Rating: 
Summary: Too Much Supernatural, Not Enough Story
Review: I suppose if you like golf and you understand Eastern philosphy, Bagger Vance will seem like a good read. I have played no golf other than miniature golf, and I'm not really up on Eastern mythology, so this book seemed very, very odd to me.I read it because I had nothing else to read and I liked "Gates of Fire" by Pressfield a lot, "Tides of War" was not nearly as good, and I hope to read "Last of the Amazons" soon. At any rate, I already knew the book was different from the movie (which I hadn't seen anyway), but I think I'll have to go rent the movie just to see if it sits better with me. The first problem, to me, was that this book needed to be longer. Readers never get to know Junah or any of the other characters all that intimately, nor do we get to know much about our narrator Hardy, or the mysterious Bagger Vance. I think if Pressfield had slowed the story down, spent more time developing it and the characters, then it would have been a little better. Still, unless you're an avid golfer, the idea that the Meaning of Life can be gleaned from golf seems just a tad overblown. Sure, games can teach important things about life, but I think Pressfield took things too far. If you love golf, and you have a strong understanding of Eastern mythology, then I recommend this book. If you don't, then I would caution you to avoid it, because you'll end up scratching your head and wondering "What the heck was that?" just like I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad First Names Prove Inconsequential to a Very Good Book
Review: Bagger, Rannulph, and Harvey are some of the names in this book. Bagger is the obligatory God-like character, and if you like golf, you will love Rannulph Junah's attempts to follow Vance's guidance and reach the "Authentic Swing."
Read it.
Now.
Rating:
Summary: To thine ownself be true
Review: Bagger Vance is one of the finest golf novels I have ever read, and I've read a bunch of 'em. The very concept of a golf novel based upon the structure of the Bhagavad-Gita is mind-boggling, and Pressfield executes with amazing humanity. The characters are a bit difficult to get to know, but become fully fleshed and tremendously insightful. Skip the movie -- read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I very much enjoyed reading this book. It's a real page turner with a good dose of fantasy in the plot. I have to say though that it is not like the movie. There's no mistaking that it's the same general story; however, it's also obvious that there was extensive re-writing for the movie version. One of the most glaring differences is the almost total lack of romance in the book. Even so, this book does answer one nagging question...who(or what)is Bagger Vance? I won't give the answer away, though I will say he's most definitely NOT a guardian angel as I'd originally thought. If you're curious who he is, I suggest you read the book for youself.
Rating:
Summary: Good reading--even if you're not a golfer!
Review: While many books that touch on mysticism and sports are only appealing to enthusiasts, Bagger Vance actually manages to move beyond the links and say something interesting, if not entirely relevant. The book ends up being less about "The Zen of Golf" than it is about the individual characters, and that is a testament to Pressfield's story-telling. Although I prefer Pressfield's later historical works--you can already see elements of the character development that flowers later in "Gates of Fire"--I was pleasantly suprised by the book. Pressfield manages to show us (rather than tell us--a danger in any flashback narration) what Rannulph Junah is experiencing and what Bagger Vance is trying to impart. Even the narrator's character comes through clearly in the course of the story. While it helps to be a golfing afficianado, you certainly don't need to be one in order to enjoy the journey and take part in the philosophical perspectives from Vance. At the end of the book, I found I wanted to read some of the background philosophy more than I wanted to play golf. One other note--it helps to bring along your "willing suspension of disbelief" so that you can appreciate Pressfield's ride.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: I like a book with a diferent way of looking at the world. Tom Robbins, Richard Miller are my favourite authors. i would rank this up there
Rating: 
Summary: A Real Suprise
Review: The movie is much different than the book, as many are, and in this rare case, the movie was better. This book focuses too much on spirituality and life in an extremely Eastern sense to such an extreme degree that it becomes ridiculous. Its theme is much different from the "love of the game" focused movie. After reading the first half of the book, I decided it was a waste of my time. There are a number of positive reviews, so I may be missing something ... but I doubt it!
Rating:
Summary: Mystical, magical tale
Review: I'd been wanting to see the movie, but hadn't gotten the chance and picked up the paperback on a whim. It starts out as a fable that an old man (Dr. Hardison Greaves) tells to a young protegee (Michael) on a dark and stormy night. A nearly-hurricane is raging outside, but the story is meant to help quell a disquieting storm inside Michael, who is on the brink of a life-changing decision. The tale takes place in the dark time of the Great Depression, and features Dr. Greaves as a small boy, Hardy, who had the opportunity to participate in a phenomenal sporting event. But the story changes from a jovial tale of golf to a haunting yet uplifting account of one man's internal struggle to find some balance in his life. That man, Rannulph Junah, finds his way during a spectacular golf tournament with the help of his caddy, the wise and mystical Bagger Vance. The story hints at the true identity of the sage-like caddy. Steven Pressfield really weaves a magical web, and I was caught as surely as any bumbling bug. As I read the book, I found it increasingly difficult to put down. The golf-is-like-life metaphor was intriguing and predictable, but I think the thing that really struck me was the sense that the book was talking on a sort of four-dimensional or extra-dimensional plane. Four-dimensional because there is a tangible feeling of the passage of time - not just the 70 years between the time Hardy lives the story and the time he tells it - that spans thousands of years and seems to move backward and forward in a strangely Einsteinian way. The best way I can describe the feeling is like when I read something that frightens me - I feel a strange atmosphere of fear suspended around me. Extra-dimensional because there is a sense of eternity that has nothing do to with time, as if everything happening in our world is nothing but a shadow of a sort of cosmic event that has no place in time, but just "is." It made me reflect that just the way each known dimension is a shadow of the next (a point is a shadow of a line, a square is a shadow of a cube), that events as we see them are just a shadow of something on a metaphysical dimension, something that maybe we can't see or feel but is there all the same. Basically, it's a wonderful story that made me think. I would recommend the book to anyone, not just golf-lovers. [NOTE: The idea of the "Authentic Swing" as described in the book is at complete odds with my first golf clinic where I was told "if it feels natural, you're not doing it right."]
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: I met the writter of this book and the point he was trying to
say is that You can do anything You want if You try hard enough.
Rating:
Summary: Book is awesome
Review: Steven Pressfield is an absolutely amazing writer. The Legend of BAgger VAnce is one of the best books i've ever read in my entire life. The movie does this book no justice at all, BAgger VAnce is much more of a god-like person. Will Smith has no business playing him, it is much more of a Denzel Washington/Morgan Freeman role. One of the quickest reads of my entire life, i couldn't put the book down.
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