The Boys in the Boat // a book pairing

“It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.”

If you love sports or history or underdogs, read this book. Actually, even if you don’t like any of those things, please read this book. If you don’t read at all, listen to it. Ed Herman’s (Richard Gilmore himself) narration is absolute perfection. Daniel James Brown seamlessly weaves a truly immersive story of the University of Washington’s quest for gold in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. We get a front row seat as nine young men come of age in the aftermath of Great Depression, under the looming shadow of World War II. A story of great hope, perseverance, and grit, The Boys in the Boat reminds us of who we’ve been, who we still are and who we might yet be, not only as individuals but as a country.

Published in 2014, I remember listening to Ed Herman read The Boys in The Boat as I drove the red Jeep Liberty I’d bought with my grandfather through the green hills of Virginia. I was 23, anxious about everything, afraid that if I made one wrong move, I’d miss my whole life.

Fueled by an existential fear of missing out, I’d booked a VRBO, packed a bag and set my GPS for Raleigh, North Carolina for no other reason than I’d heard they had good food. Hank, still a puppy then, snoozed in the passenger seat as I lost myself in the story of the nine ordinary boys who would become the world’s greatest crew.

Great books grow with you, and this is a great book. For example, ten years ago I neither knew nor cared about Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, where Harvard beat Yale in the first intercollegiate sporting event on August 3, 1852. Two years after that solo road trip, I’d meet Jeff and visit Lake Winnipesaukee for the first time. Almost eight years have passed since that first trip. Now when I listen to the same story, Lake Winnipesaukee is real to me. It has shape and texture and life in a way it didn’t then. Hank is grey in the muzzle now, and I’m still paralyzed by fear more often than I’d like, but I can say with confidence to that 23 year old in a red Jeep that she has not missed her life.

The Boys in the Boat

Smells like: rain, sweat, cedar,

Looks like: wooden racing shells, the sun reflected off a still lake

Tastes like: foraged mushrooms, cream of wheat, steak + ice cream

Sounds like: sandpaper smoothing wood boards, oars piercing the water, the roar of cheering spectators.

Feels like: calloused hands, heart pounding, muscles burning, rain on your face.

Pairs well with:

I saw the movie with my grandmother and loved it. It’s hard to compare it to the book because there’s just so much story they couldn’t tell in a two hour movie. I understand that, and yet, so much of what was cut makes the ending all the more meaningful. Knowing who these boys are and how they came together was, to me, essential to the story. Worth watching, for sure, and an excellent movie on it’s own, but as cliche as it sounds the book was so much better.

QUOTES

“The ability to yield, to bend, to give way, to accommodate, he said, was sometimes a source of strength in men as well as in wood, so long as it was helmed by inner resolve and by principle.”

“If you simply kept your eyes open, it seemed, you just might find something valuable in the most unlikely of places. The trick was to recognize a good thing when you saw it, no matter how odd or worthless it might at first appear, no matter who else might just walk away and leave it behind.”

“Harmony, balance, and rhythm. They’re the three things that stay with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack. And that’s why an oarsman, when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life. That’s what he gets from rowing. —George Yeoman Pocock”

“So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them. —George Yeoman Pocock”

Meet me in the comments!

What are you reading?