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A review by jeffmauch
Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly
5.0
I'll preface this review with stating that Scott Kelly is a personal hero of mine and somebody that I deeply admire. He's be on a very short list of mine of people I'd like to someday meet. In a world these days where it seems like it's so hard to find somebody worth looking up to, it's nice to have somebody like Mr. Kelly out there.
That all said, this was a very interesting book and one of the better autobiographies I've read in a while. It's a great split telling of both Scott's life as well as a more in depth covering of his year in space. Scott is very honest and frank in this book to the point of questioning NASA on a number of occasions and even outright disagreeing and contradicting them at times. It was refreshing to see he isn't just a "yes man". It was also neat to see that it wasn't just a rose colored glasses look at his year in space, but rather showed his struggles with his personal relationships, fellow astronauts, and within himself.
This was also an insightful look at just what it takes to be an astronaut for the United States. These aren't just people who pass some rigorous tests and get thrown into a shuttle. These are truly our best and brightest and are tested over and over again at length to continue to show that they are just that. They also can wait for years and years, even a decade to get the chance to fly.
What this book showed me more than anything is that while we look up to athletes, actors, and musicians , maybe we should be looking at those who are pushing science and the human race forward more as role models and heroes.
That all said, this was a very interesting book and one of the better autobiographies I've read in a while. It's a great split telling of both Scott's life as well as a more in depth covering of his year in space. Scott is very honest and frank in this book to the point of questioning NASA on a number of occasions and even outright disagreeing and contradicting them at times. It was refreshing to see he isn't just a "yes man". It was also neat to see that it wasn't just a rose colored glasses look at his year in space, but rather showed his struggles with his personal relationships, fellow astronauts, and within himself.
This was also an insightful look at just what it takes to be an astronaut for the United States. These aren't just people who pass some rigorous tests and get thrown into a shuttle. These are truly our best and brightest and are tested over and over again at length to continue to show that they are just that. They also can wait for years and years, even a decade to get the chance to fly.
What this book showed me more than anything is that while we look up to athletes, actors, and musicians , maybe we should be looking at those who are pushing science and the human race forward more as role models and heroes.