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A review by akatdare
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
2.0
2/5. Audiobook.
I really wanted to like it, but it was hard to get past the writing style - the constant repetition of certain phrases over and over and over, which I think was made more noticeable in audio format. And it was hard to tell if Wolfe was writing from a position of respect for the astronauts and the whole space program or dislike or both; perhaps he was trying to be objective in his writing style but it came off as if he didn’t have a position. Finally, it was really really hard to get past some of the misogyny and racism in the book. The repeated description of the young women who would chase after the astronauts as “juicy” was disturbing, to say the least. I know this book was written in an era where that was perhaps more acceptable to read and was written about an era where it was definitely more acceptable, but it still just felt hard to actually hear it over and over and over again. The very brief mention of how there were no Black men in the astronaut corp, or in the officer corp towards the end of the book, and Kennedy’s attempt to integrate, also just came off wrong. It seemed as though Wolfe’s position was that “this was just how it was” - that it was natural for White Protestant men (the “natural” citizens?) to be in officer positions, in leadership roles. No discussion of the inequalities that led to that occurrence, or the likely fact that any other ethnic group wouldn’t have stood a chance of being picked to be in the initial group because it was ultimately a choice made by people, and people naturally have biases. This book, ultimately, shows its age, and it’s not so old that it can be excused as “from another time”.
I almost never say I liked the movie better, but…I liked the movie better.
I really wanted to like it, but it was hard to get past the writing style - the constant repetition of certain phrases over and over and over, which I think was made more noticeable in audio format. And it was hard to tell if Wolfe was writing from a position of respect for the astronauts and the whole space program or dislike or both; perhaps he was trying to be objective in his writing style but it came off as if he didn’t have a position. Finally, it was really really hard to get past some of the misogyny and racism in the book. The repeated description of the young women who would chase after the astronauts as “juicy” was disturbing, to say the least. I know this book was written in an era where that was perhaps more acceptable to read and was written about an era where it was definitely more acceptable, but it still just felt hard to actually hear it over and over and over again. The very brief mention of how there were no Black men in the astronaut corp, or in the officer corp towards the end of the book, and Kennedy’s attempt to integrate, also just came off wrong. It seemed as though Wolfe’s position was that “this was just how it was” - that it was natural for White Protestant men (the “natural” citizens?) to be in officer positions, in leadership roles. No discussion of the inequalities that led to that occurrence, or the likely fact that any other ethnic group wouldn’t have stood a chance of being picked to be in the initial group because it was ultimately a choice made by people, and people naturally have biases. This book, ultimately, shows its age, and it’s not so old that it can be excused as “from another time”.
I almost never say I liked the movie better, but…I liked the movie better.