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A review by meliaraastiar
Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey by Michael Collins
The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing was this summer, so I read a few books about the event to celebrate!
You hear a lot about Neil and Buzz, but a lot less about Michael - the guy that was a huge part of the mission, but didn't get to actually land on the moon. Personally, I can't imagine coming so close and never actually reaching the surface - especially when he says he was told he could be assigned another mission and end up stepping on the moon himself. I can appreciate wanting to take more time for family, and I can only guess how stressful it was to be the one at home dealing with everything so your husband could spend years of overtime training, to then be put on an incredibly dangerous mission - and not see him at all for the few weeks before, the time of the mission, and the few weeks after.
While the book was interesting, I will say it's taken me about as long to write this review as it did to read the book. While the early astronauts were all known to be totally cocky men, and Michael was supposedly a little better, I still think he was (and still seems to be?) a little full of himself. But...if I was brilliant enough to be an astronaut with the equivalent of multiple degrees in difficult engineering and science, test pilot experience, and to get to orbit the moon, I'd probably feel a little entitled to some cockiness myself.
An interesting look at the lunar landing...although not the most fluid read. I think I read this book over the course of about 6 weeks I'll go 7 of 10 overall and 2 of 5 for readability.
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
-Holly
You hear a lot about Neil and Buzz, but a lot less about Michael - the guy that was a huge part of the mission, but didn't get to actually land on the moon. Personally, I can't imagine coming so close and never actually reaching the surface - especially when he says he was told he could be assigned another mission and end up stepping on the moon himself. I can appreciate wanting to take more time for family, and I can only guess how stressful it was to be the one at home dealing with everything so your husband could spend years of overtime training, to then be put on an incredibly dangerous mission - and not see him at all for the few weeks before, the time of the mission, and the few weeks after.
While the book was interesting, I will say it's taken me about as long to write this review as it did to read the book. While the early astronauts were all known to be totally cocky men, and Michael was supposedly a little better, I still think he was (and still seems to be?) a little full of himself. But...if I was brilliant enough to be an astronaut with the equivalent of multiple degrees in difficult engineering and science, test pilot experience, and to get to orbit the moon, I'd probably feel a little entitled to some cockiness myself.
An interesting look at the lunar landing...although not the most fluid read. I think I read this book over the course of about 6 weeks I'll go 7 of 10 overall and 2 of 5 for readability.
For more reviews, check out bedroopedbookworms.wordpress.com!
-Holly