Closer (Review)
Closer (Review)
f there is a story classification that I seldom if ever read, and that includes chick-lit, religious-inspirational and foodie books, it’s sports. I really don’t get into them (possibly because I never was very good at nor very interested in sports). But I have to say that Closer, out of Jurassic’s The End collection, was really, really good.
The story starts by informing us that it’s great weather for Baseball, the sun out, the sky clear. And as the bus of baseball players rolls towards the Midwest we begin to discover that something is wrong. Chicago is in ruins. Small towns are burning, things larger than vultures circling them. And our bus, it’s not a team, it’s a collection of various baseball players from minor leagues, church leagues, who knows what. They represent the Cubs. They have met up on a midwestern field with the representatives of the Royals. And as the horizon closes and darkness literally presses closer from all sides, they are going to play the final World Series.
It’s very macabre for a sports story. Players come to bat and make moves in the field, their low stats parenned like usual baseball reporting. And as they play, this end of the world becomes more obvious. Apparently, all those on the field and watching this last game are the last to be chosen (or “drafted”, as it’s described). Players suddenly are surrounded by a heavenly glow or they sink into the ground, clawing and screaming. One player steals a base and this is technically enough to have him dragged under (the base is pressed back up and the chalk lines restored). And play they do, running the game up to the conclusion, the stands growing empty as the darkness presses over the spectators, the players looking over their shoulders and the vanished fence. It’s the end of the world, and finally, God literarily willing, the Cubs might win the World Series.
And do they?
Sorry, it’s a review, not a spoiler.