| Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys |  | Author: Michael Collins
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 2172142
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 552
ISBN: 0374119198
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.40092
EAN: 9780374119195
ASIN: 0374119198
Publication Date: June 1, 1989
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Product Description
The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon in July 1969 have done nothing to alter the fundamental wonder of the event: man reaching the moon remains one of the great events—technical and spiritual—of our lifetime.
In this remarkable book, Michael Collins conveys, in a very personal way, the drama, beauty, and humor of that adventure. He also traces his development from his first flight experiences in the air force, through his days as a test pilot, to his Apollo 11 space walk, presenting an evocative picture of the joys of flight as well as a new perspective on time, light, and movement from someone who has seen the fragile Earth from the other side of the moon.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 Collins Sense of humor October 17, 2008
Michele Collins sure has a unique personality, on one side he is a great American hero and history maker, on the other side his sense of humor is so overwhelming to let the reader feel close frindship with the man. Some of his comments made me laugh out loudly. I certaily recommend this book for both its scientific content and moral experience. The way he simplified scientific issues was astonishing. You'll love to read it more than once.
 Where is our next generation of heroes? August 4, 2008
Collins writes a richly detailed and intelligent account, laced with smart-alecky humor, of what it was like to join the astronaut corps, the training and planning that go into a mission, and what it's like to go into space. His description of his anxiety during the period that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon really puts you in the moment and makes you realize that making it back was no foregone conclusion.
It makes me sad to see how this book has become dated. We as a nation gave up on manned space exploration 35 years ago, and the shuttle has been a dead end. While I reading the book, I felt a sense of futility that Collins, who wrote the book in the '70s, could never have anticipated.
Carrying the Fire is an excellent astronaut memoir; maybe one day there'll be a reason for somebody to write some new ones.
Reviewer: Liz Clare, co-author of the historical novel "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark"
You Won't Want to Put It Down July 23, 2008
My father gave me his copy of CARRYING THE FIRE in 1975 when I was eleven. His recommendations were rare, so I knew the book was special--I was not disappointed. Mike's narrative is beautifully delivered, poignant and funny as hell. This is a personal account that lets the reader enter the world of Apollo from Mike's point of view. The complexities of the Apollo 11 mission (and spaceflight in general) are presented in a flowing, readable style--you won't want to put this book down. Reading it again after all these years, I enjoyed the experience even more. He was a young man on that flight, but his insight, intelligence and humor reveal him to be a deep thinking, passionate, brave human being who helped change the history of mankind forever. As a high school English teacher, I can honestly say that this book is more than a good read, it is a must read for anyone interested in knowing what it was like to fly to the moon on the adventure of a lifetime! FIVE STARS--read it!
Best of the Astronaut books June 22, 2008
Of all the astronaut bios & autobios this one is the best. Michael Collins' style is natural and funny.
Carrying The Fire: An Astronauts Journeys by Michael Collins May 11, 2008
I was reading Deke! By Donald K. (Deke) Slayton and Michael Cusset. Deke Slayton was the highly respected chief astronaut and godfather to the astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions; In this book, I noted a positive reference to Michael Collins's book Carrying The Fire so I figured this as a must read.
Michael Collins takes the reader through the stages of astronaut training and spaceship design and his own flights of Gemini 10 and the pioneering Apollo 11 with self- depreciating humour and irony. He manages to present a great amount of technical detail in an easily understood fashion in an articulate, intelligent, flowery, almost British manner.
With a forward by Charles Lindbergh himself, this book is nearly 500 pages but seems only half that by the man who stood station 60 miles above Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on that historic first lunar landing.
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