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44 reviews for:
Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space
Stephen Walker
4.43 AVERAGE
44 reviews for:
Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space
Stephen Walker
4.43 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Great anecdotes and details behind all of the players involved. We listened on audiobook, which was helpful for the pronunciation of the Russian names. I only have it three stars because I feel like it circled back several times and repeated itself on various points: how secretive the Russians were (yes, we get it) or how well-liked one cosmonaut was (yes, you’ve mentioned it several times.) With better editing, the book could have been a third shorter and delivered a stronger punch instead of being drawn out as it was. Overall, a worthwhile listen.
(3.75 stars...maybe?) Honestly, I hardly know anything about space and space history. Not my thing. However, I wanted to read up a little more on the space race because of the Cold War and Soviet Union and all. It's pretty difficult to find more readily available books on the Soviet side of the story. I have almost conflicting feelings about this book because on one hand it's very unbiased and balanced, but on the other I kind of start feeling all sick inside when I read books that are clearly written in consideration of a general audience. The gargantuan size of the text on the page alone could have made me start sweating profusely if I were any weaker. The horror. I'm not sure how much I was averse to was actually down to the formatting rather than the writing.
One of the biggest things that struck me throughout what I learnt from this was the sheer amount of cruelty and abuse of animals that space exploration results in. There is a horrifically dark side to it that is almost completely brushed over. Everyone knows about Laika, but she was only one of hundreds that have suffered and died in the name of extraterrestrial travel. Not only in the process of being sent to space, but also through the torture of sickening trials that tested the limits of living creatures' thresholds. The potential astronauts and cosmonauts were also put through hell, but at least this was mainly consensual. Yet there is also the tragic case told of Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko, who was killed by 3rd degree full body burns resulting from an accident that occurred in a trial where he was locked in a chamber for days alone. It's worth asking whether all the effort just to get into space is worth it for the strife and harm that it requires.
Although by the title and description of the book it seems to focus on the life of Yuri Gagarin, that's actually not really the case. More so, it recounts the selection of the men who would be chosen as candidates both in the USA and USSR for space exploration, and what the science teams did to prepare for this.
I did learn a lot, but I just found it a little bit underdeveloped and too simplified. Did you know there is a fucking crater on the moon named after Wernher von Braun? Yes...for some reason, the United States thought it was a fantastic idea to name a moon crater after that Nazi fuck who created the V-2 rocket missile. Eep.
One of the biggest things that struck me throughout what I learnt from this was the sheer amount of cruelty and abuse of animals that space exploration results in. There is a horrifically dark side to it that is almost completely brushed over. Everyone knows about Laika, but she was only one of hundreds that have suffered and died in the name of extraterrestrial travel. Not only in the process of being sent to space, but also through the torture of sickening trials that tested the limits of living creatures' thresholds. The potential astronauts and cosmonauts were also put through hell, but at least this was mainly consensual. Yet there is also the tragic case told of Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko, who was killed by 3rd degree full body burns resulting from an accident that occurred in a trial where he was locked in a chamber for days alone. It's worth asking whether all the effort just to get into space is worth it for the strife and harm that it requires.
Although by the title and description of the book it seems to focus on the life of Yuri Gagarin, that's actually not really the case. More so, it recounts the selection of the men who would be chosen as candidates both in the USA and USSR for space exploration, and what the science teams did to prepare for this.
I did learn a lot, but I just found it a little bit underdeveloped and too simplified. Did you know there is a fucking crater on the moon named after Wernher von Braun? Yes...for some reason, the United States thought it was a fantastic idea to name a moon crater after that Nazi fuck who created the V-2 rocket missile. Eep.
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
I don't normally like non fiction but I found this book about the space race of the 1960s to be very engaging.
It's a tale of how the USSR and USA battled to become the first nation to send a man into space.
I was surprisingly quite affected reading about the animals that were experimented with, and who were sent to space ahead of the humans.
A very engaging book, well worth a read for anyone interested in the topic.
It's a tale of how the USSR and USA battled to become the first nation to send a man into space.
I was surprisingly quite affected reading about the animals that were experimented with, and who were sent to space ahead of the humans.
A very engaging book, well worth a read for anyone interested in the topic.