The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown #
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (half e-book, half print). It’s rare for a book to move you to tears, and I did not suspect that this one did, but so it goes. Received as a gift from my mom—“this one’s perfect for you!”—I rolled my eyes when I learned that it was because it was about a University of Washington (where I teach) rowing crew. But the story is so compelling, not least because the crew goes on to win the 1936 Olympics, as Hitler was consolidating his power (and masking his intentions), but because of their origins. It’s a story of a rag-tag group of young boys who learn to work together and give everything they have to a larger purpose. It sounds incredibly cliché, but the reader cannot help but be moved by the story. I’ve never rowed once in my life (an erg machine notwithstanding), but still read with baited breath the description of the races in the book. The “main character” if such there be (Joe Rantz) goes through a life of abandonment and resultant self-reliance, only to finally understand and accept the power of giving everything in a team. The epigraphs were always quotes from George Pocock, master boatbuilder from England who eventually received orders even from Oxford for his Seattle-made boats, which used rowing to belie larger messages. On format: it was enjoyable to start this book as an e-book on my phone while traveling in Europe, but more pleasant still to finish it in print on a candlelit Saturday evening. (I write this now having just finished it.) Grade: A