The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
This book is about the nine American crew gold medalists at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and their journey getting there.
I loved this book. I loved how the author took Joe Rantz and his rowing mate’s story and made it bigger than them. This book made me feel like I was there alongside Joe and the rest of the Washington crew team; angry at Joe’s father for abandoning him, frustrated as Coach Al Ulbrickson tested different combinations of boys for the Olympics in Germany, and excited to tears when Joe finally found himself in the right boat.
“In an age when Americans enjoy dozens of cable sports channels, when professional athletes often command annual salaries in the tens of millions of dollars, and when the entire nation all but shuts down for a virtual national holiday on Super Bowl Sunday, it’s hard to fully appreciate how important the rising prominence of the University of Washington’s crew was to the people of Seattle in 1935.”
It’s been a while since I’ve believed in something bigger than myself, held onto it and hoped for it in the same way Seattleites rooted for the boys in the Washington boat. I can only compare it to rooting for the Yankees at a young age or cheering on my sister as she pitched her softball team to a state championship. This book captures the spirit of what it’s like to be on a team, the camaraderie, drive, hustle, heart, and even the nerves that come before a competition. It reminded me of playing sports in high school, when I was privileged enough to dedicate all my time and energy to the only thing that really mattered to me; winning the next basketball game. It was a time when the world was much smaller to me and unlike the rowers in the book my only responsibility was to be a kid.
The following quote came at the end of the book and it’s what has stuck with me the most:
“In the last desperate few hundred meters of the race, in the searing pain and bewildering noise of that final furious sprint, there had come a singular moment when Joe realized with startling clarity that there was nothing more he could do to win the race, beyond what he was already doing. Except for one thing. He could finally abandon all doubt, trust absolutely without reservation that he and the boy in front of him and the boys behind him would all do precisely what they needed to do at precisely the instant they needed to do it. He had known in that instant that there could be no hesitation, no shred of indecision. He had no choice but to throw himself into each stroke as if he were throwing himself off of a cliff into a void, with unquestioned faith that the others would be there to save him from catching the whole weight of the shell on his blade. And he had done it. Over and over, forty-four times per minute, he had hurled himself blindly into his future, not just believing but knowing that the other boys would be there for him, all of them, moment by precious moment.”
It might be far fetched but when I read it, I thought of marriage; the union of two people choosing to spend the rest of their lives together. Standing before each other in spite of doubt with definite clarity in their decision of commitment. It took some time for Joe to be able to trust in his relationship with his teammates. With every practice, conversation, and encounter he and his teammates were creating a bond that would last their whole lives.
My world is a lot bigger than it used to be, I have actual responsibilities and playing basketball isn’t the only thing I care about. I spend my time being an active participant in this game called life and my teammate’s name is Matt. We have goals and dreams, an idea of the sort of life we want to have someday. It’s not as exciting as playing sports, sometimes it’s difficult and there aren’t any days off. We’re both working hard to get where we want to be and each day like the boys in the boat we’re learning to trust absolutely without reservation that the other will be there for support. We have other teammates too of course, siblings, parents, friends and coworkers. But at the end of the day, Matt and I are in a boat together. Whether that’s terrifying or exciting or sometimes both, it is what it is.
As our relationship continues to grow and we find ourselves trying to stay afloat in the waters we journey to, I choose to believe in us and the fact that we’ve found the right boat, just as Joe did.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Matt.
If everything you’ve read up to this point wasn’t indication enough, my boyfriend of 2+ years, Matt, is the person I’ve chosen to give the book to. Not only because he’s my Valentine, but for the reasons I write below.
This story is also largely about the struggle Americans faced during the Great Depression, the events that took place in Hitler’s Germany leading up to the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin and ultimately the desecration and murder of millions in the Holocaust and World War II that followed. I’ve learned about this decade from books, history documentaries and economic classes. I can recall various facts about the financial downfall, pivotal battles and main events, stories of Jewish people perishing at concentration camps and who the leaders of the world were at the time. But, specifically concerning the Great Depression, I had only ever imagined what it was like for those who lived in New York City, I hadn’t ever considered what it was like for the American people living elsewhere. The unbelievable despair that had to be braved and eventually overcome is unfathomable to me.
“The wood, Pocock murmured, taught us about survival, about overcoming difficulty, about prevailing over adversity, but it also taught us something about the underlying reason for surviving in the first place. Something about infinite beauty, about undying grace, about things larger and greater than ourselves. About the reasons we were all here.”
For some background, Matt is in the process of completing his PhD in Biophysics and at the time I began reading this book his research took a turn in an unplanned and disappointing direction. Those who aren’t familiar with what it’s like to work towards obtaining a PhD and the hours of devotion that is required to complete one, may not see how the quotes could relate to the trek Matt is currently on, but I do.
I think of Matt when I read the following quotes and they are why he is the next recipient of the book.
“Great oarsmen and oarswomen are necessarily made of conflicting stuff – of oil and water, fire and earth. On the one hand, they must possess enormous self-confidence, strong egos, and titanic willpower. They must be almost immune to frustration. Nobody who does not believe deeply in himself or herself – in his or her ability endure hardship and to prevail over adversity – is likely even to attempt something as audacious as competitive rowing at the highest levels. The sport offers so many opportunities for suffering and so few opportunities for glory that only the most tenaciously self-reliant and self-motivated are likely to succeed at it.”
“The ability to yield, to bend, to give way, to accommodate, he said, was sometimes a source of strength in men as well as in wood, so long as it was hemmed by inner resolve and by principle.”
“Speed is both the rower’s ultimate goal and also his greatest foe. Beautiful and effective rowing often means painful rowing.”
The men in this book lived in an era when failure and giving up was not an option for them, they had to persist. It is within our power every day to keep moving forward and toward our goals no matter how long it takes.
I think Matt will enjoy this book, not only for his appreciation of competition and sports, but for his love of history. I’ve instructed him that the next person he gives the book to has to be his dad. One of the first things Matt told me about his dad was that he had a great vocabulary and that he is continually amazed by the words his dad knows. This book had some vocabulary I was unfamiliar with and it made me think of him when I was reading it.
Some words I had to look up:
Pall – a cloth spread over a coffin, hearse or tomb
Harbinger – a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another
Lexicon – the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge
Gossamer – a fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders, seen especially in autumn
Bereft – deprived of or lacking something, specifically a non material asset
Leviathan – a thing that is very large or powerful; a very large aquatic creature