Rating: 
Summary: You've Just Got To Have This Book
Review: "first you have to row a little boat" is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. While it's fun to read, there is so much wisdom behind it. There are reflections that just make you stop reading and think about what was just said. Although you don't have to have sailed, or stepped into a row boat - it makes it more enjoyable if you have. I'm a sailor, and just love being on the water - make it a goal - to read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Just buy this book, you'll be glad you did.
Review: A very very good read.I read this first from the perspective of a yachtsman, but have read it now probably 7 or 8 times and still get a new appreciation every time. I guess if you are fortunate enough to have a boating background it makes sense in a different way, however the 'real life' approach to his writing is rewarding in itself. I have bought several copies of this book for others and universally it has been well received and enjoyed. Every time I row (my little boat) out to my (bigger) boat, I think about this this book. It has that kind of long lasting effect on you.
Rating:
Summary: Boating and self discovery.
Review: Boating and self discovery. One can lead to the other. Isn't that the wonderful thing about hobbies or passions? It's more than a boat... if you allow it.. are open to it.. it can serve as a catalyst for friendship, thought, and change. The author writes with humility, insight, and a heart warming openness. His journey has not been easy, nor is ours, but his words give us hope and inspiration. As I read I felt a sense of the beauty of life and the world around us. More than any other book I have read in the last few months.. I didn't want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Boating and self discovery.
Review: Boating and self discovery. One can lead to the other. Isn't that the wonderful thing about hobbies or passions? It's more than a boat... if you allow it.. are open to it.. it can serve as a catalyst for friendship, thought, and change. The author writes with humility, insight, and a heart warming openness. His journey has not been easy, nor is ours, but his words give us hope and inspiration. As I read I felt a sense of the beauty of life and the world around us. More than any other book I have read in the last few months.. I didn't want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Sailors & non-sailors will appreciate this fine book!
Review: Bode uses his obvious love for sailing as the basis for lifes' learning experiences, and it works to the point that everyone should be given a boat at birth! If only we could all have lived in his childhood to share those 'building blocks of life' in the first person, but this book is the next best thing. Sailors like myself gain even more from his experiences, because although we might have been there, Bodes grabs us back to that joy and disappointment, the thrill and inspiration that sailing has given us. If you haven't got the idea that I heartily recommend this book, perhaps my writing isn't as elequent as Bodes... buy this book!!
Rating:
Summary: Sailing as a metaphor for living a fulfilled life
Review: Bode's life-long love affair with sailing provides a vivid metaphor on living life to the fullest. The reader journeys from the author's childhood infatuation with boats and the sea, through his development and understanding
of the critical skills involved in navigating a sailing craft. As the progression from his first voyage in a rowboat to the masterful tacking of his blue-decked sloop unfolds, we are privy to the life lessons the author carefully weaves at each step along the way. An inspiring and wonderful little book that teaches us to maneuver with patience and resolve around the obstacles we encounter
in our own passage through life.
Rating:
Summary: Charming and thoughtful
Review: From Joan Mazza, author of DREAMING YOUR REAL SELF, DREAM BACK YOUR LIFE, FROM DREAMS TO DISCOVERY and THINGS THAT TICK ME OFF. Richard Bode has given us a beautiful book to savor and ponder. I read this straight through in one day-a rare event for me, since I always read several very different books at a time. FIRST YOU HAVE TO ROW A LITTLE BOAT had me totally engaged and I kept marking paragraphs and writing WOW in the margins. On page 145 he says, "If every man and woman were to take the meaning of their life and pursue it passionately, they would alter the social landscape overnight. In fact, that's how lasting revolutions are made-not by the raised arm of the masses, not by the military seizure of power, not by the political coup d'état, but by individuals asserting who they are one at a time." WOW. His use of sailing as metaphor worked beautifully for me, even though I don't sail. His comments (page 32) about listening to the wind instead of holding tightly to dogma and rigidity were eloquent bordering on poetry. Very inspiring.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever read...
Review: High praise for First You Have to Row a Little Boat! Although I am only 15, this book has touched me in many ways. I've been sailing as long as I can remember and the book was given to me as a gift by my sailing coach of many years. It is her favorite book and after reading it quickly became mine as well. The lessons are simple and true, it takes but a second to read and a lifetime to muster over. Richard Bode has created a nothing short of a masterpiece. Even for someone with little or none sailing experience, the lessons are universal and I'm sure you will find a deep connection to a much loved pastime. I find new things to marvel over everytime I read it, truly a book that won't collect dust.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I am a novice sailor and a skipper I sail with occasionally recommended this book. I just finished it. Really enjoyed it. I had a copy from the library but will place my order to buy this book - it's a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I am a novice sailor and a skipper I sail with occasionally recommended this book. I just finished it. Really enjoyed it. I had a copy from the library but will place my order to buy this book - it's a keeper.
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