好書推薦： 'The Boys In the Boat' by Daniel James Brown

一連讀了好些本曆史小說，這次終於換了本non-fiction的非小說類。 "The Boys in the Boat" 是一本傳記，記錄的是華盛頓大學賽艇隊九位大學生一步步邁向1936年柏林奧運奪金的真實故事。

我不是體育迷，對這類運動勵誌的故事一向興趣缺缺。 但吸引我的是故事的曆史背景：美國的經濟大恐慌（慘烈！），柏林奧運的籌備，戰前美國的社會變遷，東西兩岸的對比和交鋒，還有希特勒和其幕僚對輿論和宣傳的操縱。。。 作者很巧妙地從賽艇切入時代背景，以男主角Joe Rantz的成長和比賽曆程為整個時代的縮影，寫得絲絲入扣，居然叫我這個絕對的非體育迷都讀得津津有味。

老實說，賽艇對我實在很陌生，除了瞄過幾眼奧運會的賽艇highlight鏡頭，好像就沒怎麽認真看過賽艇比賽。 可是在當年，賽艇，尤其是長艇比賽，是頂尖大學非常重視的賽事，也是奧運會最受歡迎的項目之一。 傳統上，因為設備昂貴和場地設施的要求，賽艇是有錢人才玩得起的貴族運動。 最早開始賽艇比賽的，是牛津和劍橋兩所頂尖學校；傳到美國後，也基本上被常春藤名校壟斷，直到加州大學後來居上。 

華盛頓大學的這支校隊和東部名校權貴子弟組成的賽艇隊簡直是雲泥之別－－9位大學生都來自藍領勞工階層的家庭，成長於美國曆史上最令人絕望的經濟大蕭條背景下。 在應付繁重的學業同時，他們每天堅持3小時以上風雨無阻的高強度訓練，還要辛苦地靠各種工資菲薄的課餘半工來維持生活和學費。 但就是這種吃苦耐勞的勁頭和鍛煉出的強健體魄，加上過人的勇氣和毅力，令他們從眾多好手中脫穎而出，並且發展出深刻的友情和團隊精神，真正做到八漿合一，齊心協力。 先打敗西岸的強勁競爭對手，再擊退東岸的精英隊伍，最後代表美國參賽柏林奧運，過關斬將，戰勝種種不利，擊敗全世界的頂尖好手，終至奪冠。

意氣風發的奧運賽艇隊。前排是舵手coxswain Bob Moch，後排第二就是Joe Rantz. 


勝利的一刻！美國隊在最外，風最大的第六道，相差第二（意大利）第三（德國）不到一秒。


故事一開始先科普，來個下馬威－－賽艇這項運動可不是悠悠然在小河中晃蕩。 “Physiologists, in fact, have calculated that rowing a two-thousand-meter race—the Olympic standard—takes the same physiological toll as playing two basketball games back-to-back. And it exacts that toll in about six minutes.”

故事的主角，Joe Rantz，真是個苦孩子：母親早逝，父親再婚後遇上了大蕭條，家道艱難，繼母不容於他，把他趕出家門。 才15歲就要靠雙手自己養活自己，Joe在山林中采摘蘑菇，入溪流偷獵三文魚，當街頭藝人賣唱，給鄰居伐木、蓋屋頂。。。甚至還偷酒賣。 生活如此坎坷，他還是維持一等一的功課，順利進入華盛頓大學，一邊打工，晚上還要在YMCA做清潔工以換取簡陋的住宿。 窮到什麽程度？

"He showed up every day in the same rumpled sweater, the only one he owned, and almost every day there were snide remarks about it int he locker room.  "Hobo Joe," the boys snickered ... Joe took to arriving early to change into his rowing clothes before the others showed up."  讀來實在太心酸了（這是最初期的賽艇隊，大部分是少爺們，不過175人一個月後就被殘酷的訓練淘汰至80人，然後再被砍一半，最後的奧運賽隊九個都是窮孩子出身。）

Joe的堅忍、刻苦為他贏得了賽艇隊的珍貴一席；但單打獨鬥慣了，他堅信一切靠自己，這種自我保護、不合群的‘獨行俠’特質卻成為賽艇隊的阻礙。 “Where is the spiritual value of rowing? . . . The losing of self entirely to the cooperative effort of the crew as a whole.”  在教練和造船師的引導下，Joe逐漸學會放下自我、信任隊友，繼而發展出全團的友誼和默契，這也是這支團隊最令人敬仰的一點：九位大男孩同舟共濟、全心付出，不是為了追求個人英雄、自我榮耀，而是在彼此的尊重和信賴中團結一心，榮辱與共。 對比如今社會高舉自我意識的旗幟，Joe和隊友們最感念最推崇的合作精神實在值得我們欣賞和深思。

作者的文筆詳實、生動，渲染力十足，特別是有關比賽現場的描述，栩栩如生，真的令人仿佛置身其境，沒想到對賽艇完全外行的我也能讀的熱血沸騰。 而且就算知道結局，還是激動到一邊讀一邊跟老公直叫，“好緊張！好緊張！” 

巨細靡遺是作者的優點，但也是缺點。 書裏不厭其煩地描述Joe在四年大學生涯裏的大大小小每一場比賽，唯恐掛萬漏一，但一般非賽艇迷的讀者經不起一而再再而三的疲勞轟炸，難免會讀到膩。 這實在要怪editor的不負責不專業，難道現在都沒有editor會拿紅筆大段大段的畫叉叉了？ 這本書如果砍掉一百來頁，該是更吸引人、更經典的一本書。

無論如何，這部運動勵誌的故事超級霹靂推薦給各位，尤其是家裏有夢想有衝勁的青少年，可以讀青少年版本的。

除了全書超級強調的團隊精神，還有不少值得我們效仿這組超級賽艇隊的優秀品質：

* 專心。 船槳入水的一刻開始，所有隊員的心中就要隔絕雜念，“Your thoughts must be directed to you and your own boat, always positive, never negative.” 

* 正麵態度。 別浪費精力怨恨不如意不公平的待遇。 盡管生活艱難，依然不要吝惜你的笑容，不要猶豫對陌生人伸出友誼的手。 “It takes energy to get angry. It eats you up inside.  I can't waste my energy like that and expect to get ahead... I have to stay focused.” 

* 意誌力。 人生不是贏在起跑線的一場短跑，而是一場超級馬拉鬆。 麵對逆境和困阻，那些不屈不饒的人從每一次的挑戰中學習、成長，隻要目標明確、方向正確，專心致誌地拚搏下去，我們都可以在生命的航道上劃出最燦爛的軌跡。 

* 還有勇氣、決心、刻苦、堅持等等，就更不用說了。 看他們日複一日在淒風苦雨中苦練的艱辛，真要有超人意誌力才能完成。 讀完本書，真叫人有趕快去gym體驗劃船機的衝動。

節選幾段：

“It is hard to make that boat go as fast as you want to. The enemy, of course, is resistance of the water, as you have to displace the amount of water equal to the weight of men and equipment, but that very water is what supports you and that very enemy is your friend. So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them. —George Yeoman Pocock” 

“It wasn't just the rowing but his crewmates that he had to give himself up to, even if it meant getting his feelings hurt. Pocock paused and looked up at Joe. ‘If you don't like some fellow in the boat, Joe, you have to learn to like him. It has to matter to you whether he wins the race, not just whether you do.’” 

“They were now representatives of something much larger than themselves - a way of life, a shared set of values. Liberty was perhaps the most fundamental of those values. But the things that held them together - trust in each other, mutual respect, humility, fair play, watching out for one another - those were also part of what America meant to all of them.” 

“Perhaps the seeds of redemption lay not just in perseverance, hard work, and rugged individualism. Perhaps they lay in something more fundamental—the simple notion of everyone pitching in and pulling together.” 

“He suggested that Joe think of a well-rowed race as a symphony, and himself as just one player in the orchestra. If one fellow in an orchestra was playing out of tune, or playing at a different tempo, the whole piece would naturally be ruined. That's the way it was with rowing. What mattered more than how hard a man rowed was how well everything he did in the boat harmonized with what the other fellows were doing.”

“The trick would be to find which few of them had the potential for raw power, the nearly superhuman stamina, the indomitable willpower, and the intellectual capacity necessary to master the details of technique. And which of them, coupled improbably with all those other qualities, had the most important one: the ability to disregard his own ambitions, to throw his ego over the gunwales, to leave it swirling in the wake of his shell, and to pull, not just for himself, not just for glory, but for the other boys in the boat.” 

“And he came to understand how those almost mystical bonds of trust and affection, if nurtured correctly, might lift a crew above the ordinary sphere, transport it to a place where nine boys somehow became one thing - a thing that could not quite be defined, a thing that was so in tune with the water and the earth and the sky above that, as they rowed, effort was replaced by ecstasy. It was a rare thing, a sacred thing, a thing devoutly to be hoped for.”