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I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this one, especially since I know almost* nothing about rowing or crew. I don't always enjoy watching sports, but I do tend to get caught up in the emotions of sports writing even if I don't seek it out. Boys in the Boat didn't grip me at first, but Joe Rantz's childhood did--it reminded me of my favorite parts of Unbroken--and soon enough the exciting visuals of boats skimming through my mind became as vivid as a movie. (This needs to be a movie, by the way.
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Apr 21, 2016
Rachel N.
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
read-in-2016,
rowing,
pbt-nonfiction-100,
nonfiction,
washington,
seattle,
olympics,
hitler
The story of the 1936 US mens olympic rowing team especially that of Joe Rantz, a member of the team. I know next to nothing about rowing, I've seen it a few times during the Olympics, but I found this book fascinating. I never realized how grueling of a sport rowing is until reading this. I was totally captivated by every race described in the book. Brown does a great job of creating suspense for races that happened around 80 years ago. I also now have a great appreciation for the art of creati
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This is a great nonfiction book in the style and time period of Seabiscuit: An American Legend. This book picks an underdog of a rowing team, the Washington Huskies, and an underdog team member,Joe Rantz, and pits them against all odds in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Joe Rantz and his family are caught up in the Great Depression in the Pacific Northwest during the early 1930's. His mother died when he was three, which started his abandonment. On his own from the time he was fifteen, Joe managed to m ...more
Joe Rantz and his family are caught up in the Great Depression in the Pacific Northwest during the early 1930's. His mother died when he was three, which started his abandonment. On his own from the time he was fifteen, Joe managed to m ...more
This was my bookclub selection and also my library's selection for the One Read program where they encourage everyone in the community to read the same book. This was a great choice for both of those forums. A thoroughly researched and enjoyable book that my mother, my aunt, my husband and I all enjoyed. Even though you know the outcome from the beginning, the book is surprisingly suspenseful. And even though I've never seen a live crew race and knew little about the sport before picking up this
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edward herrmann narrates this story - and he's divine, of course! but the story itself didn't do much for me; i found my attention wandering all over the place, appreciating herrmann's voice in my ear while simultaneously having no idea about what was going on at any given point in my listening. is this a reflection of the book, or just another side-effect of COVID chaos, and the challenges of focus and concentration amidst [flails arms about] all THIS. i'm approximately 1/2 through, but DNF'ing
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Jul 24, 2014
Kathleen (itpdx)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
lwv-book-group
Tremendous. Narrative nonfiction. Even though you know the outcome, Brown makes the how and why compelling and interesting! We are so lucky that talented writers are finding/seeking out these fascinating people and researching and writing up the stories in such an accessible way.
This is particularly fun for those of us who know Seattle.
This is particularly fun for those of us who know Seattle.
Jan 26, 2014
Celeste
marked it as to-read
Aug 03, 2014
Katy
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Aug 15, 2015
Lindsay
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Jan 11, 2016
Ashlee
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Apr 27, 2016
Kirstie
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Mar 26, 2017
Ali
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Sep 07, 2017
Cindy AL
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Oct 31, 2017
Alan
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Apr 19, 2023
Jen
marked it as to-read
