Exception
Written reviews on bookie sites trickle in slowly. I enjoy reading both the good and the bad ones, usually getting a laugh or two from the latter. I don’t usually comment on them and certainly never respond in a comment right on the site. That’s a bad idea. I read one this week on Goodreads about First, a one-star review where the reader clearly did not like the book. He highlighted one passage where Peter, one of the astronauts, gets drunk and takes verbal and physical swings at his teammates. The reviewer’s comment on the passage went like this:
What? An accomplished communications engineer who passed and continues to pass multiple psych evaluations has an obvious tendency for petty jealousy and a clear alcohol problem? This is one of many examples of the characters' explicit immaturity, especially Lewis'.
The reason I highlight this part of the review is because it displays a fundamental ignorance of humans and history. Drunk people say stupid stuff. People lash out when they’re angry and say incredibly petty things. Does that mean they’re characterized by pettiness? Not necessarily, particularly when alcohol fuels the talking. Maybe this reviewer has never been to a bar or around drunk people. The part about ‘a clear alcohol problem’ made me lol. Seriously, it did. Ever been around people in high-pressure situations, like military or law enforcement? The reviewer clearly knows nothing about the history of the space program. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, astronauts were notorious for nightly inhabiting the clubs along the east Florida coast and racing their sports cars on the beach. They came from a test pilot culture and the bar where they routinely drank to excess in California became legendary. I guess they were immature, according to this shiny new standard. I’ll keep that in mind the next time I write about astronauts. If you don’t think they went through continuous mental and physical testing, read some stories told from the astronauts’ POV. They got so tired of it all at one point they told the guy in charge that if they had to go through one more test, they would quit. If I recall correctly, the incident involved dropping a urine-filled sample bag on the man’s desk.
Look, I realize people consume books like First based on their own context and experience. And I probably shouldn’t make an exception to responding to comments. I note this review because it makes me wonder if there’s a broader ignorance of people and history. I hope not, and I hope this example of ignorance is the exception and not the rule. Spend a little time around drunk people and watch and listen - it’s not always pretty. And go read some history on the space program and Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. The story of those years is fascinating. In summary, I give this review a half-star.