On the Water - Softcover

Van Den Brink, H. M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802138950 ISBN 13: 9780802138958

Publisher: Grove Press, 2002

Synopsis

A "powerful tale of romantic regret" (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer), Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001, and finalist for the French Prix Medicis, On the Water tells the poignant story of Anton and David, two oarsmen trained by a mysterious German coach in the golden Amsterdam summer of 1939. Anton stands on the banks of his beloved river years later, on the wintry eve of Holland's liberation, and mourns a lost world. David, his Jewish teammate and quiet obsession from that magical summer, has disappeared, and the boathouse is now derelict and deserted. Spare, lyrical, and nuanced, On the Water is quietly enormous, capturing a moment so precise and exact it is as if caught in amber -- a rowing club in Amsterdam and two of its competitors from very different backgrounds, set against the backdrop of the oncoming war. The menace of tragedy to come is subtly woven into the story of the two boys whose only concerns are practices, races, and themselves. In the end, all that is left for Anton is the memory of his supreme happiness that summer. "...beautiful, vivid writing...van den Brink describes the grace, ecstasy, and agony of rowing, the miracle of its teamwork harmony." -- Carmela Ciuraru, The Washington Post Book World "[A] small miracle of a book." -- Daniel Topolski, The Guardian

About this title

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Dutch

From Publishers Weekly

Rowing is a sport in which the athletes on a given team are so tightly intertwined that, during optimal performance, total synchronization occurs. The mental bond that exists between good rowers is a powerful one, and van den Brink's tight, precise novel, set in 1939 as two young men undergo rigorous crew training on a river in Holland, offers a beautiful example of one such union. The book's narrator is Anton, a reserved teenager whose father works in the town's train depot. Anton's working-class parents do not understand or fully support his commitment to the sport, but nonetheless he throws himself into an arduous routine of rowing, running and lifting weights all in an effort to cement his relationship with David, his two-man craft's other rower. Van den Brink presents David as Anton's antithesis: self-assured and affluent. David is completely at ease with the sport's highbrow, country club culture, and although the author does not provide much character detail, it is plain there is a sort of hierarchy in the boat, with David as leader and Anton as disciple, obsessively striving to please. Van den Brink shuttles between intimate descriptions of the duo's grueling practice sessions and races, and Anton's reminiscences many years later when he revisits the abandoned boathouse. This is a sensitively written and finely tuned work.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0802138950
• ISBN 13: 9780802138958
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 144