The best book I have read this year is The Boys in the Boat. Highlights of several of the boys lives during the height of the Great Depression are memorable.
Members of the rowing team at the University of Washington get put into the spotlight as they compete for gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
It is unbelievable how the whole experience in Berlin was painted and prepared to be normal when actual Natzi preparations for Holocaust were already prepared years in advance of Olympics.
The theme of the book, of course, is power of teamwork and boys resilience and relationships. I liked coach Pococks description of making the boat and it being made out of a seamless piece of cedar and togetherness of the team.
The following is one of his quotes:
“So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them.”
- George Yeoman Pocock
