Boys In The Boat: Epic Quest

Oh, my. How do I describe this book–and the extraordinary value of reading it together with your team? If I write a dull, been-there-read-that review, you might surmise the book is equally dull. It’s not!

What if…I bet the farm and predicted that “The Boys in the Boat” will be my 2014 book-of-the-year pick? (Would that get your attention?)

What if…I said this true story of “Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” included my pick for the most exquisite description–I’ve ever read–of what a high performance team looks like?

What if…I told you that Bill Butterworth, the author of On the Fly Guide to…Building Successful Teams, wrote me recently after I had reviewed Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption? He noted, “Unbroken is the best book I’ve read in the last couple of years! Wanna know what comes in at Number Two? It’s called The Boys in the Boat. I couldn’t put it down. Everybody I’ve recommended it to hates my guts because they can’t put it down once they start it.”

Author Daniel James Brown writes narrative nonfiction books and his primary interest as a writer is “in bringing compelling historical events to life as vividly and accurately” as he can. Trust me, he can!

Back before American football owned it all, sports fans in the 1930s (a tough time) embraced university rowing teams with remarkable fanaticism. In Seattle, the lakeshore crowds at the eight-oar crew races between the University of Washington and the University of California at Berkeley rivaled the “12th man” stupor over the NFL Super Bowl champs, the Seattle Seahawks.

What if…I were still leading a team? Here’s how I would leverage the power of this book:
–Buy one book (or Kindle version) for each team member–and provide a “read and reflect” learning tool.
–Plan a team-building retreat in the next 30 to 90 days.
–At the retreat, invest time every morning and evening–listening, listening, and more listening as our team talked about “Elements of Teamwork,” as described in The Boys in the Boat.
–Enjoy every afternoon in an experiential team-building activity: Rowing (if possible), ropes courses, zip lines, climbing walls, confidence courses, etc.

Really–the insights, the drama, the real life stuff-in-the-trenches, is so, so insightful. Some, like Butterworth, will read the book non-stop. Others might enjoy slowly savoring each chapter–including the PowerPoint-worthy insights from George Yeoman Pocock, the master craftsman and leading designer and builder of racing shells in the 20th Century.

“To be of championship caliber, a crew must have total confidence in each other, able to drive with abandon, confident that no man will get the full weight of the pull…”

“Pocock-built shells began to win U.S. Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships in 1923.” According to Wikipedia, “he achieved international recognition by providing the eight-oared racing shells which won gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics and again in 1948 and 1952. In this era, nearly every collegiate and sport rowing program in America used wooden shells and oars built by Pocock.”

Trust me–the reverential side trips down historical alleys are stunning. Brown excels in fluid detail. The writing: elegant. The insights: elevating.

Here’s a keeper from pages 234-235. Listen to the wisdom as Master Boatbuilder Pocock coaches Joe, a young rower with promise and dreams–but a nasty childhood:

“He suggested that Joe think of a well-rowed race as a symphony, and himself just one player in the orchestra. If one fellow in an orchestra was playing out of tune, or playing at a different tempo, the whole piece would naturally be ruined.

“That’s the way it was with rowing. What mattered more than how hard a man rowed was how well everything he did in the boat harmonized with what the other fellows were doing. And a man couldn’t harmonize with his crewmates unless he opened his heart to them. He had to care about his crew. It wasn’t just the rowing but his crewmates that he had to give himself up to, even if it meant getting his feelings hurt.

“Pocock paused and looked up at Joe. `If you don’t like some fellow in the boat, Joe, you have to learn to like him. It has to matter to you whether he wins the race, not just whether you do.'”

Then this clincher:

“He told Joe to be careful not to miss his chance. He reminded him that he’d already learned to row past pain, past exhaustion, past the voice that told him it couldn’t be done. That meant he had an opportunity to do things most men would never have a chance to do. And he concluded with a remark that Joe would never forget.

“‘Joe, when you really start trusting those other boys, you will feel a power at work within you that is far beyond anything you’ve ever imagined. Sometimes, you will feel as if you have rowed right off the planet and are rowing among the stars.'”

Unlike most other sports, says the author, “One of the fundamental challenges in rowing is that when any one member of a crew goes into a slump the entire crew goes with him.” How do individual slumps affect morale on your team–or in your family?

One of the University of Washington coxswains would often shout to the eight oarsmen, “MIB! MIB! MIB!” Brown writes, “The initialism stood for `mind in boat.’ It was meant as a reminder that from the time an oarsman steps into a racing shell until the moment that the boat crosses the finish line, he must keep his mind focused on what is happening inside the boat.” What acronym could your team use to keep everyone focused?

I had watched the movie and found it very moving, then I read the book … I wish I had read the book first. The book was so good that I couldn’t put it down. I read the chapter about the Olympic gold medal win several times, with tears in my eyes … those boys were magnificent and the author captured them so well!

“The Boys in the Boat” has been described as breathtaking, riveting, compelling, captivating, and “the best of the Olympic sagas.” There are so many positive adjectives being applied to Daniel James Brown’s masterpiece that reviewing the book becomes an exercise in trying to find the right words to sing its praises. They’ve all been used.

Brown is a writer of non-fiction and his two books before Boys were moderately successful, winning some favorable reviews and several awards. Boys, on the other hand, has hit the reading world with a passion, selling in the millions and garnering reviews in the thousands, and prompting an upcoming Hollywood version, There’s good reason for its success. It’s not often that a writer can find the formula that wins readers’ hearts by using a little known subject with limited appeal such as rowing. What has Brown done?

First, he has recounted the story of likeable men of courage, fortitude, and strong physical attributes. The boys in his boat are just like boys we have all known; appealing in appearance, morally straight with just a touch of rascality, ever loyal to their comrades, and unwilling to give in to hard times. The people surrounding them, family, friends, and schoolmates, have intriguing qualities that add importance to the tale. He has plaited their personal stories with those of an entrancing time featuring national hardship, a glowering threat from a madman, local pride, and international attention directed at a sport that demands indescribable physical skill and dedication. This combination, aided and abetted by the author’s immensely skilled writing ability, has produced a book that will inspire even the most callous reader into heart-pounding feelings of pride and, dare I say it, love for the young men who overcame immense obstacles to become heroes.

Brown not only captures the essence of dedicated people, he sets the scenes beautifully; the somber and gray wetness of Seattle, the endless yet peaceful toil of farming in the Pacific Northwest, the boisterous wildness of a boom town, the glamour of New York City, and the dignified face adopted in duplicitous Berlin. The reader will experience the very real feeling of being actively present in every environment the author describes. Rain, wind, coldness, or searing heat will physically assault the reader even as he or she sprawls in a chair with the book.

I love researched factual material. Brown has obtained his with determined digging. The original manuscript contained over one thousand endnotes that can be viewed at his website. At the conclusion of his book he has included condensed versions of these notes. By all means, read them. They are insightful and clearly illustrate the author’s industriousness. They are, in themselves, very interesting reading.

I found all the elements of classical non-fiction history here; an intriguing back story, interesting and likeable subjects, a quest of immense proportions, and an immense struggle to attain glorious heights. Writing skill, augmented with immense research, brings it all together into an irresistible book that I heartily recommend.

Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES

this nonfiction story is told as it should be … although known it gave me a deeper impression about the time and the history of those young men and there environment … I could sympathize and understand … so take your time to read about this … and „forget about“ 😉 the fictitious movie and the online clip bait …