Moby-Dick

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick: or The Whale. Oak Park, IL : Top Five Books 2026. (originally published 1851). Print.

First Sentences:

Call me Ismael. Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely -- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear or every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to the sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball.

Description:

Please do not be afraid of taking on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick: or The Whale. I know, I know, there are many reasons to avoid this masterpiece of literature and history. 

• Too long (600+ pages with 135 (short) chapters); 
• Too much whale info (from species differences to killing to processing to the value/use of spermaciti); 
• Too difficult a language (in 1850s style, why use one adjective and a short sentence when ten adjectives in a 50-word sentence works even better?); 
• Too much symbolism (everything comes in three's, too religious, fate vs. free will, etc.); 
• Too tragic (obsessive, vengeful doomed captain vs. maniacal, equally vengeful whale); 
• I simply don't have the time and don't care about this book.

But you will be denying yourself one of the greatest work of historical fiction ever created. You would want to at least give such an immersive novel a chance, wouldn't you? I thought as much so keep reading. 

 

To warm you up, I have included several more opening sentences above, more than just the first words of this novel. After all, who doesn't know "Call me Ishmael," probably one of the familiar opening three words in literature? 

 

But you need to notice and absorb the rest of these enticingly rich, revealing opening sentences to get a sample of what lies ahead. What you are presented with immediately are the evocative, highly-personal musings of the narrator, Ishmael, as he contemplates his current lack of funds, boredom with life, thoughts of death, the growing dominance of his "hypos," along with a weakening "moral principal" which prevents him from "knocking people's hats off," and his growing attraction to "pistol and ball" to end his life. 

 

To address his musings, Ishmael turns to his usual remedy: he takes to sea and impulsively joins the crew of the Pequod whaling ship.

 

Thus Melville introduces the character whose role is to observe and relate his tale to any land-lubber readers unfamiliar with a seaman's life and whaling. From his first musings and descriptions of the world and people around him, Ismael reveals his serious eye for detail and contemplation, a masterful use of language, and even some humor. He becomes an ordinary man on board a whaling ship in the 1850s among a company of shipmates with distinctive personalities. In these first sentences, we are given a penetrating picture of this thoughtful character.

And his fellow Pequod crew members are all under the leadership of captain Ahab who, Ishmael soon discovers, only took on the captaincy of this whaling ship so he could pursue and take vengeance on Moby Dick, the white whale that chewed off Ahab's leg on a previous voyage. Collecting valuable spermaieti from whales, the PequodI's investing owners' goal, would be only a secondary task to Ahab and his crew.

 

Here are the main characters:

• Ishmael (narrator) - "A simple sailor";
• Quequeeg (harpooner) - A heavily tattooed Islander who could hit a spot of tar across the ship deck with his harpoon (which he shaves with), and a friend to Ishmael;
• Starbuck (First Mate) - Voice of reason who tries to convince Ahab to abandon his quest of vengeance;
• Stubb (Second Mate) - Happy-go-lucky, pipe-smoking officer who enjoys eating raw whale meat; 
• Flask (Third Mate) - "A short, stout, ruddy young fellow...who somehow seemed to think that the great leviathans had personally and hereditarily affronted him";
• Fedallah (Ahab's harpooner) - Parsee (fire-worshiper) and predictor of the future; 
• Ahab (Captain) - Glowering, facially scarred, peg-legged, tragically-driven, vengeful leader of the voyage and crew.

  

We all know the story of Moby Dick and its tragic ending, so I won't re-tell it here. But beyond the plot, what makes this book fantastic is the depth Melville explores in so many areas. Whether describing the thoughts and actions of Ishmael's crew mates, musing over the roles of Fate vs. Free Will in decision-making, sharing the workings of a real whaling ship and voyage (a significant industry to readers of 1851 when the book was published), and even the cataloging of the different species of whales and harpoons, Melville is the master of observation and encyclopedic knowledge. He intersperses references to Shakespeare and the Bible alongside the history of whaling tools and the men who created and used them. All these inclusions are to support Melville's broad survey of the importance and reality of whaling in the 1850s. 

 

Moby-Dick is not a page-turning thriller although there are many suspenseful situations. It also is not a straightforward story that moves from Point A to Point B clearly and succinctly. If you are looking for a quick distraction, this is not the book for you.

 

Rather, it's as if we, the readers, are placed at a table with a magnificent gourmet feast in front of us. But before we can sample the food, the chef enthusiastically explains the workings behind the meal: from the growing of special crops and meat and their preparation; the people who cultivated and cooked the ingredients; the kitchen layout and utensils employed; the table setting; and even the atmosphere of the room. 

 

While this may sound tedious and frustrating ... "Just let me get on to the food!" you might think ... these vital details reveal the complex world behind the meal, a necessity to fully enhance for the novice diner the gourmet experience and the food itself. Through this chef's concern about presenting these details, we diners come to understand and appreciate the totality of this feast far beyond just the mere consumption of the food. 

 

There are plenty of fast food or even sit-down eating experiences out there if you preger those. No judgment. But Moby-Dick is a "meal" to be contemplated, savored slowly, and appreciated on a variety of levels. If you want a quick bite, an action-based story with everyday characters, you'll not find these in Moby-Dick. 

 

But there is oh, so much more that turns this novel from a hunt for a whale into a higher level that contemplates the battle between predestination, tragic obsession, and commercial whaling. Melville's language is so rich that it cannot be skimmed over. A reader must deliberately slow him/herself down to savor the 19th century words, the layered phrasings, and the concepts possibly unfamiliar to us living 175 years after Melville wrote. 

 

In short, you need to commit yourself to 1850 and life in the whaling industry to fully appreciate and identify with the characters and action of this book just as you would slowly, appreciatively relish each bite of a gourmet dining experience, even if there are courses that are not to your initial liking. It is the entire experience that shines and will stay with you long after the meal is over or the final pages are read.

 

 

 

As an elementary school kid I had repeatedly poured over my Classics Illustrated comic book version of Moby-Dick. (Note: Familiarity with the plots and characters in these 169 graphic interpretations of great novels, e.g. Silas Marner, Pitcarn's Island, Kidnapped, etc., carried me through my English classes in high school, my college BA and Masters in English). Later I had a wonderful high school teacher who took one entire day on the opening sentence of this novel and taught me how to appreciate its enormity. 

 

This month, when I learned that there was a re-release of a 1930 edition of Moby-Dick illustrated by Rockwell Kent, one of my favorites artists (these are his illustrations), I decided it was time to give the novel another, more adult look. Not a glance, not something to be quickly skimmed, but something I really wanted to understand in-depth. And boy, what I ever satisfied.

 

Maybe the 600+ pages is daunting to many readers. Or the language too unfamiliar. Or the diversions in whales, whaling, and the world of 1850 is too tiring to pursue when we have the internet, social media, and the television to captivate us more quickly. 

But I stand here today to highly recommend Moby-Dick  to everyone willing to at least sample, even if only for 50 pages or so, what powerful writing, themes, and stories can be. It will be time well spent, and, if nothing else, something you can brag about to friends and family.

 

[P.S. Those who notice such things may wonder why there is a hyphen in the title, Moby-Dick, but only the unhyphenated name "Moby Dick" is used in the book. No one knows why this is, although the rumor is that Melville's brother changed the proof in the title at the last minute because he liked hyphens, but didn't have time to do so throughout the book. Melville himself used a hyphen in his sea-faring adventure novel, White-Jacket, but really who knows (or cares)?  It's still a fantastic book, with or without a hyphen.]

[P.P.S. Here is a beautiful graphic map to help you understand what happens where and when on the voyage]:   https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/moby-dick-map/

Of course, it gets my Highest Recommendation. Enjoy. And let ne know your thoughts if you do read it or decide to give it a pass. I'm interested.

 

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

 DeFoe, Daniel. Robinson Caruso

One man is shipwrecked on a deserted island and make his way along, contemplating the world, his fortune, and his survival until jhe discovers a companion.

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

Catapult

Paul, Jim. Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon. New York : Villard 1991. Print.

First Sentences:

It had occurred to me that holding an old rock might be like looking at the stars.

Description:

I first read Jim Paul's Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon when it was published in 1991 (can that really be 35 years ago?) and was very much taken by it. When an article appeared recently in the New York Times Book Review section that revisited this book, I decided to dip into this serious/farcical memoir again.

 

The book details the trials and tribulations of two men trying to build a catapult to launch stones from abandoned military fortification bunker on the cliff side of the Headlands into the San Francisco Bay. Why? Just because it struck them as something to do. One man was an incompetent dreamer, one an irascible skilled builder. Surely, this pair will have an easy time of such a simple project.

 

Got your attention yet? 

 

Author Jim Paul, after finding a billion-year-old pink quartzite rock the size of a grapefruit, got it into his head that this rock needed to be hurled in a magnificent manner...such as with a catapult. This idea intrigued him in theory, helping him to convince his reluctant friend Harry to assist (i.e., design and construct) such a machine. 

 

Armed with a small grant from a local art center, they men researched what a catapult even is or was in olden days. The grant gave them a deadline of three months to build and then employ a catapult to hurl rocks off the San Francisco cliff into the sea. 

 

Two catches: since Federal law forbid bringing weapons onto their lands, Paul had to agree to only launch "fake rocks," a tidbit he kept from Harry who would wash his hands of the project if the catapult was not authentic enough to hurl actual stones. The second grant restriction was there had to be a follow-up public lecture to outline and summarize the project and launch, a notion that terrified Harry who was afraid of both public speaking, but conversely demanded to be included in the presentation out of fear of possibly being given lesser credit. Again, what could go wrong in this scenario?

 

The book details their search for what design their catapult should take, settling on the crossbow style that shot projectiles with immense force, resembling a horizontal crossbow. Now to build one. During the construction phase, they find themselves dealing with various backstreet and polished parts dealers who trafficked in springs, steel, wire, wood beams, welding, etc. 

 

Author Paul also delves into carefully researched history of such related topics as the origins of catapults, Archimedes, Alexander the Great, and the influences these had on the world: making castle walls obsolete and empires possible; the development of steel; and the construction, purpose, and effectiveness of the San Francisco Headlands military barricades where they would test their catapult.

 

The pressure builds as the deadline approaches. Their hunt for obscure but necessary jury-rigged parts and design changes as well as their personal relationships with each other and their families rising to the forefront of their project. Will they meet the deadline? Will the launch be successful? How about that lecture? And what happens when the project actually is completed?

 

A really enjoyable about the process to make a wacky dream become a reality. Every step was new to them, from design to parts, to labor, to testing (if they were ever even to construct a model).

 

I loved their passion, their frustrations with the progress and each other, their discoveries in hidden supply stores, the people they met, and their purposeful, dogged strides toward their goal. A wonderful, inspiring, funny, historically edifying tale well worth your time to read.

  

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

 Hutchison, Patrick. Cabin: Off the Grid with a Clueless Craftsman.

One man tries to salvage his dilapidated family cabin, despite knowing virtually nothing of carpentry (Previously reviewed here.)

  

Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

Insomniac City

Hayes, Bill. Insomniac City. New York: Bloomsbury, 2017. Print

First Sentences:

I moved to New York eight years ago, and felt at once at home. 

 

In the haggard buildings and bloodshot skies, in trains that never stopped running like my racing mind at night, I recognized my insomniac self. If New York were a patient, it would be diagnosed with agrypnia excita, a rare genetic condition characterized by insomnia, nervous energy constant twitching, and dream enactment -- an apt description of a city that never sleeps, a place where one comes to reinvent himself.


Description:

From these very first words, I loved Bill Hayes's Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me  Who could not fall in love with such captivating language to describe a unique environment? Clearly, this book promised to be full of wry, thoughtful and unique observations, so I was all in.

 

Author Hayes moved to New York from San Francisco after the sudden death of his long-time partner, Steve. As an insomniac, Hayes began to wander his new city in the late and early morning hours, both observing and conversing with people who were similarly sleep-challenged.

In the summertime, late into the night, some leave behind their sweat-dampened sheets to read in the coolness of a park under streetlights. Not Kindles, mind you, or iPhones. But books,. Newspapers, Novels. Poetry. Completely absorbed as if in their own worlds. And indeed they are.

Hayes also brought along his camera, his "travel companion," during day and night city walks. He shot photos of people for his own private enjoyment. Unwilling to intrude on some intimate scenes, Hayes shot body parts that reflected the person's essence.

Couples captivated me -- on the Tube, on park benches, arm in arm on the street. Couples so in love you could see it in their faces....Their smiles were heartbreaking. I took pictures of their hands, laced together as if in prayer, or their feet -- the erotic dance that is a prelude to a kiss.

Hayes records these episodic meetings, observations, and photos in his diary, entries which he compiles into Insomniac City. And oh, the joy, hope, and humanity each piece presents to us lucky readers fortunate enough to share his everyday sights, elegant writing, and imagery. 

Sometimes I'd sit in the kitchen in the dark and gaze out at the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. Such a beautiful pair, so impeccably dressed, he in his boxy suits, every night a different hue, and she, an arm's length away, in her filigreed skirt the color of the moon. I regarded them as an old married couple, calmly unblinkingly keeping watch over one of their newest sons. And I returned the favor; I would be there the moment the Empire State turned off its lights for the night as if to get a little shut-eye before sunrise.

But there is yet another part of this wonderful book besides late night observations and photographs. Hayes meets Dr. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and best-selling author. The two men connect and become romantic partners, a first for Sacks in decades. Their loving relationship is also reflected on in Hayes' diary as he records bits of their conversations, random thoughts from Sacks, and a peak at the new life they spend together.

...last night the clock chimed,..O[liver] and I counted the chimes carefully. A big smile broke out on his face. "Oh! That's very eccentric! Earlier, it did ten chimes at four o'clock, and now, seven at nine."

We laughed how this is like having an aging parent in the house, one who's a little "dotty," gets a little lost, misremembers, from time to time ... 

I could keep on giving examples of Hayes' narrations, but I have to stop and leave so many more for you to experience. Suffice to say, I fell in love with both these men, New York City, and the beauty of descriptive writing that will stay with me for a long time. Highest recommendation.

I have come to believe that kindness is repaid in unexpected ways and that if you are lonely or bone-tired or blue, you need only come down from your perch and step outside. New York -- which is to say, New Yorkers -- will take care of you.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical Tales.

Highly unusual cases recorded and commented on by Sacks, detailing his experiences in a New York neurology clinic depict some of his patient' symptoms and treatment, including: a man with no recollection of any events in the last sixty years; a man who cannot recognize faces (including his own); an autistic, but brilliantly gifted artist; a woman who has Irish songs from her childhood constantly running through her head; and of course, the title character who grabbed his wife's head and tried to put it on his own head. Incredible, readable, and wonderfully entertaining as you try to imagine the reality of these patients.

 

To Serve Them All My Days

 Delderfield, R.F.. To Serve Them All My Days. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1972. Print

First Sentences:

The guard at Exeter warned him he would have to change at Dulverton to pick up the westbound train to Bamfylde Bridge Halt, the nearest railhead to the school, but did not add that the wait between trains was an hour.

It was one of those trivial circumstances that played a part in the healing process of the years ahead, for the interval on that deserted platform, set down in a rural wilderness, and buttressed by heavily timbered hills where spring lay in ambush, gave Powlett-Jones an opportunity to focus his thoughts in a way he had been unable to do for months, since the moment he had emerged from the dugout and paused, rubbing sleep from his eyes, to glance left and right down thee trench.

Description:

When I began The First Sentence Reader blog, one of my first choices of books to make sure that every one of my reader knew about was R.F. Delderfield's To Serve Them All My Days. Now, three years and over 300 book recommendations later, I am finally getting around to telling you about this wonderful novel.

This book has everything I want in a great read: strong, personable characters; interesting setting; compelling plot; and honest, straightforward writing. It tells the story of David Powlett-Jones, a shell-shocked survivor of the World War I trenches in France. There he was severely shaken by a mortar blast and forced to recover in a hospital for months. P-J, at the urging of his doctor, applies to the English boys school, Bamfylde, under the able leadership of the Rev. Algy Herris. With no experience teaching but finding the clear air and quiet were immediately clearing the fog and lingering fears in his brain, the young Powlett-Jones takes a history teaching position at Herris' school and the story begins.

Here you could almost reach out an touch the quiet. It was a living thing that seemed to catch its breath up there in the hanging woods and then, at a wordless command, slip down the long hillside and gust over the rails to lose itself in the wood opposite. Its touch was gentle and healing, passing over his scar tissue like the fingers of a woman.

The Bamfyld staff has been pulled together helter-skelter due to the enlistment of every other able man into the English war effort. Aged, old-school teachers are coaxed from retirement to work alongside war dodgers and those rejected for physical or mental shortcomings. The school is filled with privileged boys ready to challenge any new teacher, so P-J, a former miner's son, knows he has his work cut out for him.

But under the headmaster's loose but purposeful guidance, P-J begins to blossom into a solid, popular teacher. Nicknamed "Pow-Wow" by the boys for his tendency to talk things over in class and listen to the opinions of the boys, he becomes a rarity in the age of memorization and the punishment cane.

The school and boys begin to grow on P-J and slowly the horrifying sights and tragedies from the French trenches begin to fall from his consciousness. Love enters his life, as does tragedy. He shows quick-thinking in classrooms, faculty lounges, and several emergency situations involving life and death for several boys.

In all, To Serve Them All My Days gets my highest recommendation. Don't be put off that it is a fairly long book. It will bring you to a place that is welcoming, challenging, intelligent, cozy and loving. You won't want to leave that environment or its characters which you have grown to admire and love. Please read it soon.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

McCourt, Frank Teacher Man.   

Memoirs of Pulitzer Prize-winner McCourt recalls his three decades of teaching English in New York cities inner-city schools. As an Irish immigrant facing thousands of not-so-eager "students", he faces real world challenges each day, many of which he fails to overcome. But when he succeeds with telling them stories of his life in Ireland or sees the flicker of a student's respect, he is inspired to keep teaching. Extremely personable and well-written.

The Scapegoat

Du Maurier, Daphne. The Scapegoat. New York: Doubleday. 1956. Print

First Sentences:

I left the car by the side of the cathedral, and then walked down the steps to the Place des Jacobins. 

It was still raining hard. It had not once let up since Tours, and all I had seen of the countryside I loved was the gleaming surface of the Route Nationale, rhythmically cut by the monotonous swing of the windscreen wiper.

Description:

Sometimes just the premise of a book is enough to hook you into at least picking it up to read. Examples? A man inadvertantly left all by himself on Mars (The Martian). A trip down the Nile River from origin to mouth in a kayak (Kayak Down the Nile). Creating a sport fishing spot in the desert (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen). The auction of the furnishings from a luxury apartment in Paris that has not been opened in seventy years (A Paris Apartment). And, of course, the history of the library card catalog system - be still my heart - (The Card Catalog). In the hands of a talented author, you have a compelling read.

It is on such an interesting premise and masterful writing that I stongly recommend Daphne du Maurier's The Scapegoat. 

Here is the set-up. A Englishman, John, desperately depressed as his vacation in Europe ends and knowing he must return to his dull teaching position, happens one night to meet another man, Jean, the wealthy Comte de Gue. They are strangers to each other, but soon realize they are not ordinary strangers. The men immediately see that they could be exact twins.

I realized, with a strange sense of shock and fear and nausea all combined, that his face and voice were know to me too well. I was looking at myself.

Over drinks and later in Jean's hotel room, they talk about their lives before John passes out. And when he awakens the next morning, he is alone in the room with only Jean's suitcase, clothes, and possessions. Jean is gone along with John's clothes. The hotel staff immediately mistake John for the other man and when Jean's family car arrives to take "Jean" home, John decides to play along and see what living like the wealthy Jean would be like ... and whether he can pass as another person with a stranger’s family and friends.

What an opening premise! From then on, every page is a nail-biter as to whether this counterfeit Comte de Gue will be unmasked. Each sentence “Jean”/John utters, each person he pretends to know, each family business transaction he oversees puts him in peril of discovery along with the unimaginable consequences. 

And where is the real Comte, John continues to wonder? What will happen when he shows up in his own home?

There it is. A deliciously devious plot with danger and cleverness on every page, masterfully related by the skilled storyteller, Daphne DuMaurier. How can you possibly resist? Well, don't resist. You won't be sorry.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

DuMaurier, Daphne. Rebecca  

Classic Gothic fiction story of a newlywed couple who returns to the husband's home to live, only to be constantly reminded of his beloved first wife, Rebecca, whose spirit permeates the estate.

Apollo 8

Kluger, Jeffrey. Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon. New York: Holt 2017. Print

First Sentences:

August 1968 

The last thing Frank Borman needed was a phone call when he was trying to fly his spacecraft. 

No astronaut ever wanted to hear a ringing phone when he was in the middle of a flight, but when the spacecraft was an Apollo, any interruption was pretty much unforgivable. 

Description:

I admit it. I love books about space, NASA programs, and memoirs from astronauts. Here's a great book to add to any fellow space-lover's reading list: Jeffrey Kluger's Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon. This well-researched book is chock full of inside stories, data, interviews, and photos about the first manned space flight to the moon. Apollo 8 details every thrill, problem, and personality to allow readers to experience every aspect of this history-making flight.

In 1968, the United State was experiencing difficult times. Assassinations, Vietnam, civil rights protests, and the Cold War filled the newspapers. Even NASA was on shaky ground after the fiery deaths of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee on the Apollo 1 launchpad. Therefore, NASA scrapped the next two Apollo missions to revamp all safety procedures, and used unmanned spacecraft for the Apollo 4-6 flights. Apollo 7, the first three-man Earth orbital mission, had problems with both the spacecraft and the crew who complained constantly during their flight about the craft and conditions. (NASA made sure none of these men was allowed to fly into space again.)

NASA needed some good publicity to increase interest from the citizens and government. They therefore decided to upgrade the mission of Apollo 8 from a simple Earth orbit into one that would head to the Moon. It would be humankind's first flight outside our own orbit. NASA even decided to add orbits of the Moon to take photos of potential landing sites and, for the first time ever, bring back scenes from the dark side of the moon. These ambitious goals would certainly catch the interest of the world!

Frank Broman, Jim Lovell, Bill Anders were the crew. NASA hoped these men would rise to the challenge of the more complex flight plan and the revamped training necessary to succeed in the daring mission. And NASA wanted these astronauts and flight to succeed with such perfection that Americans would recover from the Apollo 1 deaths and Apollo 7 sloppiness to again feel proud of the US space program. As a bonus, such an ambitious flight would make the Russians realize how far the US was pulling ahead in the space race.

There were 5.6 million separate parts in the command and service module...which meant that even if everything functioned 99.9 percent perfectly, 5,600 parts might go bad. 

The mission required Apollo use the giant, untested Saturn V rocket to break Earth's orbit. Designer Wernher von Braun assured NASA that the rocket would be ready for the 16-week launch date. Now all that was needed was for :

1. The Earth to be at the precise spot in its rotation for launch, orbit, moon shot to achieve the proper angles;
2. The Atlantic or Pacific Ocean to be in position under the returning spacecraft 6 days later for splashdown;
3. The Moon to be in proper phase for illumination of possible landing site photos

Astronauts and Mission Control staff practiced simulations of every procedure and problems thrown in. Trainers would disable three of the Saturn engines just after launch, kill communications systems, have individual systems break down and give the men three minutes to solve the problems.

In-flight problems still arose. For example, Commander Bormann was nauseated throughout the flight. Stored bags of urine leaked. Temperatures inside sun-facing spacecraft stayed at a steady 80 degrees. Along with the reality of three men living for six days in a small space, these factors combined to produce a definite ripeness to the air in the spacecraft. 

Many more fascinating details emerge from Apollo 8, including the history of the formation of the moon. Author Kluger describes how 4.5 billion years ago a passing body collided with Earth to knock it off its axis to create our seasons and send a ring of dust around our planet that after a billion years condensed into the Moon.

The highlight of the mission was the Christmas TV broadcast from Moon orbit where each man gave his personal impressions of Moon to the vast audience on Earth. Each recited portions of the Genesis biblical verses ("In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth..."), and the listeners were awestruck.

There is so much more, but I will prevent myself from revealing additional wonderful details to those who want to read and savor this historic account for themselves, and to stop myself from boring any who are not space enthusiasts. Apollo 8 is an important piece of the space program puzzle that eventually put humans on the Moon. I found Apollo 8 to be a fascinating documentation of this flight. It was riveting for an armchair astronaut like me to be part of each step for this particular mission.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Burrows, William E. This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age  

The most complete history of the space program, from initial experiments with rockets to landing on the moon and beyond. Loads of conversations, memos, speeches, flights, triumphs and failures, and the people behind all of these. Interesting because it draws on documents from the Soviet Union to follow the birth and development of their space program as well. 

Cernan, Eugene and Don Davis. The Last Man on the Moon  

Biography of Gene Cernan and his adventures in NASA from Gemini to Apollo to setting the final footprints on the moon. Wonderfully narrated by Cernan as he recalls the training, excitement, frustrations, and eventual rewards for his first space walk and eventual moon walk. (previously reviewed here)

An Odyssey

Mendelsohn, Daniel. An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic. New York: Knopf 2017. Print.

First Sentences:

One January evening a few years ago, just before the beginning of the spring term in which I was going to be teaching an undergraduate seminar on the Odyssey, my father, a retired research scientist who was then aged eighty-one, asked me, for reasons I thought I understood at the time, if he might sit in on the course, and I said yes.

Description:

When his 81-year-old father asks if he can sit in on his freshman seminar at Bard College on the Odyssey, Daniel Mendelsohn agrees. The resulting experiences from this intimate class and father-son interactions are the basis for an surprisingly compelling book, An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic.

What...could studying the ancient classics possibly teach students in the present day? ... Human nature..."[P]hilology,' from the Greek for "love of language" -- was nothing less than a means to a profound understanding of the "intellectual, sensual, and moral powers of man."

There are actually three plot lines to this book, each equally thought-provoking. First there is the class and its discussion of the epic poem, the Odyssey by Homer (or by several authors over the centuries who compile separate stories into one work). The seminar provides an in-depth analysis of the adventure poem with fascinating background of the Trojan War and its principle characters. There are translations and definitions of significant Greek text to fully understand the interesting implications of specific phrases. 

The one word in the English language that combines all of the various resonances that belong severally to "voyage" and "journey" and "travel" -- the distance but also the time, the time but also the emotion, the arduousness and the danger -- comes not from Latin but from Greek. That word is "odyssey."

During classroom discussions, Mendelsohn's father doesn't just sit quietly in a corner listening as Mendelsohn anticipated. Instead, he interjects his crusty opinions that often challenge or even contradict his son's direction in the seminar, with freshmen joining in with their opinions.

The second interwoven narrative gives background of the early home life of the Mendelsohn father and son including the prickly history between the two that crops up in the author's mind during comments made by Mendelsohn's father. Their relationship was challenging to say the least, with the precise mathematician father distancing himself from his gay son and setting high standards for behavior,

Finally, after the seminar concludes, father and son embark on a cruise that follows Odysseus' voyages through the Mediterranean. After such a testy seminar experience, how will these two survive living together on a boat for several weeks?

Now that I am old...I guess I can see the part about the importance of being out there and trying things even if you fail. You have to keep moving, at least. The worst thing is to go stale. Once that happens, you're finished.

I knew very little about the Odyssey before reading An Odyssey, so would have been satisfied with just the explanation and discussion of the poem. But having the other two tracts of an Odyssey made this a much rich  experience for me. As father and son's characters slowly reveal themselves, grow and falter, they take on the importance and adventure of Odysseus himself.

And surely, these two men along with Odysses, embark on life-changing odysseys. The Odyssey we learn is about Odysseus' son Telemachus' journey to find and understand his father, Odysseus, just as Mendelsohn begins to discover and understand his own father. 

I was realizing for the first time, how much the Odyssey knew about this ostensibly trivial but profound real-life phenomenon, the way that small things between people can be the foundation of the greatest intimacy...When you have those things, those things that couple have, they keep you connected long after everything else becomes unrecognizable.

A great read, one I really enjoyed thoroughly, definitely worth your time on so many levels.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Homer. The Odyssey  

New, lean, fast-paced translation of the epic poem

The Last American Man

Gilbert, Elizabeth. The Last American Man. London: Penguin. 2002. Print.

First Sentences:

By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old, he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree.

By the time he was ten, he could hit a running squirrel at fifty feet with a bow and arrow. When he turned twelve, he went out into the woods, alone and empty-handed, built himself a shelter, and survived off the land for a week.

Description:

Some people harbor dreams of forsaking civilization, disappearing into some isolated forest and living off the land peacefully in harmony with nature. Of course, none of us could survive more that a few miserable days, but what if ....

Elizabeth Gilbert depicts such a man in her strongly-written biography of Eustace Conway, The Last American Man. 

For years, Eustace had escaped his father's badgering and humiliations by spending time in a local American Indian museum, learning the Indian philosophy and their skills of living in nature. He gradually acquired the abilities to live independent of civilization and, when he reached 17, tooks off from his home with his homemade teepee and motorcycle to find his perfect land in the woods of North Carolina to make a home in nature.

Eventually he purchased acres of isolated lands and built Turtle Island, his refuge which could preserve of enough natural forest for him to live freely with animals, water, and trees in his own way without roads, electricity, or contact with the outside world. Supporting himself by giving demonstrations and talks to schools and organizations, everything seemed perfect in his chosen life.

But not all was easy. He was determined to spread his philosophy that anyone can live in nature, and should. To that end, Eustace opened Turtle Island to campers seeking his knowledge of survival skills. What they found were hours of digging post holes, eating meager meals from whatever Eustace can scrounge (including roadkill and dumpster diving), and whatever other work Eustace felt was needed to keep Turtle Island running. Few campers were happy with these arrangements and many left early.

And then there was his strong desire to start a family and his plan to find the perfect woman. Not all went well in this area as might be expected, as potential girlfriends were left to mind the teepee and campers to Eustace's exacting standards while he traveled the country giving demonstrations and preaching his back-to-nature philosophy.

But what an interesting man he is, and what a life he carved out for himself. The book is filled with story after incredible story of incidents in his life of interacting with nature, including raising a hundred turtles in his childhood backyard, riding horses across the United States, and through-hiking the Appalachian Trail without packing any food and surviving on what he could hunt or scrounge. Throughout the book he is always carefully plotting the perfect existence and spreading his enthusiasm to kids and adults alike.

Wonderful reading about a complex man who defines and then carves out his ideal life.

Happy reading. 

Fred

(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet

Young city-born teen survives a plane crash in the wilds of Canada and must learn how to survive. Wonderful book for teens and adults alike, as the best news is there are several other books in this survival series. (previously reviewed here)