2021 Book Reviews
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The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by
Harmony, balance and rhythm. They`re the three things that stay
with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack. And that's why oarsman when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life. That's what he gets from rowing.
~ George Yeoman Pocock (One of the most engaging characters in the book)
As a non sports enthusiast, with zero idea about rowing except admiring rowers on Lake Washington waters I am not sure what drew me to this book. But as a Seattle resident, I am inherently drawn to names such as Álki or Sequim, and this book definitely thrilled me with references to all the favorite spots around Seattle, and above all the University of Washington and Husky references on every other page.
There is a second thread running in this book - Hitlerś Germany - Berlin being the venue for the 1936 Olympics. The Berlin that was presented to the word in the 1936 Olympics was a whitewashed Berlin highlighting the glory of Hitler, while painstakingly hiding the real story of the horror unfolding behind the scenes. The author skilfully introduces the reader to Hitler and his men and their intricate plans to sell the Berlin Olympics as a crowning glory of the Nazi Germany.
This book is the story of the rowing team of nine boys that represented the US rowing team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics against incredible odds. All the boys came from very humble backgrounds, and the spotlight constantly stays on Joe Rantz, a young boy abandoned by his family in Sequim, who grows up foraging blackberries and catching salmon and through his grit and determination makes it to University of Washington. He continues to live in poverty even after making the varsity rowing team - working as a day labor for construction of the Grand Coulee dam in the summers, so that he can save tuition for the next academic year. Most of his crew mates have similar struggles as they try to balance their working class personal lives, academics and the impossible goal of the Olympics.
This book is a history of the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s and a wonderful documentation of the post depression America struggling through a hurting economy and devastating natural phenomena such as Dust Bowl impacting livelihoods and jobs.
As Joe and the boys in his crew mature in their sport, with constant ups and downs while competing against their rivals from the East Coast schools and Cal (Berkeley) under their mentor and coach Al Ulbrickson - a reticent and hard task master. The reader actually starts understanding the sport of rowing and the role of the coxswain and the various positions in the boat, and secretly starts rooting for the Husky boys as the author describes every race filled with apprehension, excitement and drama!
with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack. And that's why oarsman when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life. That's what he gets from rowing.
~ George Yeoman Pocock (One of the most engaging characters in the book)
As a non sports enthusiast, with zero idea about rowing except admiring rowers on Lake Washington waters I am not sure what drew me to this book. But as a Seattle resident, I am inherently drawn to names such as Álki or Sequim, and this book definitely thrilled me with references to all the favorite spots around Seattle, and above all the University of Washington and Husky references on every other page.
There is a second thread running in this book - Hitlerś Germany - Berlin being the venue for the 1936 Olympics. The Berlin that was presented to the word in the 1936 Olympics was a whitewashed Berlin highlighting the glory of Hitler, while painstakingly hiding the real story of the horror unfolding behind the scenes. The author skilfully introduces the reader to Hitler and his men and their intricate plans to sell the Berlin Olympics as a crowning glory of the Nazi Germany.
This book is the story of the rowing team of nine boys that represented the US rowing team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics against incredible odds. All the boys came from very humble backgrounds, and the spotlight constantly stays on Joe Rantz, a young boy abandoned by his family in Sequim, who grows up foraging blackberries and catching salmon and through his grit and determination makes it to University of Washington. He continues to live in poverty even after making the varsity rowing team - working as a day labor for construction of the Grand Coulee dam in the summers, so that he can save tuition for the next academic year. Most of his crew mates have similar struggles as they try to balance their working class personal lives, academics and the impossible goal of the Olympics.
This book is a history of the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s and a wonderful documentation of the post depression America struggling through a hurting economy and devastating natural phenomena such as Dust Bowl impacting livelihoods and jobs.
As Joe and the boys in his crew mature in their sport, with constant ups and downs while competing against their rivals from the East Coast schools and Cal (Berkeley) under their mentor and coach Al Ulbrickson - a reticent and hard task master. The reader actually starts understanding the sport of rowing and the role of the coxswain and the various positions in the boat, and secretly starts rooting for the Husky boys as the author describes every race filled with apprehension, excitement and drama!
Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park
by
If you are a lover of the US National Parks or just love the interaction between nature and humans, this book is for you! I grabbed this book as soon as I heard the author Connor Khighton on Rick Steve´s show, and I am glad I did.
But it is a very different type of insight into National Parks. The author groups chapters in the book by themes such as Volcanoes, People, Ice, and not by regions.
So Zion National Park is in the People chapter, and the author remembers that when he was ten, his father asked him not to do the Angels Landing hike because he was too young. In his visit two decades later, he does the very difficult hike and finds it overcrowded by hikers in flip flops. He then goes on to discuss how we can strike a balance between the outdoor enthusiasts' adventurous spirit and preserving our Parks´ delicate ecological balance by involving the visitors.
The wild beauty of Alaskan National Parks are in the chapter Sound. It's all about bears, salmon, silence, and the humans of Alaska living in and loving this magnificent land. This chapter and the authorś description of going to Bear School in Katmai before watching grizzlies catching millions of sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls is iconic of Alaska!
The Redwood trees of Sequoia National Park of course find a place in the chapter - Trees. The author has written a lot about John Muir (known as the Father of the National Parks), and ends this chapter with a quote from Muir - ¨God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand storms; but he cannot save them from the sawmills and fools, this is left to the American people. ¨
by
If you are a lover of the US National Parks or just love the interaction between nature and humans, this book is for you! I grabbed this book as soon as I heard the author Connor Khighton on Rick Steve´s show, and I am glad I did.
But it is a very different type of insight into National Parks. The author groups chapters in the book by themes such as Volcanoes, People, Ice, and not by regions.
So Zion National Park is in the People chapter, and the author remembers that when he was ten, his father asked him not to do the Angels Landing hike because he was too young. In his visit two decades later, he does the very difficult hike and finds it overcrowded by hikers in flip flops. He then goes on to discuss how we can strike a balance between the outdoor enthusiasts' adventurous spirit and preserving our Parks´ delicate ecological balance by involving the visitors.
The wild beauty of Alaskan National Parks are in the chapter Sound. It's all about bears, salmon, silence, and the humans of Alaska living in and loving this magnificent land. This chapter and the authorś description of going to Bear School in Katmai before watching grizzlies catching millions of sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls is iconic of Alaska!
The Redwood trees of Sequoia National Park of course find a place in the chapter - Trees. The author has written a lot about John Muir (known as the Father of the National Parks), and ends this chapter with a quote from Muir - ¨God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand storms; but he cannot save them from the sawmills and fools, this is left to the American people. ¨
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