Charles Fishman has given us a unique view of the massive effort the U.S. undertook to put a man on the moon in 1969, one that underscores just how difficult and potentially disastrous it was. Rather than focus on the astronauts and their experiences, Fishman told the stories of those who had vital and quite specific parts to play.
In our current time of instant information, the descriptions of (now) primitive computers that filled rooms and drained electricity seem almost unreal. The story of the women who weaved together the wiring for these computers by hand, as if they were making fabric was just amazing. What came through time and again was how critically important individuals were in the outcome. The impact of those whose attention to detail and willingness to work harder and longer in the pursuit of perfection was underscored again and again.
Among the 410,000 people and 20,000 companies that participated in the space race were many of these stories; heartwarming, inspiring, and no short measure terrifying. Each of their stories that Fishman included was well-told and interesting. The work these thousands did somehow miraculously came together on a compressed timeline. The author laid out the case that these efforts brought us to the digital age. As technology was invented and developed has needed to support the moon mission, it was reinvented as time went on to make technology part of our everyday life.
The issue for some is that there are way too many of them. The information was dense and often quite technical, and there was a lot of it. That made for slow going, and perhaps a book best read in doses.
And so on to December, our annual book swap! We will meet at Julie Weissand's on December 16, at 6:30 pm, which is a Monday. Bring a wrapped book that you think others should read, with a card (unsigned) about why. The book that is swapped the most will be our February book (if we want).
As a bonus, we talked about visiting the Hopper exhibit at the VMFA in order to pick out a painting and imaging a story that explains it. Fun!
Our January book is by Lisa See, called The Island of the Sea Women. The date is January 21 and we will be at Mary Millhiser's.
Happy holidays and see you on December 16!
Friday, November 29, 2019
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Remember October's Meeting?
It seems like a long time ago by now! It was wonderful to have Jean back with us, filling us all in on all she has read since the last time we saw her. Come back more often!
We had a good discussion about The River, by Peter Heller. It wasn't much of a hit but we all agreed that he wrote like a dream when describing the setting - the Canadian wilderness along the isolated river the two main characters had chosen to explore.
At its heart, The River is an age old story of people battling the forces of nature, including the worst side of human nature. This one read like a thriller, with many twists as the two friends Jack and Wynn fight to save a woman left for dead by her homicidal husband as well as outrun a raging fire and some very shady characters they met along the way.
It is inevitable that tragedy ensues, and only Jack survives the friends' trip. The parallels to the early loss of his mother makes this even sadder. Still, the characters were a bit wooden, especially the saved woman who is essentially a prop for much of the book. There were an awful lot of people up on this distant and dangerous river and it did seem a pretty unlikely story. I was willing to forgive all that for the poetic writing but not everyone agreed.
We also had a great discussion about the Hopper exhibit now at the VMFA, and how Hopper's work is so enigmatic that it asks the viewer to construct a story. There is a book out, called In Sunshine and in Shadow that does just that. Twelve different writers each chose a Hopper painting and wrote a short story interpreting the setting. It was great! We are trying that ourselves before our December meeting. The plan is to visit the exhibit beforehand, pick a piece and each of us will create a storyline about it. Fun!
So on to our next book which is A Giant Leap by Charles Fishman and we will be at Fiona's. The date is Nov. 19, see you all then!
We had a good discussion about The River, by Peter Heller. It wasn't much of a hit but we all agreed that he wrote like a dream when describing the setting - the Canadian wilderness along the isolated river the two main characters had chosen to explore.
At its heart, The River is an age old story of people battling the forces of nature, including the worst side of human nature. This one read like a thriller, with many twists as the two friends Jack and Wynn fight to save a woman left for dead by her homicidal husband as well as outrun a raging fire and some very shady characters they met along the way.
It is inevitable that tragedy ensues, and only Jack survives the friends' trip. The parallels to the early loss of his mother makes this even sadder. Still, the characters were a bit wooden, especially the saved woman who is essentially a prop for much of the book. There were an awful lot of people up on this distant and dangerous river and it did seem a pretty unlikely story. I was willing to forgive all that for the poetic writing but not everyone agreed.
We also had a great discussion about the Hopper exhibit now at the VMFA, and how Hopper's work is so enigmatic that it asks the viewer to construct a story. There is a book out, called In Sunshine and in Shadow that does just that. Twelve different writers each chose a Hopper painting and wrote a short story interpreting the setting. It was great! We are trying that ourselves before our December meeting. The plan is to visit the exhibit beforehand, pick a piece and each of us will create a storyline about it. Fun!
So on to our next book which is A Giant Leap by Charles Fishman and we will be at Fiona's. The date is Nov. 19, see you all then!
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