Rating: 
Summary: a Meaning of yourself
Review: A father and a son is the the closest connection fo man. Closer than the relationship between a ball and a hole. To know and experience this relationship to it ending is in itself a life. Golf ends in eighteen delicate struggling holes. Losing a father transcends eighteen holes. But those eighteen holes are the memories. These metaphors, concerning golf and life are not simplistic in their meaning. They are spiritual. Golf is a game of relationships. A game where man learns of himself and all he asks to participate in it with him. To be with a father in this game is felt deep within. Reading this book you may only see an author writing individual feelings, or you may look deeper and see yourself weeping of your past. I promise you, sirs...the last thirty pages of this book will be moist with your soulful tears.
Rating:
Summary: Touching
Review: A father, a son. The closest relationship you will ever find on a golf course, closer than the ball and the hole, is a father and a son. Golf is a game of relationships, thoughts on life. This book summarizes what the game of golf is about. To read it, is to become closer to knowing what the game of golf means. Not just to the author but to yourself. By the end of the reading you will have found the reason why you will die trying to play this profound game. A game the elders named Golf. I promise you, sirs...at the end of this reading, the last thirty pages will be wet with your souls' tears.
Rating: 
Summary: Golfing Journey
Review: A wonderful account of a father and son coming to grips with the father's impending death. The father and son achieve a relationship not often sought by a parent and child. Without over-romanticizing the point, the book also nicely describes the unique and intimate experience that comes with spending time with someone on a golf course. Unfortunately, because "golf" is included in the subtitle, this book will be read almost exclusively by golfers. What a pity, because the real story is so much more. A touchy-feely book for sure, but one of the best "autobiographical" stories I have read in a long time. Makes me wish my father played golf.
Rating:
Summary: Golfing Journey
Review: A wonderful account of a father and son coming to grips with the father's impending death. The father and son achieve a relationship not often sought by a parent and child. Without over-romanticizing the point, the book also nicely describes the unique and intimate experience that comes with spending time with someone on a golf course. Unfortunately, because "golf" is included in the subtitle, this book will be read almost exclusively by golfers. What a pity, because the real story is so much more. A touchy-feely book for sure, but one of the best "autobiographical" stories I have read in a long time. Makes me wish my father played golf.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping life story - shot by shot - father and son
Review: A writer by trade, Dodson recounts for us what his dad meant to him, especially its progression through their golf and through life. Makes one truly see that play golf with someone, and you know all about them. Dodson communicates so well, swear you've played a round or two with this twosome. Fond memories given here -- his father lives on.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping life story - shot by shot - father and son
Review: A writer by trade, Dodson recounts for us what his dad meant to him, especially its progression through their golf and through life. Makes one truly see that play golf with someone, and you know all about them. Dodson communicates so well, swear you've played a round or two with this twosome. Fond memories given here -- his father lives on.
Rating:
Summary: Generational magic
Review: As a son of depression/WWII era parents, I often consider how the times affected my parents attitudes in life, compared to my own (born in the 60s) times. Now as a parent of two young teens, I also ponder how they will see those comparisons with my times. More importantly, I look for ways to take the eternal "life lessons" that I learned from depression era parents, and communicate those lessons to my Nintendo & Harry Potter generation kids. This book gives the answer -- it's in time and activities shared together. My own father, a WWII B-17 navigator and POW, like Brax Dodson, had experiences that I simply can't fathom, that shaped his attitude and outlook on life. I could FEEL this book -- I grew up with my own "Opti". We golfed together, and he taught me about life. Unfortunately, like James Dodson, I was often too stubborn, too headstrong, or just too stupid to listen. Sometimes the wisdom of the prior generation is not so timeless. Sometimes the ways of our elders just don't fit the newer times. And sometimes they do, and us younger folks aren't smart enough to see it. Dodson does a solid job of recognizing all of that, in a style that is self-effacing and self-deprecating enough to show that he honestly appreciates the wisdom of the ages. As I read, I kept yelling at the book "you ass, shut up and listen to the old man!" And then I would recall one of the many times when *I* should have shut up and listened to the wise words of my father, in a similar situation. I *SO* wanted my dad to love this book, but he didn't particularly care one way or another. I still want my kids to read and love this book, though I've yet to inspire them to set Harry Potter down long enough to pick this up. I suspect that while Final Rounds tells me a great parallel story for my life, that it won't necessarily do so for my kids. But I will continue with finding some one place, maybe not a golf course, where we can always have a heart-to-heart. For Lance Armstrong, "It's Not About The Bike"; for James Dodson, it's not really about the golf.
Rating:
Summary: Generational magic
Review: As a son of depression/WWII era parents, I often consider how the times affected my parents attitudes in life, compared to my own (born in the 60s) times. Now as a parent of two young teens, I also ponder how they will see those comparisons with my times. More importantly, I look for ways to take the eternal "life lessons" that I learned from depression era parents, and communicate those lessons to my Nintendo & Harry Potter generation kids. This book gives the answer -- it's in time and activities shared together. My own father, a WWII B-17 navigator and POW, like Brax Dodson, had experiences that I simply can't fathom, that shaped his attitude and outlook on life. I could FEEL this book -- I grew up with my own "Opti". We golfed together, and he taught me about life. Unfortunately, like James Dodson, I was often too stubborn, too headstrong, or just too stupid to listen. Sometimes the wisdom of the prior generation is not so timeless. Sometimes the ways of our elders just don't fit the newer times. And sometimes they do, and us younger folks aren't smart enough to see it. Dodson does a solid job of recognizing all of that, in a style that is self-effacing and self-deprecating enough to show that he honestly appreciates the wisdom of the ages. As I read, I kept yelling at the book "you ass, shut up and listen to the old man!" And then I would recall one of the many times when *I* should have shut up and listened to the wise words of my father, in a similar situation. I *SO* wanted my dad to love this book, but he didn't particularly care one way or another. I still want my kids to read and love this book, though I've yet to inspire them to set Harry Potter down long enough to pick this up. I suspect that while Final Rounds tells me a great parallel story for my life, that it won't necessarily do so for my kids. But I will continue with finding some one place, maybe not a golf course, where we can always have a heart-to-heart. For Lance Armstrong, "It's Not About The Bike"; for James Dodson, it's not really about the golf.
Rating:
Summary: This father-son journey is all about men everywhere.
Review: Dodson has written a tale of a British golf trip with his dying father. Many mysteries are revealed to him and his life enriched, even as he sees his father slipping away from him. The golf writing is superb and the insight into human relationships even better. Let's hope for more like this from this writer
Rating:
Summary: More about life and lessons one learns, with golf as a venue
Review: Funny, sad, insightful, and above all, well-written. This is as close as a book gets for men, while still qualifying for the "Oprah List." Golf is a metaphor in the hands of the author, who takes us on a final journey between father and son. It is about the lessons one learns in that relationship; golf is simply the vessel for its exploration. Read it if you play golf; read it if you don't. It will touch you nevertheless, and remind you of your past, and make you wonder about your future.
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