Scan barcode
A review by bibliophilicjester
A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
2.0
the actual rating i'm going with is 1.5 stars, but i like to round those up so only books i find truly awful get a physical one star rating on goodreads. the rating system is flawed as hell. what system isn't, really?
i'll get it out of the way and say YES, i DO go into classic scifi expecting outdated views on gender roles and sexuality and other such things that are otherwise cringey to us in 2021. for me, i'd prefer a book with all dudes on the moon, no female characters at all. if their function is to be pretty OR the subject of jokes OR the only ones capable of preparing or delivering food...just leave them out. i think this could've been the same story maybe with a bus/boat/vessel? full of male academics. right? also, the words used to describe a fat character are unacceptable in any time, i think. it added nothing to the story, and if it was intended to be some sort of comic relief, it definitely didn't work for me.
BUT. all of that aside, it was just a boring story. the things the passengers do to distract themselves and pass the time are unfathomably dull. i know looking back from 2021, we would've all taken out our phones or tablets and would've been fine. but having that lens too look through, it seems like this story just didn't have much to it since we needed to spend so much time watching them keep busy. the only part i felt invested in a bit was when they started interrogating each other as to why they'd come to the moon in the first place. i'm not always a fan of character-driven stories, but if i'm going to spend all this time with the characters...make me care about them. at least ONE.
what annoyed me most was i think just the logic of the future in which these characters find themselves. in this world, we've sent manned missions to explore as far as pluto...but we can't figure out how to pull a ship out of a few meters of dust. it becomes even more unbelievable when that casual thing with the mountains happens (yes, i'm trying to be vague, but you know the bit if you've read it).
this is definitely meant to be a quiet story, but i didn't find it all that compelling. clarke is trying to build tension, and i just didn't feel it. i'm really claustrophobic, and for most of this book, i wasn't bothered at all.
if you love ancient parlor games and also engineering, you'll like this better than i did.
i'm still going to keep reading this author because i really did enjoy childhood's end (!!) and 2001 was a TIME, lol. but this one just didn't work for me. it took me forever to read a 219 page book, and i had to force myself to finish it.
the worst bit was when our underachieving skipper is having a serious discussion with a native of Australia(?) about how the white man showed up and destroyed their way of life and everything else... and his response is, hey don't blame me, i was born on the moon. REALLY PAT?! really. this is the guy i'm supposed to root for? meh.
i'll get it out of the way and say YES, i DO go into classic scifi expecting outdated views on gender roles and sexuality and other such things that are otherwise cringey to us in 2021. for me, i'd prefer a book with all dudes on the moon, no female characters at all. if their function is to be pretty OR the subject of jokes OR the only ones capable of preparing or delivering food...just leave them out. i think this could've been the same story maybe with a bus/boat/vessel? full of male academics. right? also, the words used to describe a fat character are unacceptable in any time, i think. it added nothing to the story, and if it was intended to be some sort of comic relief, it definitely didn't work for me.
BUT. all of that aside, it was just a boring story. the things the passengers do to distract themselves and pass the time are unfathomably dull. i know looking back from 2021, we would've all taken out our phones or tablets and would've been fine. but having that lens too look through, it seems like this story just didn't have much to it since we needed to spend so much time watching them keep busy. the only part i felt invested in a bit was when they started interrogating each other as to why they'd come to the moon in the first place. i'm not always a fan of character-driven stories, but if i'm going to spend all this time with the characters...make me care about them. at least ONE.
what annoyed me most was i think just the logic of the future in which these characters find themselves. in this world, we've sent manned missions to explore as far as pluto...but we can't figure out how to pull a ship out of a few meters of dust. it becomes even more unbelievable when that casual thing with the mountains happens (yes, i'm trying to be vague, but you know the bit if you've read it).
this is definitely meant to be a quiet story, but i didn't find it all that compelling. clarke is trying to build tension, and i just didn't feel it. i'm really claustrophobic, and for most of this book, i wasn't bothered at all.
if you love ancient parlor games and also engineering, you'll like this better than i did.
i'm still going to keep reading this author because i really did enjoy childhood's end (!!) and 2001 was a TIME, lol. but this one just didn't work for me. it took me forever to read a 219 page book, and i had to force myself to finish it.
the worst bit was when our underachieving skipper is having a serious discussion with a native of Australia(?) about how the white man showed up and destroyed their way of life and everything else... and his response is, hey don't blame me, i was born on the moon. REALLY PAT?! really. this is the guy i'm supposed to root for? meh.