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arnsocks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
mmarlborough's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
4.5
This was for our monthly book club! We’ve met regularly since 2016 (and over zoom during the pandemic) and I can categorically say this is the first book everyone LOVED.
Brown tells us the story of the 1936 Olympic medal winning crew team from the University of Washington. They came from blue collar families yet beat many elite, rich teams from around the world. Brown vividly depicts different men of the team, centering mostly around Joe Rantz. We also get to know the coach, all set alongside the backdrop to Hitler’s rise to power in Germany (who the men row for at the Olympics.)
First off, let me be clear that not only am I not a rower, but I do not care about sports. Yet this struck Ted Lasso vibes - I cared about everyone deeply, as individuals and as a team. Gotta love an underdog story! Brown also brilliantly weaves the history and context of German politics without halting the story, only adding to it. This was so fascinating and don’t be surprised if you shed a tear towards the end! I look forward to watching the film adaptation.
Side note: I started off reading this on my ereader, which was accompanied by great pictures throughout. I switched to the audiobook to finish in time for our meeting and loved Edward Herrmann’s narration. Always and forever Richard Gilmore, he added a level of class. So I cannot recommend a specific format because both have their perks! I’m glad I did both.
✨Content Warnings: Antisemitism, Child Abuse, War, Racism, Xenophobia, Death of a Parent, Police Brutality, Pregnancy, Cancer
Brown tells us the story of the 1936 Olympic medal winning crew team from the University of Washington. They came from blue collar families yet beat many elite, rich teams from around the world. Brown vividly depicts different men of the team, centering mostly around Joe Rantz. We also get to know the coach, all set alongside the backdrop to Hitler’s rise to power in Germany (who the men row for at the Olympics.)
First off, let me be clear that not only am I not a rower, but I do not care about sports. Yet this struck Ted Lasso vibes - I cared about everyone deeply, as individuals and as a team. Gotta love an underdog story! Brown also brilliantly weaves the history and context of German politics without halting the story, only adding to it. This was so fascinating and don’t be surprised if you shed a tear towards the end! I look forward to watching the film adaptation.
Side note: I started off reading this on my ereader, which was accompanied by great pictures throughout. I switched to the audiobook to finish in time for our meeting and loved Edward Herrmann’s narration. Always and forever Richard Gilmore, he added a level of class. So I cannot recommend a specific format because both have their perks! I’m glad I did both.
✨Content Warnings: Antisemitism, Child Abuse, War, Racism, Xenophobia, Death of a Parent, Police Brutality, Pregnancy, Cancer
cleothebengal's review
4.0
Really nice historical piece. Probably closer to a 4.5. A tad long-winded at times but not terribly so. Does a nice job of exploring the concept of individual vs team.
jenmangler's review
3.0
I really did enjoy reading this book, but I find the title incredibly misleading. It really isn't about all the boys in the boat. Not really. We get a lot of info about Joe Rantz, which I totally loved, by the way, but little to no information about any of the other "boys in the boat." By the end of the book I felt like I knew Joe's story pretty well and make no mistake about it, it's a fabulous story. I kinda knew Bobby Moch - again, a fascinating individual. I barely got a sense of Roger, Don, Stub, Shorty, Gordy, Johnny, & Chuck. Brown talked about the almost mystical connection the boys had, but I never got a sense of them as individual people like I did with Joe and, to a lesser extent, Bobby. I wish I'd gotten to know the rest of the boys as well as I did them. Another reason the title felt misleading was that, while the Olympics stuff was good, it didn't feel like the heart of the book. It was a great ending, to be sure, but it seemed more like icing on the cake rather than the cake itself.
Even though he wasn't technically one of the "boys in the boat," I'm really glad Brown spent so much time on George Pocock. He's like the Yoda of the book, and I absolutely adored him. What a fascinating guy!
Even though he wasn't technically one of the "boys in the boat," I'm really glad Brown spent so much time on George Pocock. He's like the Yoda of the book, and I absolutely adored him. What a fascinating guy!
book_leigh's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This was a solid 4.5 star read...all the way up to the end. Know what happened then? I cried. And that made it a 5 star read. This book is well-written. Mixed with history, background on all of the major players in this incredible story, and full descriptors. It's not at all slow or boring. I found it incredibly hard to put down!
sparklefarm's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
I enjoyed this way more than I expected to! I rarely read nonfiction these days, and even more rarely read sports nonfiction. The historical background for the story set the scene well, and I appreciated the way Joe's story was told. And most surprising to me, I was absolutely caught up in the Sports of it all. The entire premise is that this crew team goes to the Olympics, and yet at the Olympic trials I could not put the book down; I was so engaged. I recommend!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Classism, and Bullying
ceskew's review
I'm honestly not giving up on this book. I guess you can say I'm a mood reader. It's perfect summer weather to read outside. I want to dive into some mystery thriller books for the summer. I tend to knock out mystery thriller books fast. I'm way behind on where I need to be for the reading challenge. I set for myself here on StoryGraph. I'll get back to this book maybe in the fall.