Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery

In a recent review of an autobiography, I critiqued the excessive self-adoration, and said that it is a frequent flaw in the genre. The ability to tell one's tale, express the magnitude of achievements, and yet still feel sincere, is a true achievement. Scott Kelly, whose autobiography Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery is today's focus, does a great job balancing an amazing journey from a difficult childhood with an alcoholic father, to a leader in NASA's crewed space program.

If his name sounds familiar, that's because it probably is. And not just because of the fairly common last name. Scott and Mark Kelly, a twins from a humble background, came to take their places in America's history books. Both made it into naval aviation, then test pilots, and, ultimately, into NASA's astronaut corps. They both flew on the space shuttle, with Scott's first flight being the mission to boost the Hubble Telescope. Both of them had long duration missions on the ISS. And to top it off, Scott was the American representative for the "Year in Space" in which he and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko spent 340 days on the space station. Oh, and Mark has since become on of Arizona's senators in US Congress. No biggie, right?

First, this book speaks magnitudes about Scott's character. First of all- the determination. Once he had a dream, he did everything possible to reach it. Such determination and grit is a mark of toughness, courage, and perseverance, which I really respect. Moreover, huge tragedies struck him in space, but he powered through, such as the time when Mark's wife, Gabrielle Giffords, survived an assassination attempt in Arizona that left several people dead. However, I also really see humility in it as well. Scott doesn't miss an opportunity to compliment those who he was with and thank those who helped him. And it honestly feels sincere.

Outside of the autobiographical aspect, he also goes into a fair amount of detail about astronaut life. From the mundane details about daily life in space, to comparing American and Russian pre-launch traditions, there's a treasure trove of small factoids and anecdotes, some of which were new to me, some of which I knew, but all of which I enjoyed. Best of all, everything is told in an approachable and easy-going manner.

Now, no good review can ignore negatives. The language is, honestly, a little weak. Granted, as Scott Kelly admits, schooling wasn't his greatest strength, and he's definitely no great wordsmith. It's perfectly passable, just not great, so it's not too much of a detriment. Secondly, the audiobook format is read by Scott himself. And while I enjoy authors reading their own works, he would have benefitted from more intonation and expression in his voice.

Ultimately, although I wouldn't call Endurance a "must-read", it definitely is a great book. I do recommend it, and hope that you give it a shot.

The language of music

I've heard that one way to gauge your understanding of a language is to listen to music in that language. When you understand the lyrics, you theoretically have a good grasp, since you are able to filter it out from the surrounding "distractions". I hope that the inverse isn't true for this one, as in poor understanding of lyrics indicates poor comprehension, since it implies that my English is rather lacking... Anecdotally, it took me way too long to learn that this wasn't "I'm falling through feces" in Breakeven by The Script.

Specifically, at the 1:16 mark, link here. Or the full song below:

Man, I haven't heard this a while. Made me rather nostalgic. It brought back many memories from long, summer days in the gym, where the radio would blast songs like this.

What I find most interesting, is when the mind conjures up lyrics that don't exist there. I recently had the Game of Thrones soundtrack on in the background while studying and realized that my mind generated the following lyrics:

"I am ... an amoeba... duh-nuh-nuh"

for one of the main themes in a piece, linked here to the right timestamp. Completely ridiculous, but the issue is that every time I hear it now, I can't help but sing that. Full song below as well, since it is a truly masterful piece.

To the Abyss

 Rise or fall

Sink like a stone.

Try it all.

Tread all alone.

Chills up my back

Reach deep inside.

I'm just a hack

Who's along for the ride.

April 4, 2023

Stephen King

    I'll preface this post with the following disclaimer: in no way is this supposed to be a criticism of the author. I wish I had even a sliver of his talent. If anything, take this as an expression of respect for his flexibility and skill as a writer, one whose name and reputation were known to me long before I first went for one of his works.

    Around the middle of my high school years, I was browsing the school library when I saw  11/22/63. Intrigued by the title, I pulled it off the shelf and read the first couple pages to decide whether or not I was interested. After those came a few more pages. And a few more. Then the lunch period ended, the obnoxious chime bringing me out of my reverie, so to the check out desk I went, book in hand. I hadn't even bothered to check who the author had been at the time. 

    Honestly, this was probably for the best. Had I noticed "Stephen King" written on the book before I tried reading it, I probably wouldn't have read it. His most prolific works tend to be horror, and that doesn't usually interest me. But, having missed this, I fell head first into, what I just learned while writing this, was the Goodreads winner for best fiction in 2011. A fascinating tale of time travel, learning from one's mistakes, and trying to prevent the JFK assassination. Of course, I did quickly learn that Mr. King was responsible for consuming my attention, but by then it didn't matter- only the next page, the next plot development, did. 

    It's an amazing book, but not the point of my ramblings today. What is the point is the man behind it. And also behind IT. You see, recently I'd recommended 11/22/63 to someone, and that got me thinking about it again. And then, while browsing Libby, I saw IT. Recalling how much I'd liked the previous work, I decided to give this one a shot as well, even though I understood that this one is not only in the horror genre, but also considered to be one of the leading masterpieces in that field. And one thing is for sure - it is written very well.

    Character development is incredible in this. I felt truly visceral anger at some, true sadness for others... And I love works driven by character development.  Also, the writing style feels totally distinct from 11/22/63. And I came to realize the technical side of King's work - he truly is a storyteller. The skill in his writing is so great, that I actually had to stop reading IT. Not because I was scared, no. But rather I just kept getting pulled out from the story. I was catching myself considering the technique of the writing, rather than the tale itself.  Which is a shame, since I truly was loving the set up. I'm definitely going to come back to this work some day. I know I will. I want to finish this, I want to see how the characters turn out. Just not right now. Right now I might just have to look for a work that's not as well written, where I can focus on the book, rather than the author.