a new year begins
As an English teacher, I’ve always been of the opinion that books are far superior to the movies made from them.
There’re notable exceptions, of course.
Not long after Scribner’s released Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea in 1952, a film version starring the legendary Spencer Tracy as Santiago appeared and told the story so closely and powerfully that for years I’ve used it as a supplement after my students have finished their reading.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird became a best seller in 1960.
When the movie (with Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch) premiered a couple of years later, I found it as thought-provoking and moving as the original.
In 1982, W.P. Kinsella published a book entitled Shoeless Joe.
Somewhere along the way, I read and enjoyed it, but when its film counterpart Field of Dreams hit the big screen in 1989, the story, albeit slightly different, came vividly to life.
The protagonist Ray Kinsella, an Iowa corn farmer, lifelong baseball nut, and unabashed admirer of the disgraced Shoeless Joe Jackson of the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox,” hears a mystical voice from amidst the stalks entreating him to “Ease his pain” and imploring, “If you build it, he will come.”
Though bewildered and against all good judgment, Ray, ever quixotic, follows the instructions and plows up much of his crop to construct a field.
Many subplots ensue.
Interpreted on one level, Field of Dreams is a baseball story.
On another, it’s a fantasy.
The more I’ve watched it, studied it, and absorbed it, though, the more I’ve realized that the themes of faith, trust, passion, unwavering commitment to a cause, and the value of strong family relationships are what make the narrative so compelling.
Several years ago, my wife Emily and I took a detour on a trip to the NCAA Division III track and field championships to visit the site on the outskirts of rural Dyersville in eastern Iowa where much of Field of Dreams was filmed.
Understated and peaceful, the setting, now a tourist attraction, appears exactly as it does in the movie.
Stand there, lose yourself in the moment, and you can almost see the old-time players enjoying their pickup games as Ray (played by Kevin Costner) and his family watch with a mixture of joy and incredulity.
Close your eyes, and you can feel the emotion when Ray realizes that one of the players is his late, estranged father and asks him to “have a catch.”
On this cool afternoon, Emily and I walked through the lush outfield grass. We sat together in the wooden bleachers where one of the movie’s climactic scenes occurred.
As the gentle breeze swept across the diamond and the sun dipped into the western sky, we talked quietly of family, friends back home, hopes, and, yes, dreams.
Finally, it was time to go.
It had already been a very long day.
We’d traveled halfway across the country since we boarded our flight in Richmond early that morning, and we had a 90-minute drive over unfamiliar roads still ahead of us.
Since our trip to the Midwest, I’ve thought often of our visit to that simple movie set which many consider a magical place.
Though it came in the late spring when the air was fresh and the corn stalks barely peeking through the soil, that brief interlude in our adventure still holds special significance as the summer of 2009 comes to an end.
Just as the fictional Santiago and Atticus Finch speak volumes, likewise Ray Kinsella provides much food for thought.
Step outside your comfort zone. Travel the uncharted road. Be comfortable in your own skin. Follow each task through to the end. Bring unabashed enthusiasm to every endeavor. Challenge your limits. Follow your dreams.
Great advice as we begin another school year.
