Book Review: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Summary
The Boys in the Boat is about nine college boys at the University of Washington overcoming great odds to become the world’s champions in rowing. The story tells the hardships each man faced growing up and how teamwork, perseverance, a strong worth ethic, morals, and putting others above yourself enables one to achieve great success. The boys had no background in rowing. They were the underdogs. They defied the odds and beat every well-known team, made it to the olympics. and won. Afterwards they continued to pursue their dreams. Many went on to work at Boeing. They created loving families. They were good, hardworking men to be honored and admired.
Thoughts while reading
I can’t believe Thula! And Joe’s Dad! Wow. To be abandoned at the age of 10 and then 14. That would never fly today.
Did Joe ever confront his Dad?!
Why didn’t Joe say anything to his dad when he met his dad as an adult at his dad’s job?? That was his perfect chance!
Wow, blown away by Joe’s character after all he has been through.
Thula 😡
Prime example of your childhood circumstances not becoming your adult circumstances. You have the ability to change your situation, though you may have to endure some crappy stuff for a while—which sucks.
Quotes
“The staff had, with uncommon compassion, pushed their beds together so they could hold hands, and that’s how Joyce died.” pg. 366 —Total The Notebook vibes. I cried.
Review
I had watched the movie first. The movie was so, so good and that’s where I learned The Boys in the Boat was based off a book. After seeing the movie, I really wanted to read the book. For some reason I did not anticipate the book being non-fiction. It took me a really long time to get into reading. I probably got close to half way before I was finally able to come to terms with it not being in story format. It’s a lot of facts and history in the timeline of how the winning team came to be. It mostly follows Joe Rantz’s life but there are also glimpses into the lives of the other rowers. The author does a really good job at toggling back and forth between the rowers lives and what was going on in the world during Hitler’s reign. Joe’s home life sucked but his love story is really sweet. I was angry for him when I learned how his father treated him as a young child. I wondered if Joe ever confronted him when he was older. It doesn’t seem like he did and I really wanted Joe to yell at him when he had a chance the day he went to his father’s work. My eyes welled when Joyce passed away. I love high school sweetheart love stories. The amount of obstacles the boy’s overcame during the time they were alive is truly amazing. They grew up during the Dust Bowl and lived through World War 2. They had no rowing skills and no one believed they were capable of winning. They proved everyone wrong. This story is an excellent example of overcoming the odds through hard work, perseverance, and believing in yourself and others.
xo L.
