Customer Reviews

Final Rounds: A Father, A Son, The Golf Journey Of A Lifetime

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

I am scottish and learnt the game of golf from my father when I was 8. My father and I played courses all over scotland as well as in the united states. The game taught me much about myself, but also much about my father. Though nothing like "Opti", my father had his own valauble pieces of advice that he passed to me. I moved to Japan at 22 and two years later found out my father had a year to live. I was stunned and returned immediately to be with him. In fact he only lived 2 months, but in that time he and I played two more games of golf, only a stones throw from the course mentioned in this book, Gullane.
Now only 4 years on I found this book and on every page it strikes a chord with me. I remember my father and thank him for teaching me this wonderful game. As a scot, I of course have an unrelenting love for the game and reading this book and seeing courses in there that we played together is truly moving.
Not often does a book compell me to write a review, this book however makes me feel like a simple review will never do justice to how much I enjoyed this book.

James Dodson understands how golf can bring two people together.
The emotions involved here with the game are very real and very powerful. For two family members, in this case, a father and son playing golf to get in touch with each other, speaks volume about the game itself. The father has only a short time to live, and decides to spend time with his son while playing golf. Very touching. This is what this game can do to people. In his book, James brings the two together with brilliancy. Golfers who love the game so much will understand. For those who do not play it or who do not understand the traditions associated with the game will have a hard time come to terms with what it means to be on a golf course.
The author brings together history, emotions and life experiences which become priceless as you reach the final chapter of this wonderful book.
Good show and great swing Mr. Dodson !!

i am a passionate scratch golfer and just lost my father....reading this book brought back so many strong memories about the game and the passion my dad and i share for the game, as well as the bond we had and still have. The author delivers great passion in his writing, the course of Scotland are heavenly, and having played st andrews, i know how special it must have been to have that final stroll with his father, wow, that was moving. I suggest this book to anyone that wants to feel good about themselves, their family relationships and to experience the internal love of golf.

This is, without exception one of the finest books I have ever read. Mr. Dodson and his father share an exceptional tie that every father and son should strive for. I continue to watch my relationship with my own father grow, and now know that I will have something to pass on to my children as well. Congratulations, Mr. Dodson on a wonderful literary work. I would reccomend this to anyone who has ever been a father or a son.

James Dodson has thrown his golf bag over his shoulder and written a magnificent love story. This is not about golf, but all about a passion for life taught to the author by a hero of a father. I completely enjoyed reading this book and feeling so many of the same emotions so eloquently described. It is a book for everyone in the family.

ISBN 0553375644 - I started reading this book hoping for the touching story of the father and son and was vaguely disappointed. Not to say the story isn't there, because it is in it's own way, but the golf far overshadows Dodson and his father, making this a far better book for golf fans than non-fans.

James Dodson and his father finally get around to planning that dream trip: all the best courses in great company. Just before they are to leave, his father calls with bad news - the trip will have to be postponed because the cancer of years ago is back. With a small laugh, the man Dodson calls "Opti the Mystic" tells him the prognosis: he has a month, maybe two, to live. Dodson realizes that this means that the trip may never happen, but another call comes soon after and the trip is on. There are conditions and one of them is that when his father says it's time to go home, it's time to go home, no argument. Opti has "things to do", clearly the tying up of loose ends in his life.

The men set out on the golf trip of a lifetime and, honestly, will bore the non-golf-fan cross-eyed with the details of games and players. If you've gotten that far, barrel through - the point of the book isn't the game, or the courses, it's the relationship between father and son. Golf is just the medium in which they relate to one another. Knowing, all along, that Opti is going to die doesn't detract from the sorrow when the time comes and, oddly, his death doesn't detract from the happier side of the story. Opti the Mystic, with an eye always for the silver lining, gives his son some incredible gifts and Dodson does his best to share them with the reader.

I'm not a fan of golf and found myself just skimming very big sections of the book. The stories OFF the course were far more interesting and I wish they'd been given more ink, but Final Rounds is still a very good book.

- AnnaLovesBooks

I picked up this book at a used book sale on a lark. I love Scotland and thought a book on a father and son golf trip to the old courses would be fun. What I didn't expect was such a great book about the relationship between a very optimistic father and his earnest son. Just before the trip the father discovers he has cancer and not long to live. They go on the trip anyway and we get to know two interesting people and how life's lessons can come in many places including on a golf course. I lost my father a few months before I read this book. I took my time reading it, not wanting it to end. It helped ease the pain of my loss and to direct my energies and lessons I have to offer to my sons.

The most peaceful part of my day is at lunch time when I escape from the cruel harsh bureaucratic world. Mr. Dodson's story not only sent me on a fairy tale journey that most golfers (and sons) only dream about but reacquainted me with feelings that I had conveniently suppressed for many years. Unlike so many sons, I was not particularly close to my father. His untimely passing never allowed me the opportunity of "knowing the man". Somehow, Mr. Dodson provided a prospective that I didn't know was possible. Final Rounds is the most well written novel that I've ever read. The detail and eloquent writing style that Mr. Dodson demonstrates makes Final Rounds a true classic. Warning: Do not read the last few pages without a box of tissues at your side. Thank you Mr. Dodson for you "helped me see that a man is never finished being a son".