Author Topic: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online  (Read 67503 times)

Halcyon

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #160 on: January 20, 2015, 02:38:40 PM »
The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome.

January Book Club Online:

The  Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown


 
The #1 New York Times–bestselling story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany.

 "Out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant...

 The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest." - Amazon.com
 
 



DISCUSSION SCHEDULE:


PROLOGUE, PART ONE..............................JANUARY  l -  7          
PART TWO...............................................JANUARY  8 - 14
PART THREE............................................JANUARY 15 - 21
PART FOUR Ch. 13-15...............................JANUARY 22 - 28
PART FOUR Ch. 16-end.............................JANUARY  29 - FEBRUARY 4
~




QUESTIONS PART IV Chapters 13-15


1. The author gives several explanations for Joe and the other boys sudden improvement in rowing. Which do you find most plausible?

2. Of all the races described here, which is most exciting? Why?

3. How can the Washington boat pass other boats while rowing at a slower pace?

4. Have you ever "gotten your swing" in anything? How does it happen?

5. In New York City, one of the boys says he still has most of the $14 he started with left, but is afraid it wont last. How is these boys' handling of money different from boys today? Why? What does that mean for society?

6. Nowadays, many coxswains in boys boats are women. Why? What problems might a woman face in that job?

7. The Schmeling/ Louis fight is an example of how superiority in sports may be thought to mean National superiority. Do we still feel that way? Why? Is it justified?

RELEVANT LINKS:
1936 Film of Olympic Rowing

Daniel James Brown Website and Information

Interview With the Author, Daniel James Brown  

Triumph of the Will  - Nazi propaganda film

Indoor Rowers Training Techniques  


Discussion Leaders: Ella & JoanK

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I would be interested in reading a book about the Dust Bowl.  Can't imagine living through that.  we certainly have things much easier today.

serenesheila

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #161 on: January 20, 2015, 02:50:54 PM »
Ella. That is some picture!  How terrifying those ciouds must have been for people.  About the only thing a prtson could do. was pray.

Yes, I would like to read, and discuss a book about the dust bowl.

Sheila

 

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #162 on: January 20, 2015, 03:49:39 PM »
How horrible! And have any of you experiences Santa Ana winds like those in BELLAMARIE's clip?

I hope we don't lose you to the library waiting list! Hang in there. And isn't it great that those of us who missed a chance to go to college when young can still have opportunities to learn through sites like this!

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #163 on: January 20, 2015, 03:57:19 PM »
People felt helpless and scared by the dustbowl and lack of jobs. But a few good things came out of the depression. One was the Grand Coulee Dam. I saw it many decades ago, and I couldn't find a picture that lets you see how gigantic that wall is that Joe clung to. But play a bit of this, and you'll get the idea.

http://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/

Have any of the rest of you been there?

PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #164 on: January 20, 2015, 05:51:55 PM »
Bellamarie, I notice you managed to find unconventional paths to putting your considerable abilities to work.

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #165 on: January 20, 2015, 07:04:26 PM »
The picture of the dam above shows the wall when the lake is full of water, so you only see the part that sticks out above the water. When the lake is empty, as it was when I was there, you can see the whole 550 feet of height, and imagine how scary it was for Joe to work suspended. It is the largest concrete structure in the world.

The video goes   on and on, but even a little gives you a sense of the size of the place.

Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #166 on: January 20, 2015, 11:32:06 PM »
MWAK, the consortium of companies building the dam - the Grand Coulee.   Who put that together, do you suppose?

And Shacktown, where Joe, with his new friends, Chuck and Johnnie, all lived - where did that name come from?  I suppose just from the shacks they lived in, many constructed from just tar paper.  I've never understood exactly what tar paper is, I must look it up.   Too late tonight!.

But don't you love the stories that our author tells about the boys, the way they lived, elderly Joe remembered all that?  I went to the NOTES about Chapter Eleven and our author states that "in places here I have supplemented  his (Joe) description of the physical environment with my own observations, drawn while driving his route and exploring the site myself."

Methinks our author has done that numerous - NUMEROUS times throughout the book, do you agree?

pedln

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #167 on: January 20, 2015, 11:48:14 PM »
Lots of interesting comments and links here.  Ella, throughout our reading of this book I've been reminded of a book my f2f group read a few years back -- The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, about the dust storms and those who survived them.    But I thought it an excellent book and it was well-received by the club.  One thing that has stayed with me is a comment about Hoover or Roosevelt (not sure which) who left grains/produce sitting by the tracks, not allowing them to be loaded onto the trains.  I think Egan is a journalist or columnist.  I've seen some  by him in newspapers online.

I don't really know why we've been saying rowing is elitist.  The link that Bellamarie put up shows many colleges and universities participating in this sport, including regional and public colleges and universities.  What's interesting are the changes that have taken place since the 1930's.  (I wonder if  the sport stopped during WWII).  Now there are both men's and women's crew, there is lightweight crew and also 4-man boats.  My son was interested when he went to college, but didn't participate because he said he weighed too much for lightweight and not enough for regular crew.

In this Part III that we're still on I was shocked at the city of Seattle and its treatment of Johnny White's family. Here the parents were trying to make a comeback with their gardens after losing their business and the city condems the gardens and takes them by eminent domain.

Couldn't help thinking about Joe Rantz while watching the state of the union address.  Need I explain why?   :)

bellamarie

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #168 on: January 21, 2015, 12:49:15 PM »
Thank you PatH., and JoanK.,  yes I did manage quite well considering no college.  I can't begin to tell you how much history, art, culture, literature, and geography I have learned being with SeniorNet and SeniorLearn.  You ladies are our very own professors, teachers, scientists, tour guides, etc.  This is so much better than having to drive to a college and sit in a classroom! 

Ella
Quote
I went to the NOTES about Chapter Eleven and our author states that "in places here I have supplemented  his (Joe) description of the physical environment with my own observations, drawn while driving his route and exploring the site myself."

This does not surprise me.  I love how authors retrace the areas, of the places they are writing about, to experience the personal surroundings their subject has lived.

I think I will pay the $2.99 to finish reading the book.  Then my hubby can read it too.  He has been asking me more questions about it, since he finished the Louis Zamperini book, Don't Give Up and Don't Give In.

“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #169 on: January 21, 2015, 03:27:11 PM »
Part 4, Chapters 13-15 starts tomorrow. this takes the boys through the Olympic trials and ends with them on the boat to Germany.

These last two sections are long, and we had planned to spend a week on each, going over into February. Does anyone want to go faster: say spend five days on each?

Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #170 on: January 21, 2015, 04:44:00 PM »
PEDLIN, eminent domain is a questionable area of the law, as you know;  both sides have equitable rights, it seems to me.  Government, whether city, state, federal, must use that law at times for the good of all - highways, in particular, and yet the land was paid for and is being used by landowners.  It happened to us shortly after we bought a house on two acres; the state needed a slice of it for an exit from a new road.  Although one can understand the government's point of view, it's real difficult for the owner.

Yes, I do want to  hear why Joe Rantz came to mind while listening to Obama's speech.   I usually listen to all state of the union speeches, but missed that one.   Read about it next day.

I agree, BELLE, our author has done a fantastic job describing scenes, how else could he keep our interest throughout the book, Joe's story was the outline and our author filled in  the details.  His own words, his own descriptions, his own "imagination" sometimes do you think?


Meanwhile, in Germany, one of most wretched, horrible, hated Nazi rallies, Rally For Freedom, was going on.  We meet up with Leni Riefenstahl again, although later she attempted to forget she was ever at the  Rally.

If you had sat through such a speech, given that you were a patriotic citizen of Germany, could you have "Heiled Hiter" afterwards?   Why didn't the German people react to such laws?  


Jonathan

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #171 on: January 21, 2015, 05:32:21 PM »
'Meanwhile, in Germany...'

And that's what makes the book so interesting. Fascinating to read on how to go about winning a boat race, and have lots of other things brought in for interest, like construction of a massive power dam in the U.S., a giant political rally in Germany, and a president's state of the union address to Congress. Of course, a guy like Joe should be helped. A free education would be nice. That was one of Obama's great speeches. He had great fun delivering it. Compare that to one of Hitler's rants. Strange to think that while the great reclamation project was going on at Grand Coulee, a magnificent sports facility was being created in Berlin.

It has been interesting to spend time with the great links. First Riefenstahl's unusual filming of Triumph of the Will, at Nurmeberg. And now on the magnificent Grand Coulee dam. What a surprise to find another link on the dam site to The Wonderful and Horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl. What a coincidence. She lived to  be a hundred but could never live down her association with Hitler and the Nazis.

Like Halcyon, I've been MIA. I've been reading ahead. Just got too impatient.

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #172 on: January 21, 2015, 05:45:42 PM »
Let's stop and comment briefly on the run-up to the Olympics, Chapters 13-15 and then go to Berlin.

Questions up soon.

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #173 on: January 21, 2015, 07:28:08 PM »
The questions for Chapters 13-15 are in the heading.

PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #174 on: January 21, 2015, 08:07:39 PM »
I'm a little confused.  Starting tomorrow, we'll talk about chapters 13-15?  Then in a few days move on to the next section?

Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #175 on: January 21, 2015, 10:02:40 PM »
It was my confusion, PATH.  We will continue with Chapters 13 - 15  --  lots of splendid reading, our splendid discussion continues, the boys  are just getting excited about the Olympics, after lots of talking about it.

Wouldn't you like to sit in on that conversation, the excitement it held, but they are warned by the coach, the price would be brutal, punishing practice!  

I remember when the early Olympics were first televised, I think it was, my children were starting competitive swimming in our local pool and Mark Spitz was swimming - how neat he looked going through that water!

Do you remember one particular year for the Olympics?  

hysteria2

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #176 on: January 21, 2015, 10:31:34 PM »
Just a quick followup on Triumph of Will. It was a powerful propaganda film designed to instill pride in country and enthusiasm for Hitler's mission. Of course the target audience had no idea of the horrors which were to come. Hitler was very skillful and managed to draw in almost everyone who attended the rallies. People applauded his vision of Germany as a powerful country. Since Germany was a downtrodden nation after suffering defeat in WWI, the people were more than ready to see Germany rise to the top once again. He of course did not reveal his entire plan, even though there were references to a "pure" German people. We who watch the film now of course know the end result. But the film was very skillfully done.

I found a book on Amazon.com which looks very intriguing. It's called Hitler's Charisma: Leading Millions into the Abyss. I may end up having to buy the Kindle version because my library does not have it. Has anyone else heard of this book?
If only I could be the person my dog thinks I am!

Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #177 on: January 22, 2015, 09:23:22 AM »

The Reich Citizenship Law:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/nurmlaw3.html

"In the next few months and years, the Reichstag would add dozens of additional laws restricting every aspect of the lives of German Jews, until, in effect, simply being Jewish was outlawed."







PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #178 on: January 22, 2015, 09:49:07 AM »
Hysteria, I never heard of that book either, but it looks interesting.  Here's a review:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/laurence-rees/hitlers-charisma/

It looks like it's available online.

PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #179 on: January 22, 2015, 10:05:39 AM »
What a surprise to find another link on the dam site to The Wonderful and Horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl. What a coincidence. She lived to  be a hundred but could never live down her association with Hitler and the Nazis.
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl was filmed in 1993.  Riefenstahl herself is in it, in person as well as older footage.  She explains at great length how she was politically innocent, only interested in her art, and didn't understand what Hitler's regime was really like, and it's almost funny, how obviously she's lying or dodging issues.  It's good, and I wouldn't mind watching it again, but there are some archival Holocaust scenes that I REALLY don't want to see again.

bellamarie

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #180 on: January 22, 2015, 12:44:32 PM »
Oh dear Jonathan, we will have to agree to disagree on our opinions of that State of the Union speech.  I saw it as yet more hope & change, which Obama knows, even some of his party will not go along with.  He needs to set the agenda for the next election, even though as he said, he will no longer be running.  But yes, yet another of his fine campaign speeches indeed! 

I think about how this can actually be considered political tactics, that all leaders and politicians use:

hysteria
Quote
It was a powerful propaganda film designed to instill pride in country and enthusiasm for Hitler's mission. Of course the target audience had no idea of the horrors which were to come. Hitler was very skillful and managed to draw in almost everyone who attended the rallies.

Regardless of the country, the ideology, or the hidden agenda, we have seen this throughout time.  Producers, celebrities, ads, news media, rallies, etc., etc.  They help draw in the people of their party with visuals, music, movies, speeches, etc., while the people are in the dark of what is to come.  I think ALL people want to believe in their leader/president.  They want to believe they have their best interest at the heart of their policies and actions, yet time and time again, we see that is not necessarily so. 

Well, on to Germany and the Olympics in the next section.... still no book available through my library, so I will purchase it to finish the book, and have my seat at the Olympics! 


“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

hysteria2

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #181 on: January 22, 2015, 01:18:33 PM »
Of course, a guy like Joe should be helped. A free education would be nice. That was one of Obama's great speeches. He had great fun delivering it.


That was my first thought as well. Obama has always believed in education as a pathway to success in this country. His two year plan will probably never get off the ground (at least not in the next two years), but maybe someday...
I wonder if there was a strong objection to the GI Bill when it was first introduced. I know my father would never have been able to go to college if it weren't for that. There is also a great deal of debate now over student loans. I am familiar with this as well, since my son is saddled with one and will be for a long time. Of course the idea of student loans hadn't been born yet when Joe was a student. It was "pay as you go or don't go."
If only I could be the person my dog thinks I am!

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #182 on: January 22, 2015, 02:41:47 PM »
JONATHAN: "What a surprise to find another link on the dam site to The Wonderful and Horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl."

That blew by me the first time I read it. I missed that completely. where was the reference?

Jonathan

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #183 on: January 22, 2015, 05:00:21 PM »
3. How can the Washington boat pass other boats while rowing at a slower pace?

That is a good question and could have many answers. Haven't we been getting many tips on why one crew is faster than another. So much is involved. Technique and psychology. On the other hand it may have to do with the coxwain's strategy. Perhaps the boat had George Pocock's special blessing. (The California coach had his suspicions about the shell builder's secret influence) Perhaps it was the extra coat of varnish. But we're also told that speed depends basically on the two things: the number of strokes per minute, and the power of the indidual stroke. It was probably the power of the stroke.

Joan, I can't explain it. I watched my way through the playlist in your link. At the end it had a display of another playlist, including, in the upper right hand corner, the link to Riefenstahl. I've just looked for it again but it's no longer there. Where did you find it, Pat?

Politics aside, Bellamarie, I found a wonderful difference in a speech by Obama, addressing his nation, and a speech by Hitler. Hitler had his hopes and dreams. Why the Jews stood in his way is beyond comprehension. Blame it on the insane turmoil in Europe in the last century. Some wanted to create a new civilization on the model partly of Rome and Athens, with prophets such as Wagner and Nietzche, while others dreamed of a New Jerusalem with Marx and Engels leading the way. What a dreadful cost in lives. I find the references in the book unsettling.

PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #184 on: January 22, 2015, 07:17:36 PM »
Jonathan, I didn't look for a link to The Wonderful Horrible Life...  I was talking about it from memory.  Now I'll look for one,  My first attempt found a good one, but dubbed in Russian.  The opening visuals were enough to convince me I'll have to watch it again.  If I find a good link, I'll post it.

Moving faster with a slower stroke rate: reading between the lines of this section tells me how you can do this.  Your strokes have to be more powerful, and also more perfect in terms of not doing anything that slows you down aerodynamically.  Then you move more feet forward with each stroke, so you don't have to take so many strokes.  The faster you're going, the harder it is to keep your strokes strong and aerodynamically good.  So there's a tradeoff, and each team would have different points where it would be best to increase the stroke rate.

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #185 on: January 22, 2015, 07:33:42 PM »
JONATHAN: maybe they put that link in just for you! ;)

PATH: "The faster you're going, the harder it is to keep your strokes strong and aerodynamically good"

Yes, there seems to be a low speed around 30 where the boys really "get their swing." A boy in one boat they passed at a slow stroke rate said "they move five feet for our three."

PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #186 on: January 22, 2015, 07:44:10 PM »
So far my search suggests that The Wonderful, Horrible Life... has managed to keep it's copyright protection intact.  I only found the Russian version.  It's worth watching the first two plus minutes of this, before language even enters.  That's Leni, taking underwater pictures.  She got her scuba diver's certificate in her 60s or 70s, having lied a lot about her age, since there was an age cutoff.  That's also Leni dancing with African natives.  They're probably Nuba, since she did a big photographic study of that tribe.  If anyone can find a better link, I welcome it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x79ZphZ-x74

Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #187 on: January 23, 2015, 11:52:42 AM »
I watched this one last night, I don't know why we find her so fascinating; perhaps one of the few women who were somewhat involved with Hitler; she denies any connection, of course.  She is 100 I believe in this one (I watched it last night late, so am not sure of detail).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjgYS8uXwFk


Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #188 on: January 23, 2015, 12:03:42 PM »
THE HINDENBURG:

"On the outside of the Hindenburg, two large, black swastikas on a white circle surrounded by a red rectangle (the Nazi emblem) were emblazoned on two tail fins. Also on the outside of the Hindenburg was "D-LZ129" painted in black and the airship's name, "hindenburg" painted in scarlet, Gothic script. For its appearance at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin in August, the Olympic rings were painted on the side of the Hindenburg."

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/hindenburg.htm

hysteria2

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #189 on: January 23, 2015, 01:10:06 PM »
I can't think of anything more chilling than to see swastikas painted on the same blimp as the Olympic circles. But in 1936 the story was just beginning. I really must read more about that actual time period, as I tend to get dates mixed up. But since the war did not end until 1945, I would think in 1936 horrors of the Third Reich were just beginning to unfold.

Now as to getting the "swing": I can understand it, but I am having trouble narrowing it down to a specific time in a competitive race. I suppose it could be equated to getting your "second wind," but it's still not exactly same. Possibly a "swing" can only be attained in a team sport such as rowing where all 8 rowers have to be in absolute synchrony. I am guessing the team doesn't begin the race in the swing, but it comes as the race progresses (obviously the sooner the better). The only think I can think of that would relate it to today would be the feeling that "we got this." But obviously all 8 rowers and the coxswain would have to experience this feeling simultaneously and maintain it for the duration of the race.
If only I could be the person my dog thinks I am!

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #190 on: January 23, 2015, 02:56:22 PM »
ELLA: I've been watching the film you posted. It is an interview with her on her hundredth birthday. Her scuba diving film is just coming out. (sshe made it in her 90's)

She is utterly charming -- I'm ready to fall in love with her. Then, (minute 12.30 ) she is showing awards she got, one for "Triumph of the Will" and saying how proud she is of them. She says she doesn't see anything political about "Triumph of the Will". It's just a documentary -- nothing political.

What are we to make of this woman?

JoanK

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #191 on: January 23, 2015, 03:00:45 PM »
HYSTERIA: " Possibly a "swing" can only be attained in a team sport such as rowing where all 8 rowers have to be in absolute synchrony."

I have heard athletes in other sports talk about being "in the zone" when everything just flows. Perhaps it's a similar, perhaps not.

pedln

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #192 on: January 23, 2015, 06:00:06 PM »
I found this link helpful in understanding some of the rowing terminology.  Remember when the coaches were unhappy when a boy "caught a crab."

Rowing terms and vocabulary

Quote
Crab

A problem encountered by a rower when his or her oar gets `stuck’ in the water, usually right after the catch or just before the release, and is caused by improper squaring or feathering. The momentum of the shell can overcome the rower’s control of the oar. In more extreme cases the rower can actually be ejected from the shell by the oar.

I should know the answer to this, but I don't -- Our boys each rowed with ONE oar or TWO oars.  I'm thinking one, but am not sure.

Going back to why we don't hear so much about rowing --  could it be related to TV and TV contracts, etc?  By the same token, you don't hear too much about swim teams, track and field, though they are probably easier to televise than rowing.

Ella, I think the question of why the SOTU speech brings JOe R to mind has already been answered.  Some down and outers set goals and then went on and met them, no matter how difficult the task.

pedln

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #193 on: January 23, 2015, 06:18:19 PM »


Quote
"Rowers use the term 'swing' to refer to that magical kind of condition, those moments when the boat seems to fly over the water. It can feel as if there were just one oar, one rower, and you are so unified that there is no friction. You can almost feel the bow of the boat surging up out of the water as if the boat wanted to fly.

"Swing is a state where the distractions of the ego kind of melt away and the separation between crew members can melt away. You're rowing as if with one body; you are rowing as if with one mind. And when you're rowing with one mind there is no resistance.

"The idea that I think is fundamental to any spiritual practice is the transcendence of the individual ego. That's the state of spiritual growth, and there are many paths to that. Meditation is one that has been used for thousands of years. A path of service is something that can do it. And athletics offer a certain kind of path to service."

From
Swing -- from PBS

Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #194 on: January 23, 2015, 10:23:46 PM »
Question No . 6:  A woman as a coxswain in a boys' boat?  I would think the boys would have all approved of their coxswain and show the respect that one deserves in that position.  Their might be a bit of distraction at first, but I would imagine the coach would stomp that out immediatey if the team is doing well.  The weight of a girl vs. a man would be of considerable importance to the team.

Personally, I can't imagine a woman wanting to be that coxswain, but possibly I am very old-fashioned in that respect.

What do the rest of you think?

Oh, yes, I think the USA still has that superior feeling about itself, right or wrong.  We hear the term "exceptionalism" lately in regards to the country.

hysteria2

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #195 on: January 23, 2015, 11:12:26 PM »
Thank you pedln for defining "crab." I took the term literally and was visualizing a crab stuck to the oar!
If only I could be the person my dog thinks I am!

PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #196 on: January 24, 2015, 12:28:43 AM »
Pedln, you're right.  The boys are rowing with one oar apiece.  That means that half of them have their left hand on top, closer to the end of the handle, an half of them have their right hand there.  I wonder which way is easiest or strongest?

PatH

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #197 on: January 24, 2015, 10:33:57 AM »
This section really highlights the importance of the coxswain.  He's the brains and some of the spirit of the boat.  He carries out the strategy the coach has worked out, but he has to modify it to fit what actually happens in the race.  He has to give the rowers some sense of what they're trying to do (they can only see behind the boat).  He has to know just how much he can get out of the rowers, and how to get it.  Look at Bobby Moch's little tricks, like the code initials that tell the rowers something, and give them a special feeling of being in the know.  He's good at needling other crews too, making just the right remark as they pass to make them mad so they mess up.  He also has to weigh about 120 pounds, but be strong enough to steer the boat--not an easy task.

Why do they often pick women now?  I don't know, but obviously it works well, or they wouldn't do it.  A woman would have an extra job getting accepted by male athletes, but she certainly could find ways of inspiring the same spirit, loyalty, and motivation.  I'm guessing that her style would be a bit different than a man's.

Ella Gibbons

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #198 on: January 24, 2015, 11:11:55 AM »
It made me smile, America was once  innocent, naive, neighborly - no one locked doors.  I opened my book this morning to pg . 262-263 and read again about the boys visisting FDR's home at Hyde Park.  The boys walked up the lawn to Springwood, knocked on the door and it was opened by Franklin Roosevelt, jr., who told them to call him Frank and announced that he had rowed for Harvard at one time.
The boys visited for an hour and later Johnny White wrote in his diary that they had visited the President's house today - they sure have a fine place.

Imagine that today!  

Years ago I went on an Elderhostrip trip to great houses along the Hudson and we visited FDR's home and Daisy Suckley's house next door, among others.

When were you there or have you been?  I remember two things vividlly, the graves of FDR and Eleanor are in the front yard and a young boy's curls kept by his mother are in the museum adjoining.

serenesheila

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Re: Boys in the Boat, The~ January Book Club Online
« Reply #199 on: January 24, 2015, 12:33:25 PM »
I am tired of all the information about rowing!  I want to know more about th boys., in the boat.  Other than Joe, very little has been written about any one else.  I am hoping that will chage when tey get to Germany, for the Olympics.

Sheila