, I think something else may have drawn me to that picture - a type of "connection" I am sure Don (the main character in the book) would say. Someday I hope to play the Old Course and discover, if only for an instant, the metaphysical connection explored so beautifully in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This is a beautiful story that is told with great sensitivity and passion which you seldom see in more traditional golf books. People who really know and really understand the game of golf will get what In Search of Burningbush is all about but I am certain that people who are not heavy golf fans will also find this a wonderfully moving story of friendship. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried. Not many golf books make you do that. What more can I say? It's a great story about a great game and it's a much easier and less confusing read than Golf in the Kingdom which influenced it. I'm proud to own Michael Konik's book.

Rating:
Summary: Satisfying On Many Levels
Review: This is one one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. It stays with you after you've finished, like a good memory. The story takes place on the links of Scotland, but it's much more about a spiritual quest than a shot-by-shot description of two friends playing golf. Most straightforward golf books are very boring in this way. Mr. Konik and his friend Mr. Nafih are complex characters who held my interest to the very end, which has a nice surprise finish. It's a great "dad" book as well as a great selection for anyone who likes a good story that's told very well.

Rating:
Summary: Real Golf in scotland
Review: Those of us who live and play golf in scotland are accutomed to reading books in the golf journal genre written by Americans. The authors speed from famous course to even more famous course and say nice things but are clearly unsettled by the lack of caddy carts, yardage posts, no surf and turf or iced water and the warm beer.
There is nothing patronising about Konik's book. He understands Scottish golf, considers it to be real golf, and he can write some. On the agenda is the hunt to re-create writer Michael Murphy's experience and more mundanely find the Burning Bush golf course and the hole where Murphy came to understand everything. Konik also does the obvious - he phones Murphy from the likely spot and gets an answer - of sorts. The action moves nicely along with moments of high commedy. He gets into the small places, and likes them, throughout using his companion as a foil and straight man. Usually these golf journals end on an understandably flat note - i.e. the plane out of Edinburgh. But Konik has a surprise...