ROWING AGAINST THE CURRENT : ON LEARNING TO SCULL AT FORTY

Rating:
Summary: In the Wake of Ancient Greek Triremes
Review: "I am rowing toward the past," writes Strauss in this exhilarating and multifaceted meditation on learning and mastering the ancient art of rowing. As a frustrated athlete searching for a fulfilling sport to call his own and as a scholar of ancient Greek naval history, the author has hit on a fascinating and auspicious combination, the graceful blending of personal narrative with historical interest.

My favorite chapter was the one on the striking love-hate relationship the classical Greeks had with the wine-dark waters that surrounded them, from their naval victory against the Persians at Salamis to the nostalgia of lifelong sailors for home shores and the ever-present threat of loss at sea.

Reading "Rowing Against the Current" is a real adventure!

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful meditation
Review: I love this book -- it is a beautifully written meditation on what it is like to get older and wiser. Strauss chose rowing to lead him through his mid life changes; his experiences could translate to any endeavor, athletic or not, that a person on the verge of a life change can undertake. I heartily recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: The personal saga empowers the rower and the reader.
Review: I was surprised by how much I loved Barry Strauss's Rowing Against the Current. Although it's not meant to be the main course, I was smitten by the personal saga interwoven with the passionate and scholarly initiation into the history and technique of rowing and the unfolding drama of the powerful tug of the water's spell. This little book scrapes the clay off the feet of men and women who approach mid-life athletics with the same trepidation that anchored them to the sidelines in elementary school sports, the last to be chosen for any team. As the story progresses, the reader roots for the middle aged loosening of the harness of schoolyard gender constrictions as the athletic leftover of a boy becomes the multifaceted man. Strauss is a generous and complex writer who invites you into his childhood athletic struggles as seemingly effortlessly as he accompanies you to the boathouse, drinking in the sounds and smells at dawn, or ushers you into an art gallery brimming with images of boats on water- all in support of sharing his passion for sculling and the process of becoming a rower. Skillfully linking the modern rowers tensions and relational harmony with ancient male bonding rituals, Strauss translates the stories of Greek rowers in poetry as if anyone could. But he comforts the aspiring athlete in each of us who has participated as a beginner in any sport that looks so easy when done by the pros when he confesses: "Rowing was not simple for me. I nodded whenever the instructor made a point, as if I understood, but I could as easily have assembled the space shuttle as repeated the moves she was explaining." Strauss's self deprecating humor may be the slice of this book that resonates with many of our own armored adult convictions of who we are, but his reverence for the pull of the water and unsentimental questioning of his own niche in the world as well as his writer's eye and often lyrical prose not only make his book an experiential and compelling read, but an offering of who we may yet become. Even for those of us who have no proven intention of working out before daybreak, pledging our souls to the water or losing our balance in a long skinny shell, the reader closes the book with a smile and the feeling that the doors of possibility have opened.

Rating:
Summary: A witty and heartfelt story about conquering vulnerability.
Review: Rowing a single scull is the essence of vulnerability: you're perched atop a rolling seat in a featherweight hull, above the waterline and facing backwards! Now try to move this contraption forward (it seems backwards) without swamping the boat or ramming into something. Now try to do all this in a race down a river that meanders for several miles. Strangely, it's possible to learn to do all this -- and to enjoy it.

Barry Strauss, in a witty and heartfelt story, shares with his readers all the appeal and fear that sculling creates. He weaves his own motives and impressions with a rich history of rowing that reaches back to the ancient Greeks -- whose culture he celebrates as a history professor. And he constantly surprises his readers with insights and observations: about life, America's sports culture, family and friendships, and the special world of "messing about in boats."

In my spare time, I row and also write about the sport so I appreciate Strauss's spirited approach to both rowing and writing. His odyssey is a masterpiece!

Rating:
Summary: This book will make you think
Review: Rowing Against the Current is one of those books that grabs you.

I'm not sure whether its the mixture of gritty reality and academic pondering, the ability of the writer to bring to life the minutia of coming to and mastering a new sport, a wake up call to the 40 something who feels they can do more, or just the ease of writing style that pulls you along. I am a fan of the short book, and this one I enjoyed.

Don't read it because you have any expectations, read it because you need a fresh view on a man's ability, attitude, and discovery of a new love. This is not a book about rowing, there's much more to it than that.