On the Water - Historical Fiction

Not much goes on rowing wise in the winter besides cross training or erging for those who like to row and go nowhere. I have been averaging 10 minutes on the erg every other week. It is not my favorite thing to do.

I'm currently reading On the Water by H.M. van den Brink, translated from the Dutch by Paul Vincent. Set in Holland, 1939 this story is told from the perspective on a teen age boy from working-class parents who doesn't fit socially into the traditional rowing scene but he and another boy, David, are chosen to row in a pair.

Several moments when reading the descriptions of rowing I knew just what the author was saying. Some examples:

p 26 - "The chaos in my body was nothing compared with the chaos that eight bodies can cause collectively. "

p 31 - "I had the constant suspicion that I might be the hitherto undiscovered defective cog-wheel in our machine, and that once I was removed things were bound to go smoothly."

p 39 - describing being in the stoke seat of the pair for the first time - "But the dizzying emptiness in front of me, towards which I had to move at each stroke, was something I couldn't get used to immediately."

I'm half way though the book and have read in reviews that the pair have Olympic hopes. Does the war interfere with their dreams? I'll keep reading and encourage you to find that out yourself.