Journal Entry 1 by BC-08041015142 on Sunday, August 13, 2006

This is another great read. Andrew Smith sets out on a journey to interview and talk to the remaining 9 men alive who have walked on the moon. The book is crammed full of interesting facts and figures - like the fact that only 24 men have ever been in deep space or the astronauts who went to the moon and back were low-paid civil servants who received only $8 per day per diem with a deduction for "accommodation" (on board Apollo!!). On occassions Smith can wander off into musings and sub-conversation details, but on the whole his chats with the astronauts are eye opening revelations.

I was born the year after the Apollo programme ended and have only ever seen the moon landings in a historical context. This book really helps bring the whole process to life and make you realise just how little the astronauts taking that first "giant leap" really knew about the place they were going to.

The book also addresses the conspiracy theories surrounding the moon landings and how these affect the astronauts (especially Armstrong and Aldrin) and how the space trips affected the women and children left behind on Earth.

It feels like the book loses its focus part-way through, but it quickly gets back on track. Interestingly enough I also have Andrew Chaiken's oft-referred-to book, A Man on the Moon on Mt Toobie. It will make interesting reading after this book. 

Journal Entry 2 by BC-08041015142 on Sunday, August 13, 2006

This book is off on a BOOKRING! The participants are ...

* Flanners
* PatchworkPerson
* Droogie
* Wilksie
* jesdmom
* IoJima
* Londonmet
* Vauxhall Crosser
* Scotsbookie
* KathyS
* Spike1972 

Journal Entry 3 by BC-08041015142 at n/a in n/a, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, August 13, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (8/13/2006 UTC) at n/a in n/a, Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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Sent to Flanners to kick off this bookring 

Journal Entry 4 by flanners from Havant, Hampshire United Kingdom on Friday, August 18, 2006

Really looking forward to reading this, thanks. 

Journal Entry 5 by flanners from Havant, Hampshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 05, 2006

What a fabulous book – I couldn’t put it down, dreamt about it night and felt utterly bereft when I finally finished it! It contained a wealth of technical detail, fascinating information (female astronauts in ’63 – who’d a thunk it?) and wonderfully absorbing trivia, all presented in a clear and accessible manner. But this was only the half of it – alongside this was an examination of the most profound and timeless questions that humankind has ever grappled with. What is it all for? What does it all mean?

I loved Smith’s writing style, the way he addressed the Cold War, the Left Seat/Right Seat concept, the wives’ stories, the engineer/scientist conflict, JFK and his legacy, Kubrick, family dynamics, the future of space travel, music, the hoax theory, the omnipresent Thus Spake Zarathustra, and of course, the toilet arrangements! The notion that the 6os were somehow a decade from the twenty first century and that the moon landings happened ‘too early’, is immensely intriguing. I had never appreciated quite the level of risk the Apollo programme operated under, with what seems to us now laughably primitive equipment; witness Gene Cernan’s comment that ‘you’ve got more technology under the dash of that rental car you’re driving than I had going to the moon.’ Luck and ingenuity played vital roles in the success of the outcome: when Buzz Aldrin accidentally snapped a key used to arm the Apollo 11 ascent engine, thereby condemning him and Armstrong to death, the day was saved by jamming a pen into the lock! And the lunar story is studded with similar details.

Aside from the technicalities, the historical aspects that struck me most forcibly were the theory that the Apollo programme saved us from an otherwise inevitable war against the Communist powers, one of the wives’ comment that, tough though it was being married to an astronaut, if it wasn’t for NASA he’d be flying missions in Korea, which was even worse; and how ‘cheap’ the Moon voyages were compared to the total bill for the Vietnam War.

The author seems uniquely equiped to write this book – having lived in the US at the time of the moon landings, he experienced them directly as part of the excitement of an all-American childhood, but he benefits also from a more dispassionate perspective, filtered through an English sensibility informed by punk and Thatcher’s Britain. The ironic parallel between his subjects’ struggle to find new challenges in their post-Apollo existence, and the difficulty he senses he will encounter seeking another project to absorb and engage him after finishing his book, is beautifully conveyed.

The one aspect of the book that left me unsatisfied was the lack of illustrations. I longed to see these men’s faces again, and would love to contrast then with more recent photos. However, having said that, I’m not sure these wouldn’t have been a distraction. And after all, it’s easy enough to look them up on the net, as I certainly intend to do; I also plan to reacquaint myself with the Earthrise and Whole Earth pictures!

Coincidentally, I read Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon and A Voyage Around It earlier this year (it was V on my A-Z challenge) and hadn’t appreciated quite how prescient that was, so I have enjoyed that anew, retrospectively!

I will finish with my favourite (possibly apocryphal) space story, which wasn’t in the book but which I have no doubt Andrew Smith is familiar with. Faced with the problems of writing in zero gravity, NASA poured money and energy into a solution and came up with the prototype of the Rollerball pen. The Russians used a pencil.

Off to Patchwork Person next; hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

PS Just found out that Patchwork Person is away for a fortnight; with colanne’s permission I’ll send it to Droogie instead.

 

Journal Entry 6 by droogie from Nottingham, not specified not specified on Saturday, September 23, 2006

Thanks for sending this, I look forward to reading it, it's next on the pile... 

Journal Entry 7 by droogie from Nottingham, not specified not specified on Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A fascinating book and I loved the details of how improvised a lot of the landings were. It's amazing what they achieved (or did they ;P ) and the different ways in which the astronauts were affected by it all. 

Journal Entry 8 by wilksie from Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Friday, November 10, 2006

Arrived this morning, thank you Droogie :-)
I'm looking forward to reading this. 

Journal Entry 9 by wilksie from Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Oh dear, I'm going to have to disagree with everyone's journal entries, I found this book to be very disappointing.
I was hoping Smith's rambling style would get better but then I read page 54 where Smith tells us that the moon doesn't spin (What? How can you write a book about the moon and make such a basic mistake?)I did try to carry on reading and managed another 100 pages but this book is so patchy - interesting in a few places and just waffle in others. I couldn't finish it, sorry.

Sending on to Jedsmom as soon as I get an address. 

Journal Entry 10 by wilksie from Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Monday, December 04, 2006

Sorry to hang on to this book for so long.
Jedsmom is busy and wanted to be skipped, Iojima is next but then I was reading another ring book that went on to her so I hung on to this one so I could post them together. My apologies, I didn't realise how long I had kept this one.
Anyway, posted to Iojima this morning :-) 

Journal Entry 11 by Iojima from Nyons, Rhône-Alpes France on Thursday, December 07, 2006

Arrived this morning, thank you very much. Not too long ago, I re-read "The Right Stuff," so I've been looking forward to this one. Hmm, glad Wilksie warned me of the mistake; my science isn't very good. Neither is my tolerance for rambling. We shall see. :-) 

Journal Entry 12 by Iojima from Nyons, Rhône-Alpes France on Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Excellent. So many threads to the story and he got them all. Like Flanners, I wish there'd been pictures, though. I found his conclusions eminently satisfying: not science, not security, not good sense -- but a sort of theatre that fulfills a basic, human need. In the end, very uplifting. (I found the saddest thing in the whole book the visit he made to the house where he lived when the first landing happened. The stream behind the house, where he used to spend hours catching frogs and newts, is now fenced off because the woman who lives there thinks it may be dangerous for her children.) 

Journal Entry 13 by londonmet from London , Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, January 08, 2007

Received today, along with an unexpected RABCK!
Looking forward to reading this one. 

Journal Entry 14 by VauxhallCrosser from Redbridge, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Received by hand from Londonmet yesterday. it has gone straight to the top of my read pile. Once finished I propose to contact jedsmom, to see if they would like to be put 'back in the loop' or if not, I'll send on to scotsbookie. Thanks for starting the ring. I'm looking forward to learning more about Mr. Aldrin, who is one of my heroes. 

Journal Entry 15 by VauxhallCrosser from Redbridge, Greater London United Kingdom on Sunday, May 06, 2007

Started reading this at the weekend as soon as I finished my previous ring book. It seems very well written so far, I like the style of the author. I'll journal once it's ready to be on its way. 

Journal Entry 16 by VauxhallCrosser from Redbridge, Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, June 25, 2007

Finished at the weekend. a good read. While I was reading this I happened to see the film "Apollo 13" and it made the whole thing more vivid. All I need now is to see "The right stuff" and I'll be happy. Contacted PatchworkPerson, who was missed out earlier to see if they can have it now, if not, jedmom is next followed by the person who is actually after me on the ring, scotsbookie I think. 

Journal Entry 17 by scotsbookie from Peebles, Scotland United Kingdom on Monday, July 02, 2007

Passed on to me at the UCon by vauxhallcrosser. #1 on mount toobie. 

Journal Entry 18 by scotsbookie from Peebles, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, July 12, 2007

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, a fascinating look at the lives of the astronauts post Apollo lives. As an added extra it gave me a few points while watching University Challenge this week as there were questions I could only answer after reading this book :) Other half was impressed.

Just off to PM KathyS for her details.

Thank you Colanne for the chance to read the book. 

Journal Entry 19 by scotsbookie at A fellow bookcrosser in By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, July 14, 2007

Released 4 yrs ago (7/14/2007 UTC) at A fellow bookcrosser in By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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On its way to KathyS. Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 20 by KathyS on Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Arrived safely this morning and next TBR after my current Harry Potter read!!! I hope I won't be too long getting to this but those HP books are HUGE!! 

Journal Entry 21 by KathyS on Wednesday, September 05, 2007

I really tried to get past the first 100 pages, but the book just didn't grip me enough. As Colanne said, it seemed to lose it's focus someway in and it didn't hold my interest enough to get me past that and into the bulk of the book. Obviously my Harry Potter adventure has spoilt me for anything else at the moment!

I shall post this off to Spike1972 asap and thanks for sharing Colanne. 

Journal Entry 22 by KathyS at Posted to the next participant in Royal Mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Released 4 yrs ago (9/5/2007 UTC) at Posted to the next participant in Royal Mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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On it's way to Spike1972. Enjoy :O) 

Journal Entry 23 by spike1972 from Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom on Saturday, September 08, 2007

Arrived yesterday

Edit 21/9/07

I started this yesterday. At lest I think it was yesterday.. 

Journal Entry 24 by spike1972 from Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom on Monday, October 15, 2007

I apologise for having this for so long, and the gap in between my reading it and getting to do this journal entry (hence I may not write some things that I might have when the book was 'fresh' in my mind, but I guess I can always come back later if needs be.

Anyway, to begin with I agree entirely with Colanne when she says in her JE

" The book is crammed full of interesting facts and figures - like the fact that only 24 men have ever been in deep space or the astronauts who went to the moon and back were low-paid civil servants who received only $8 per day per diem with a deduction for "accommodation" (on board Apollo!!). On occassions Smith can wander off into musings and sub-conversation details, but on the whole his chats with the astronauts are eye opening revelations."

I too found a point in the book where I wasn't so much frustrated at the author's ramblings - I like to think he was giving us background info - but I did find myself often thinking "Come on, just get on with talking to the astronauts".

There were a lot of things I found out from this book that I didn't know, had forgotten or just simply wasn't aware of, but I do, like others, find it amazing the seeming lack of technology that they went up with, in comparison to what goes on today.

I don't know if it's true but I've heard it said that some mobile phones are more powerful than the computers they used at the time.

There's a lot to this book that makes you think, which I guess can only be a good thing.

Thanks Colanne, I'll try and get this back on its way to you soon.