Crossroads discussion

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Part sports history, part biography, this is a well told history of the 9 men on the rowing team who won the gold in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Interwoven with the development of this team and the art of rowing we follow the life of Joe Rantz in particular, who was cast aside by his stepmother and family to fend for himself. We also read bits about Germany in the 1930s and what was done to prepare to fool the world during this particular Olympics. I was impressed by all that is involved with rowing; these athletes tend to be excellent students as a lot of intelligence as well as what seemed to me brutal training (some who gave up on rowing because it was so tough turned to football), but then I'm not one to brave the elements just to do a sport.

Daniel Brown not only writes well and does excellent research, he actually lived on the neighbouring property to Joe Rantz and held inteviews with him and his family; he also interviewed other children of rowers, etc, but it helps a great deal. I can't say I loved this enough to give it five stars, but then it's about sports and I am not much of a sports person, nor have I watched much rowing. In fact, the first time I paid any heed to the fact that it was a sport was when a childhood friend of mine, six foot seven, switched from basketball to rowing when he went to law school, and yet at the time Joe Rantz and his fellow oarsmen and coxswain competed, it was the second most popular summer Olympic sport.

Everyone seems to love this, but the subject matter just doesn't resonate with me.

Booknblues wrote: "Everyone seems to love this, but the subject matter just doesn't resonate with me."

I know - same here.

Denizen wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "Everyone seems to love this, but the subject matter just doesn't resonate with me."

I know - same here."

I think I will give it go.

To be honest, I only read it for a reading challenge that also worked with a reading game I'm doing. The subject matter did NOT resonate with me. I fully expected that at the most it might be a three star book for me.

I am NOT a sports buff by any stretch of the definition, although I did root for my kids when they were on the swim team. Now that was one of the ironies of parenthood. When I took swimming lessons I learned in the shores of the Pacific, in the warm water of Georgia Strait, north of where this book is mainly set. When we moved to the city for 2 years (San Francisco from a little village in BC) I HATED swimming laps the short way across the pool and all three of my kids spent at least 2 years each on a swim team. Two of them loved it, the other liked it okay, but then gave it up for judo.