Review: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

And he came to understand how those almost mystical bonds of trust and affection, if nurtured correctly, might lift a crew above the ordinary sphere, transport it to a place where nine boys somehow became one thing—a thing that could not quite be defined, a thing that was so in tune with the water and the earth and the sky above that, as they rowed, effort was replaced by ecstasy.

Bought this because I was going through a boat phase, but I don't think it's a phase anymore.

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I bought it at a used bookstore in Spain because it was one of the only books they had in English, I've been trying to read more nonfiction, and I'm a sucker for sports documentaries (and yes, because it had "boat" in the title). But I was not prepared for how all-consuming I'd find the story within.

On the surface, The Boys in the Boat follows the University of Washington crew team and their historic 1936 run, culminating in the Berlin Olympics. Beneath that surface however, Daniel James Brown extracts the hearts and souls of the blue collar men of the era and paints a masterwork of Seattle, the 1930s, and, you guessed it, "the boat."

Each chapter begins with an epigraph by George Pocock, the legendary racing shell designer of nearly every competitive crew team of the era. While he didn't technically serve as a coach for the Washington crew, his knowledge about the craft and knack for observation, both personal and technical, was a driving force in the success of the team and the impact of the text. Without Pocock's reverence for rowing, for the boat, for the camber of the vessel, for the slickness of the wood, we'd have a story, but hardly a reason to care for it. Without Pocock, we probably wouldn't have gotten to know Joe Rantz.

While I find Pocock to be the heart of this chronicle, I think conventionally, most would consider it to be Joe Rantz. He's the "main character", so to speak, and narratively it makes sense to follow his journey from Hooverville to Olympic Arena. His story is incredibly inspiring, and I found myself especially affected by his relationship with Joyce, his wife.

As Joe slept, Joyce sat in the bow, studying the face of the young man to whom she had committed herself. He had grown even more handsome since high school, and at moments like this, when he was fully at ease, his face and his sculpted body were so full of composure and grace that they reminded Joyce of the ancient marble statues of Greek athletes that she had recently studied in her art history class. Looking at him like this, she thought, it was hard to believe that he had ever known a troubled moment.

Their commitment to each other throughout unfathomable hardships and periods of forced separation was beautiful and I could not stop staring at the photos of them together.

I also have to briefly shout out the coxswain, Bobby Moch, because I feel his impact on the story was also not emphasized quite as much as it could have been. A true genius, and I wish we got a little more of his backstory (though I know the practical reason why Joe is centered is that he was alive at the time of writing).

There's so much more this book has to offer than what I've described—a nuanced look at the politics of the time (in both the US and Germany), sweet anecdotes about boyhood and camaraderie, and a surprising amount of drama (her twin sister married her father-in-law???).

So all in all, this book really had an impact on me. As I was reading, I realized there was a maritime museum in Bilbao, so obviously I paid a visit (for 4 hours). I'm not done with my boat journey yet though, I can feel it.

I shook Joe's hand again and told him I would like to come back and talk to him some more, and that I'd like to write a book about his rowing days. Joe grasped my hand again and said he'd like that, but then his voice broke once more and he admonished me gently, 'But not just about me. It has to be about the boat.'

P.S. The movie is so bad in comparison. Distills the story down into the contrived championship saga you'd expect. Don't even get me started on how they portrayed Joyce.