Evening Book
Club May 2016
The Boys in the Boat
Daniel Brown
Readers
were impressed with the scope of history covered in this book about the University
of Washington rowing crew and their Gold medal win at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The stories of nine young men, their families and friends and in particular Joe
Rantz and the sweet love story between him and his girlfriend/wife Joyce were
the heart of The Boys in the Boat. The dust bowl, the great Depression, the
construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, Hitler’s march toward war in Europe, and
the Holocaust sparked discussion and comparison with contemporary times.
Readers agreed that the 1930’s were indeed hard times and talked about memories
of family who had personal experience during those years.
A reader shared a photograph of her
grandmother and her college women’s rowing crew. She also talked about a Silver
Lake rowing competition on Silver Lake in 1878. Readers’ appreciation of the
sport of rowing was enhanced by the details of boat building, coaching and
competition leading up to 1936 in Berlin. The spirit of cooperation and camaraderie
among the crew supported them throughout their trials and drove them on to the
peak moment of the “swing” while rowing. They had each other’s backs. One
reader compared it to the cadence in a skating competition when participants
are synchronized and perform as one unit.
Once
again readers recommended books that reminded them in some way of the heroism
in this month’s selection. In the Heart of the Sea; the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick, Mountains beyond Mountains; the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder, The Worst Hard Time; the Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, by Timothy Egan, The Sudden Sea; the Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti, Dark Tide; the Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo, Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova and The Indifferent Stars Above: the Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown.
Have you read The Boys in the Boat? What did you think? Please share your thoughts in comments.
