Rowing Against the Current: On Learning to Scull at Forty

by Barry S. Strauss, Harry Parker (Introduction)

In the midst of the standard, dreary midlife crisis -- complete with wine-tasting courses, yoga classes, and a failed attempt at a first novel -- forty-year-old Barry Strauss falls unexpectedly and passionately in love with rowing, a sport in which a twenty-seven-year-old is a has-been.
Strauss, a professor of classics and history, writes about the unanticipated delights of an affair that, like so many others, begins as a casual dalliance and develops into a full-blown obsession. Drawn to the sport in part because of his affinity for Greek antiquity, he develops a love for old boathouses, a longing for rivers at dawn, a thirst to test himself, and, ultimately, a renewed sense of self-reliance -- as someone who had experienced sports humiliation as far back as Little League suddenly finds himself bursting into athleticism at an unlikely age.
From the awe-inspiring feats of the war-bound Greek triremes with their crews of 172 men rowing on three levels to the solitary pride of finishing a first race in which he gets stuck in the weeds and has to be fished out, Barry Strauss shows us why "there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half as much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Memoir

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 1999

About the author

Barry Strauss, professor of history and classics at Cornell University, is a leading expert on ancient military history. He has written or edited several books, including The Battle of Salamis, The Trojan War, The Spartacus War, Masters of Command, The Death of Caesar, and Ten Caesars.

Reviews

[Books Ring Mah Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pre-read: Well. The first problem with this book on sculling is that there is sweep rowing on the cover. Perhaps he'll explain.

Post-read: The author was taught sweep rowing before he began sculling. Maybe that explains the cover.

Quick easy read on how the author got into sculling. He's certainly very passionate, combining his personal experience with some historical info on rowing. He talks coaches, practices, pain, and closes out the book with an amusing story of his first race.

I miss the river.
Hurry up, Spring.

[Joe Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book .I was interested in rowing when I was in high school but the school had dropped it as a sport because the local rowing club had 🔥 down a few years before. They did restore the program after I graduated 🎓. I still think of trying it even though I'm 58. Strauss gives the reader an idea of what's involved for any dreamers.

[Wendy Jensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book waxed lyrical about a sport I enjoy, and the attendant scenery, it didn't move me as much as his own words moved the author. But I appreciated his absolute love for sculling, and would be pleased to join him on a river some day.

[Mike G. Pacchione · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably 2 1/2 stars, FWIW. This is a short book that felt long. Wish there were more memoir and less technical/historical info. Some of his imagery is beautiful + wonderful insight into the 40-year-old trying to learn a new sport. But Lordy I did not need exposition on Greek history

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author romanticizes rowing in a way that overlaps with how I romanticize rowing, which makes me inclined to overstate the books virtues. Literate and immersed in classics.

[Joe White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an autobiographical sketch used to highlight the author's attachment to rowing and sculling. The attachment to the subject may stem partially from the author's background in Mediterranean civilization where the Greeks elevated rowing to a practical and essential working art form that so permeated their societal organization that it was taken for granted.
The author self deprecates his physical abilities, but could actually be a role model for aspiring amateur athletes beyond normal college age. There is an underlying physical fitness theme. The book does not set out to describe meticulous details of the sport to aspiring new participants, but just presents relevant personal incidents that may apply as a general example of events and lifestyle habits that may be encountered by someone pursuing a similar goal.

For myself there was one relevant quote regarding plowing that made this jump from a 3 star to a 4 star read. The author's style makes this a very fast and enjoyable read, even if it's not on the topic of teaching technique or cataloging the history of competitive sports rowing.

[Bas Kreuger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Musings on rowing, both modern sculling and historical (Greek) trireme rowing. Nice, but a bit rough at the edges. Strauss has his moments, unfortunately a lot of time he strains too far from the clear path and losses his readers I am afraid.
The best part is where he compares rowing and swimming (which he takes up after an injury preventing him from rowing for almost two years). Specially the combination of pain and beauty in rowing as he describes it, is fitting for the sport and the magic it has for lots of people. You hate to go out on a cold, windy and rainy morning, but boy how nice it is when you have completed the outing, survived, even rowed well on choppy water and beaten both nature and yourself.

[Edward Kidder · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover shows sweep rowers though the book is about sculling-- I should have known better. It fit my demographic though-- 40 something guy learns to row and loves it. I was ready to like it. But the writing is scattered and unorganized. The descriptive passages seem rushed and overdone, the nods towards Zen and teaching don't go into depth. Given that sculling is a "surface" sport, can't get to annoyed with lack of true depth...

[Jim Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really identified with this author's feelings and efforts to do something significant at a little older age than the usual. Well written. He leaves a lot of blanks for the reader to fill in his own experiences.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. I can't not like it, because it's a book about rowing, but I found this memoir didn't really say much. Parts of it were quite vague, I would have liked more details about where he was racing, etc.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections. A good read, well written.