Great literature? No. But a great story? Yes! There is that group of people in the world that labor ceaselessly, obsessively for no reason other than their passion. The rowers in Halberstam's book are in this group. The book spends a lot of time discussing the individual personalities of the rowers vying for the single sculls spot representing the US in the 1984 Olympics. There is not a normal person in the bunch, although this is not an indictment. It takes a "special" person to be a good sculler, apparently. Americans have seen this kind of obsessive passion in running and other sports, but rowing appears to be a whole 'nother level of focus.
Book #6- All The Light We Cannot See - *****
Every so often you discover a heck of a writer you knew nothing about. Someone who is an excellent storyteller and an excellent prose writer. Doerr is one of those writers that comes along rarley. Not since Mark Helprin's "In Sunlight and In Shadow" have I read a book with such beautiful, entrancing descriptive narrative. The plot is never really that important in such books - they capture the essence of what is good about life. A don't miss read.
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