I love books, movies, and documentaries that give an inside view point to a very historic event or program. This helped peak my interest since this book contains actual biographies of many intimate parts of the lives of the women who stood behind the men who became the USA's first Astronauts.
What I learned: I didn't know the history behind the Astronauts themselves. I didn't know what their history was, what training they had before becoming Astronauts. I learned more about why the Space Race was so important to the United States, I learned about the fame and glam of being apart of NASA when it was new.
What I want to know now: I would love to learn about the Russian view of their own Space program and Space Race. I'd love to learn about their failures, their successes as well. How did that country's treatment of their Astronauts and those families compare to how the US treated their own Astronauts. At the very end of the book, you can read about what some of the wives did after the Space Race was over, after their man was done with NASA. I would love to hear from the children of the Astronauts what they knew, how they felt, and what they experienced during that period of them growing up.
Dynamics of the book: I loved the images spread throughout the book showing the women the book was written about. I loved the quirky little details that were put into each woman's character. The small things: like what color dress they wanted, how they felt about their husband, and even how many kids they had; those little thing are what make them seem more human, more life like, rather than just another celebrity. Reading about how bold, and rude, and pretentious many of the press personnel, many of the paparazzi, and even many of the NASA officials treated these poor devoted women was eye opening and really tore at my heart for them. I was surprised at how different each group of Astronaut wives were, in the sense of how they took this lime light role, how they responded to each other's aid, and how they interacted with each other. I guess I just didn't realize how important competition was for the Astronauts and their wives and their families. What was just terrible in my mind was the fact that these men who had wonderful families and sweet wives who loved them, couldn't keep their marriage vows. There were so many husbands who committed adultery like it was nothing, and no one cared to help the wives deal with this horrible deed. That broke my heart.
Who did I relate to the most: I loved Annie the most, she seemed so sweet and honest. I loved that she had a stutter, and then eventually was able to over come that mortal weakness. I loved Betty's forward thinking, and her spunk. Harriet is a true hero, sticking up for her rights, being true to her kids, and living an amazing life after her divorce.
The Astronaut's Wives Club: was actually really disappointing to me. I would have thought they would have been more honest, and down to Earth with each other since they were all going through the same thing together. I would have loved to confide in someone who knew how I felt, what I was going through, and know that I could trust that shoulder when I needed a cry. I understand the need for appearing brave all the time, but keeping emotions, and fears bottled up inside because its taboo to reveal how you really feel is just an awful way to live. I can't believe those women felt that is how they had to live and act in such a special group.
No comments:
Post a Comment