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By: TAUR 035
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2025-11-03 11:36:25 |
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A couple of the group were put off by the small print, but everyone else thought this a surprisingly good read. Descriptive, empathetic and thrilling. |
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By: WAIKA 002
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2025-03-20 10:01:49 |
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We all enjoyed this book. Some of the descriptions of the races were a bit long, but did add to the story. |
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By: HAMIL 062
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2024-12-05 14:00:04 |
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Mixed reactions from loved to loathed it. Those who loved it found it courageous, inspiring, fascinating, uplifting, and heartfelt. Those who hated it found the endless details on rowing technique, races and training sessions, crew selection, boat building etc, boring and tedious. All of us agreed it was well-written and well researched, and found the historical details about the great depression, dust bowl, Hitlers propaganda campaign, and Joe's harsh childhood very interesting. The small font and lots of detail made it a tough slog of a read for many of us. |
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By: AUCK 255
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2024-07-25 22:21:24 |
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Surprisingly good underdog story with such an excellent depiction of the boat 'swing' that we could imagine ourselves in the boat. Interesting to learn of the west vs east divide in the US at that time and the Olympic teams' perception of Nazi Germany. We viewed the footage of the race together online and loved that the team still get together in their twilight years. |
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By: AUCK 422
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2024-06-07 16:52:08 |
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We unanimously loved it, and this possibly equals our highest score ever! An extraordinary and inspiring story told with such a wonderful choice of words that we could easily visualise the various scenes, get a sense of life in the '30s, and deeply empathise with the fascinating characters. |
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By: HAVE 012
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2024-05-24 11:33:10 |
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Everyone loved this book with the only negative comment being it could have done with a little more editing. The story gripped everyone's interest and many found the explanations about boat building and rowing techniques illuminating. One comment was it would have been even more enjoyable had the print been bigger. |
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By: CHCH 527
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2023-04-26 22:03:39 |
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Weaving social history and personal story together was cleverly done . Sometimes the story got a little lost in the exhaustive detail , but we took that as a sign of how invested the author was in his work . On the larger scale it did manage to tell a compelling story without lapsing into American Triumphalism . The small print was a challenge to some of us - and we felt the story could have been trimmed some what - but, nonetheless, an enjoyable read . |
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By: DUNED 085
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2022-06-01 11:06:50 |
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This book required serious attention with its dense content and small print, but unanimously we found it to be a profoundly affecting story, worth the effort to learn about this truly amazing tale of sacrifice and endurance. |
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By: AUCK 166
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2022-02-28 17:14:37 |
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Wonderful book. Initially some of the women in the group thought it was a 'boys' book' - but it turned out to be a wide ranging book about relationships, sport, camaraderie, the effect of the Great Depression and the international political climate. The narrative was exciting and moving, and the story inspiring. The story of George Pocock and his influence on the development of the shells, but also his significant influence on the psychology of the team, was illuminating. |
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By: CHCH 449
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2021-07-30 13:43:59 |
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"This is the best book we've read!" A comment from one of our members. Most other members also rated it 5 stars. We had a great discussion on all the positive elements the book added, as our meeting was held mid-way through the Olympic rowing finals. Two negatives that were mentioned was the small print and one member felt it was too verbose and could have been condensed somewhat. |
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By: CHCH 488
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2020-08-09 21:45:38 |
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We loved the story of a disadvantaged kid achieving amazing things, set in an fascinating time in history, and made even more compelling by the fact it's true. Great characters. Some of us loved it but we all thought it was too detailed in places. It may have simply been too dense for our heads to cope with at the beginning of lockdown. Most of us didn't finish it. Loved watching YouTube videos of the rowing in the Berlin Olympics. |
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By: CHCH 240
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2020-07-24 14:15:55 |
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Wow! What a great book - not one that any of us would have picked up off the library shelf, but a superb read. Everyone loved it. As one reader said, it had a real message for the youth of today - resilience and fortitude! For those who were not sports-minded a bit much about rowing itself, but everyone enjoyed the strength of character Joe showed despite the adversity of life. A great insight into the sport of rowing, showing discipline, teamwork, competitiveness and passion, and set in the threat of the Nazi occupation. Thoroughly recommended! |
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By: CHCH 433
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2019-11-18 13:57:13 |
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This exceeded all our expectations, those who read it loved it - several said it is not normally a book they would have chosen -so were delighted! A truly great story. |
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By: PIOPIO 001
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2019-10-29 10:50:46 |
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Our group really enjoyed the book, felt it was very well-written and researched, and read like non-fiction. Some found the technical aspects a bit tedious but it didn't detract from the book and its inspiring story of the USA Gold Medal rowing eight's journey to the 1936 olympics in Berlin, and also the background story of Joe Rantz and his family. Some found the small print challenging. |
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By: NELS 072
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2018-08-23 13:49:29 |
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Most of our group enjoyed the read, but found it repetitive in places and over explained in others. However we enjoyed reading about Joe and his struggles. |
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By: TEANA 001
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2018-06-01 12:00:20 |
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Most of our group enjoyed this book, although found it a little tedious and repetitive in places. However, an interesting discussion followed where we discussed the techniques of rowing as written about in the book, and all felt more knowledgeable afterwards. Also of interest was the German history pre and during the games. Despite the small print a recommended read. |
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By: CROMW 004
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2018-06-01 11:56:40 |
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This was interesting! We all groaned when we first saw this book - NF and very small print. "Who chose that" HOWEVER, nearly all of us thoroughly enjoyed this book. Well written, very detailed, but a great read. Amazingly clear description of life in the 1930s, the depression years in the USA. Worthwhile, challenging read. We learnt a lot about rowing, USA, the Depression, 1936 Olympics, and pre-war years Germany. Most of all human resilience! |
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By: DUNED 001
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2018-06-01 11:50:41 |
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Those of us who read the book all say it was one of the best books we have ever read. Descriptions included inspiring, emotional, exciting and a phenomenal insight into the dark days of the 1930s. |
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By: MAST 008
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2018-06-01 11:48:39 |
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A very interesting book, much enjoyed by the whole group. Some found it tailed off at the end a bit and others that the technicalities of rowing got a bit tedious, but otherwise well-written and exposed a time in history in the U.S. and Europe in a very interesting way. Thoroughly recommend. |
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By: CHCH 320
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2018-06-01 11:44:52 |
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Best book we've read in the BDS. Inspirational and very interesting historically. |
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By: MAST 003
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2018-05-30 15:00:06 |
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We all loved this book. Extremely well-written and a gripping central story, but the interweaving of the family history of the rowers and the political/economic history of America and Germany further enriched the whole reading experience. Highly recommended by our group. |
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By: PALMN 001
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2018-05-30 14:50:29 |
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Everyone who managed to read the book enjoyed it, with several very impressed. However the print was very small which members found quite a challenge. |
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By: CHCH 238
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2018-05-30 14:48:47 |
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An inspirational read. We loved the history of the times as well as the rowing story, and also we loved the story of Joe. |
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