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3.5 starsI guess I was overreacting or just tired the other day...
This book actually brings up some interesting topics and really liked how they all come through the observation of different shells. The author really has a way with words.
3.5 stars
| I wonder how many people knew that Charles Lindbergh had written a book in 1927 shortly after he accomplished the remarkable feat of flying solo from New York to Paris? Until about a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea that "WE" existed. "WE" in the title was Lindbergh's way of referring to himself and the airplane ('The Spirit of St. Louis') that carried him across the ocean to Paris. He considered what he achieved in that flight not a singular accomplishment for him alone, but also for the plane. Most of the book is taken up with Lindbergh telling his life story, his brief time as a student of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, his initial training as a pilot in a flight school in Nebraska in 1922, his experiences barnstorming in the South and Midwest, his subsequent acceptance into the U.S. Army Air Service as an aviation cadet in 1924, his successful completion of his military training the following year (Lindbergh was made a reserve officer), followed by his service as an air mail pilot --- all of which led up to his undertaking the quest to carry out a transatlantic flight. A quest (as represented by the award of the $25,000 Orteig Prize for any aviator who succeeded in flying across the Atlantic) that had already been taken up by many of the world's renowned aviators --- without success. Many died in the attempt. The remainder of the book goes on to describe the reception Lindbergh received across Europe and the U.S. in May and June of 1927 after his record flight. I enjoyed reading this book so much. While there are aspects of Charles Lindbergh --- later manifested in his life when he became a controversial political voice with the America First isolationist movement pre-Pearl Harbor --- that I do not like, his achievements in aviation are AMAZING. |
As someone who has been an aviation fan since I was 10, "THE FLIGHT: Charles Lindbergh's Daring and Immortal 1927 Transatlantic Crossing" was a book that commanded my immediate attention. So I bought it and read it avidly. The strengths of the book are in the way, Hampton, himself a retired U.S. Air Force combat pilot, conveys vividly to the reader, the joys and thrills of flight as well as the challenges Lindbergh faced in making his solo flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris in May 1927. Several aviators since 1919 (when the Orteig Prize was initially offered for any aviator(s) who were able to successfully fly non-stop across the Atlantic from New York to Paris or Paris to New York) had tried to fly the Atlantic non-stop, and failed. Many of them dying horrible deaths. And in the case of the celebrated First World War French aviators Charles Nungesser and François Coli, disappeared in an attempt to fly from Paris to New York several weeks before Lindbergh's flight from Roosevelt Field.
Reading this book deepened my appreciation of Lindbergh's singular accomplishment. Imagine yourself flying alone in a small, upper-winged monoplane across 3,000 miles of ocean to Europe, not always sure of your position in the sky (even with the benefit of charts, compass, and other navigational aides) for roughly 33.5 hours straight without having slept for close to 3 days? Many people in the early to mid-1920s looked upon aviation as little more than a sport or a fool's hobby. What Lindbergh and his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, managed to do showed aviation's potential and made possible the further development of commercial aviation and technology for space travel and exploration over the next 40 years.
Hampton also shares with the reader how much Lindbergh's life was changed as a result of the flight - good and not-so-good, for Fame often exacts a high cost from anyone who becomes a public celebrity - which was sobering to me. "THE FLIGHT" is a book I would highly recommend to ANYONE who love stories of how seemingly ordinary, humble people can --- in spite of heavy odds --- accomplish great things and so inspire the world.
This took me longer than I expected. It wasn’t exactly a hard read, but there was this dreamy quality to the prose that I wasn’t entirely sure I liked. It almost feels languid. It’s told from three perspectives: Thorbjorg – a freewoman and witch, Katla – Thorbjorg’s unfortunate thrall, and Bibrau – Katla’s unwanted daughter. All three perspectives are told in the first person which I didn’t entirely like. It is very clear whose section is whose and none of them are very long, but I still wasn’t sure I liked the convention. This isn’t a happy story but it is an interesting one. We follow Thorbjorg and Katla as they travel from Iceland to Greenland in the 10th century and it’s the kind of historical fiction where the magic and spirits are real because the characters believe them to be. There isn’t a lot of magic; just the kind of stuff that’s mixed in with folk tales and rituals and believing in spirits. There’s a lot of Norse mythology mixed in with the threat of Christianity.
I did decide that I liked how everything tied together though, so I’m going with four stars.
I read this for booklikes-opoly square Tomorrowland 34 since it has a child on the cover. Well, a baby. I’m pretty sure that counts. At 450 pages, I get to add $5 to my bank, bringing my total to $114.
Previous update:
41/450 pages
I went with this book for Tomorrowland #34 (child on the cover) since it's been on my shelf so long.
I've been trying to figure out just how long it's been sitting there unread, and I have to admit that I'm not sure. I know I picked it up for $5 or so in the bargain section at Chapters (actually I think it was at one of the stores still under the Indigo name). The book was published in 2006 so it probably wasn't put in the bargain section until 2007...maybe 2008? Regardless of which year it was, it's kind of sad that it's been on my shelf close to a decade even if it hasn't quite reached that mark.
It's about time I read it, isn't it?
So far it's about a bunch of people emigrating from Iceland to Greenland, and the main point of view character is Katla, a thrall (read: slave) of one of the leaders. I don't think this is going to be a very happy story.
