Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book is an excellent history of the US space program in the 1960s from the view point of one of the major players in it, astronaut Michael Collins. Full of fascinating detail and very engaging.
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I think the view from 100,000 miles could be invaluable in getting people together to work out joint solutions, by causing them to realise that the planet we share unites us in a way far more basic, and far more important than differences in skin colour or religion or economic systems.
Chapter 14, Carrying the Fire
Late last year I went to see the Apollo 11 docufilm in cinemas, and it reignited an interest in space travel and the Apollo missions in particular that had laid dormant for a long time - I picked up a couple of books, including this one, but my reading was stagnating pretty heavily and so I never got around to them - I just watched a lot of documentaries and played a lot of Kerbal Space Program.
With the recent test launch and of the Demo-2 and docking at the ISS which I watched with rapt interest, along with rewatching the Apollo 11 docufilm, my interest was reignited once again to coincide with my getting a new Audible credit, so I picked Carrying the Fire up after my mate Stairs recommended it.
I very much enjoyed this - the audio is easy listening and well told, and Collins' authorial voice feels very authentic and down to earth (no pun intended). He comes across as an eminently normal guy who just happened to go to space, as if this entire audio book could be a conversation you were having over beers and a schnitzel at the pub - us listening in abject awe as he describes his beginnings as a test pilot, the Gemini missions, and finally the Apollo 11 mission where he remained in orbit over the moon whilst Armstrong and Aldrin went on down.
Collins says early on that he doesn't like the idea of ghost writers because something is always lost in the transmittal from subject to writer to work. In this case I'm very glad that he wrote it himself, it felt like a far more genuine look back at his career than it would have otherwise - I'm sure a ghost writer would have played up the drama of it all while Collins is quick to emphasize that there was nothing really that glamorous about the space program, despite its incredible achievements.
A very interesting listen for sure. I share Collins' desire that we return to the moon, and further - published back in 1974, he was hopeful for the chances of humanity reaching for Mars within his lifetime. He's still going, so I sincerely hope that we can reach that goal for him.
Such a fantastic recounting of one of my favorite historical events, plus I learned a lot about the Gemini missions. Mike Collins does a great job of writing for those of us who aren't test pilots or astronauts. Really worth the read, may he rest in peace.
He's sounds like a chauvinist but he was born in the 1930 so... sadly expected. Fascinating book otherwise
This is my new favorite astronaut autobiography. Collins is a surprisingly good writer, both in his deft use of metaphor & simile, and in his meticulous attention to detail. I learned things about piloting Gemini and Apollo spacecraft that I had never read in others' books. The foreword and afterword were written for the 2009 edition, decades after the original book itself was composed. So in this version, you get the best of both worlds: the fresh after Apollo view and the time-worn, life-goes-on view. But both are inspirational in their way.
[Audiobook note: Good reader whose voice seems to fit the author well.]
[Audiobook note: Good reader whose voice seems to fit the author well.]