Why revisit a book that debuted more than 10 years ago?
When The Boys in the Boat was first published in 2013, author Daniel James Brown received nearly universal critical acclaim for his stirring account of the real-life journey of nine working class young men who, against formidable odds, formed the University of Washington rowing team that went on to win the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics held in Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Finally, their story was brought to the screen in December in a cinematic adaptation of Brown’s book directed by George Clooney. To commemorate the release, a special The Boys in the Boat “Movie Tie-In” edition has been issued by Penguin Books. It includes additional content; a Q&A with author Brown and photographs not part of the original edition.
Telling tales like these present unique challenges to an author. Since the reader knows the outcome before turning to page one (think about accounts of the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage), the stakes are raised on the author’s ability to take us on a literary journey that’s every bit as satisfying as the destination.
Brown expertly accomplishes this in a number of ways, first by telling the deeply hardscrabble, poignant story of the most desperately poor and neglected of the nine — Joe Rantz. In the prologue we encounter Rantz, old and dying of congestive heart failure, recalling his glory days on “the boat.”
Before earning his seat on the Washington crew team, Rantz lead a life marked by tragedy. His mother dies of throat cancer when he’s just a child. He develops scarlet fever and is sent east to live with an aunt, his father unable to cope. He’s banished from the family at age 10 and again at age 15, when his family moves away to seek a better life elsewhere.
He manages to survive by poaching salmon from the river, and robbing and selling a bootlegger’s stash during Prohibition. At one point he earns 75 cents an hour dangling from a rope, jackhammer in hand, as part of a crew helping to build the Grand Coulee Dam.
Joe’s life, and the lives of the other boys, take place in the context of a triple whammy; the Great Depression, Prohibition and the Dust Bowl that spawned the desperate great migration west. Brown’s painstaking research brings all these events to vivid life and connects the unyielding will and triumph over adversity that all nine of these boys experience to some degree (as well as some of the marked differences between them) to the stamina and spirit that will ultimately form the remarkable bond they develop as a team.
Along the way, Brown offers an eye-opening look at the world of competitive rowing. Who knew that collegiate crew was a “wildly popular” sport in the 1920s and ‘30s, comparable to baseball or football. Brown notes that rowing a 2,000-meter Olympic race takes the equivalent physical stamina of playing two basketball games back-to-back: in six minutes.
Brown also builds tension as the story progresses by introducing the events going on in Berlin and Hitler’s frighteningly efficient propaganda machine during the run-up to the games.
All this is just a hint of the trials and tribulations the boys experience along the way. Thanks to Brown’s attention to detail and deft storytelling, by the time the boys cross the finish line to win the gold you will likely be joining their coach — a master of understatement — in echoing his “Well done, boys.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
