Television – Finding My Wings

Coming to a small screen near you – Part 3 ‘The Boys in the Boat’

Earlier today I saw a news article announcing that PBS’s American Experience will premiere a one-hour documentary, The Boys of ’36, inspired by Daniel James Brown’s history The Boys in the Boat on August 2 at 9 ET. Before the Olympics were professional games, before performance enhancing drugs and huge endorsement deals, the Olympics often involved both politics and pride. This show should be “must see TV” so mark it on your calendar and set the DVR. For more information click here.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, (Viking, 2013)
In 40 words or less: Traces the University of Washington rowers who captured 1936 Olympic gold despite personal and financial hardships, and East Coast bias. Plan to be schooled in team-building, boat-building, the history of the Depression and the rise of Nazi Germany.
Genre: History
Locale: US (primarily Washington) and Germany
Time: 1930s
Read this! The narrative is gripping, the language is lyrical and the individual stories grab you. You will be sorry if you don’t.

The glory of the Olympics has been tarnished in recent years, but the stories of individual and team athletic achievements remain compelling. The U.S. hero of the 1936 Olympics was Jesse Owens. The target of prejudice and singled out beforehand as a target, he beat the best track stars the Third Reich had to offer.

Virtually lost in history (except in Washington), was the extraordinary saga of the University of Washington’s 8 man rowing team. In the middle of the Depression, these sons of loggers and farmers, many of whom had never rowed before, joined the team as a means of pursuing their education.

Since the publication of Daniel James Brown’s book three years ago, the attention on the story of these rowers and the difficulty of their achievement at that time in American history has come to widespread public attention. Until that time, rowing was dominated by the East Coast Ivy League teams, generally made up of the well-to-do. The West Coast, and more particularly, Washington, was deemed a backwater, of little concern to the Eastern Establishment in more than just sports. Brown lays out the extreme difficulty of life during the Depression in the Pacific Northwest.

In following their path to Berlin, which included a train ride through the Dust Bowl, the reader is caught up in multiple elements of U.S. history of that period. As vital to the story is Germany’s plan to use the Olympics to further its political ends. The extensive motion picture propaganda campaign developed for the Olympics was the first of its kind. It is all laid out in the book.

Brown’s presentation will capture even the most reluctant reader of nonfiction. I can’t imagine what it is, but some of the very best narrative nonfiction writing of the last decade has come from the Seattle area, courtesy of Daniel James Brown and Erik Larson (In the Garden of Beasts and Dead Wake). And for those who’d like to share this incredible story with a younger or reluctant reader, this is an adapted version with abridged language and more manageable length (250 pages versus 400).

Many of you have likely read The Boys in the Boat and shared it with friends, family, and other readers. With the Olympics beginning in a just a few weeks, this is the perfect time to bring this great story to those who may have missed it.

Reading offers perspective when terror strikes

November 13, the day that Paris exploded, was my birthday. And shortly after the early news reports confirmed the extent of the terror, I turned off the television. Most of the weekend was spent reading. Living in the DC area, staying on top of the news is as much a part of life as ridiculous traffic.

I can no longer spend endless hours glued to the repetition of the same information. While the terrorists attacked the lives and livelihoods of the citizens of Brussels, the ripples of their actions wound everyone seeing the reports.

Daily news reports talk of isolationism, interventionists, refugee crises and political intractability. Reading Erik Larson’s Dead Wake about the last voyage of the Lusitania and Churchhill’s calculated effort to bring the US into WWI brings to mind President Wilson’s policy of isolation which only changed after many American lives were lost in the sinking of the ship. This echoes some of today’s political rhetoric.

In Epitaph, Mary Doria Russell’s compelling historical novel about the circumstances leading up to the shootout at the OK Corral, the Republicans and Democrats have vastly different approaches to border issues between Mexico and the Arizona territory. Some of the politicians turn a blind eye to the incursions of rustling cowboys and the killing parties across the border. The lack of cooperation among the parties and the border economic and political issues are all too familiar.

George Santayana is credited with saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Whether I am reading fiction or narrative nonfiction, I remain alert to the lessons shared. If anything, my reading gives me a much better perspective on the extraordinary domestic and foreign policy challenges we face as Americans.

As the day that changed Belgium forever ends, I watch the late news because information is power. And then there are the rare stories of people reaching out to help strangers, a reminder that when we treat each other with kindness rather than hate good can and will happen.

Coming to a (small) screen near you! Part 2 – The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Getting a chance to read an upcoming title before the critics have weighed in is a real treat. I was fortunate to snag a copy of Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers the summer before its publication in 2011. Hoffman imagines the final days of the 900 person Jewish community on the mountain top of Masada in 70 CE as the Romans came to destroy them. Told through the eyes of four strong women, it is a novel of personal challenges, love and magic – all traits that run through much of Hoffman’s work. The only contemporaneous account of the tragic destruction of the community was by Josephus, and that has been called into question by many scholars.

I loved the pacing of the book and its ties to the changing seasons and natural elements. I could feel the dry heat of the mountain and the dust on my feet as I read. Each of the women had a distinctive voice and look that stayed with me throughout the novel. Magical realism doesn’t usually carry me away but I was prepared to stay on the journey to follow the story to its end. A long read, it is worth the effort. It is nice to have an earthbound story completely different in time and setting with very strong female characters.

On March 31 and April 1 (right before Passover and Easter) CBS will show a version of the The Dovekeepers. Having watched the trailer it’s clear it will differ quite a bit from the book. So what’s a reader to do? Well, if you’ve had The Dovekeepers on your to-be-read (TBR) pile, I’d get cracking. Once you’ve seen a director’s take on a book it can be difficult to create your own mental imagery, even if the plot lines and characters don’t match up. Roma Downey of Touched by An Angel and The Bible fame brings a very definite perspective to her work, one very different from that of the author.

So, will I watch The Dovekeepers on TV? Well, my guess is it will be on in the background as I prepare my kitchen for the upcoming holiday. Having watched the trailer, I’m glad the actors aren’t all speaking upper crust Victorian English. Imagination can only take me so far.

Interested in Part 1 – The Book of Negroes/Someone Knows My Name? Find it here!

Coming to a (small) screen near you! Part 1- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Huh? “What is The Book of Negroes?” you say. “I’m sure I’d have remembered a book with that title!” Therein lies the story. Lawrence Hill, a Canadian author, published The Book of Negroes in 2007. This historical novel quickly garnered critical acclaim and popular recognition, winning awards and being selected by the CBC-radio for its “Read Canada” event. The book tells the story of Aminata, a young girl stolen from Africa in the 1700’s and enslaved in South Carolina. She escapes and heads to Manhattan and aids the British during the American Revolution, serving as the scribe for the Book of Negroes, the registry of those freed slaves the British promise to award land for their assistance in fighting the colonists during the Revolution. Every day of her life she worked to better herself, a truly compelling character.

The Book of Negroes is an actual historical document and becomes a pivotal part of the story. It is the connotation of the title that is so off-putting. We just don’t say that. So when the book was released in the US in 2008 the title was changed to Someone Knows My Name. The book has been brought to television with CBC (Canada) and BET (US) as the primary producers. It has already premiered in Canada and will be shown on BET February 16 to 18. This is BET’s first miniseries ever. http://www.bet.com/shows/the-book-of-negroes.html

Lawrence Hill has created a wonderful and well-written story in this, his first novel. This success has traversed borders, raising the controversial question, “What’s in a name?” When the book was published in the Netherlands in 2011 there were threats to burn the book over its title. Hill responded that the controversy is part of the message to be learned from the story.

I am excited at the prospect of watching the miniseries. My past experience with CBC productions has been quite positive. There’s still time to enter Aminata’s world on your own terms before you watch the show. My copy has traveled through many hands since I first read it and discussed it with a book group. Someone Knows My Name/The Book of Negroes is a good example of historical fiction that expands your understanding of history through the life story of its characters.

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