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Loading... An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth (original 2013; edition 2015)by Chris Hadfield (Author)The parts of this book where Hadfield's humor shines through were, far and away, the best parts. The parts which were structured as a self-help/managerial approach left me cold, for the most part. While I would recommend the book to space enthusiasts, I might also counsel that they should wait for the paperback version. Life on this earth is too short to read something not enjoyed. This book starts out with a bang then goes on and on and on after that. The stories are very redundant and not well organized. I felt like I was sitting at the knee of an old man who kept telling me stories over and over again with only slightly different twists, but with all the same "life lessons" of work hard, be a team player, learn from your mistakes while not being too hard on your self, and be competitive. What an extremely good outreach everyman the space program got in Chris Hadfield! His affability belies the single-mindedness required of his job. Yet it's clear that the job also requires a lot of open-mindedness on his part to remain (or seem to) so accepting of how he could've "failed" his boyhood dream. This is the epitome of that proverb of reaching for the stars because even if you don't get there, you might get to go to the ISS anyway. I appreciated that Hadfield acknowledged the sacrifices and support of his family in pursuit of his high pressure dream. And him realising that him being away so often is no excuse for not making an effort in everyday life and other people's special events. And really also his wife for being so sensible and independent. It really takes an entire village in this instance for one man to to achieve the dream of millions. One more thing I appreciated is Hadfield outlining how he had to meet some space-affiliated person in a hotel lobby but they decided that it'd be better to go to their hotel room and Hadfield acquiesced, but also recognising how potentially uncomfortable it would have been if he were a woman. Hadfield writes simply and engagingly, and does not waste the valuable currency that is everyone's interest in living in zero gravity. At once glamorising but also down-to-earth, the occupation of astronaut is laid out for an everyperson to judge, and perhaps for an everychild to aspire to. A great addition to outreach in science and space exploration in particular. The title of this book makes it sound – in part – like a kind-of self-help book: “...guide to life on Earth”. But it’s really not. It is primarily a memoir about Chris Hadfield’s life as an astronaut and his three trips into space. I really liked that it was more about his life and his trips to space (and the huge amount – years! - of preparation for it. Oh, the amount of planning is incredible – particularly focusing on (all) the worst case scenario(s). There were bits of “advice” here and there that can be taken for life in general. I just found the planning and the trips to space so interesting. (I hadn’t realized he’d also done some youtube videos, so I’ve had to take a look – very entertaining!) Usually, I’m not really into space and astronaut stuff but this is a highly enjoyable book. It’s as interesting and funny as Colonel Hadfield’s Twitter and Facebook updates, and YouTube videos. It is also very personal. After all, we follow his life from him watching the first men (Buzz Aldrin is the name of the second one, please remember that) step on the Moon to his retirement after being commander of the International Space Station. However, at times it seemed to be a bit repetitive. Maybe that is why I couldn’t read more than one chapter at a time, despite all the interesting stories being told. He described launch so vividly, I actually felt like I experienced it myself. Which makes me think about the repetitions. Maybe it was deliberate, to show the reader how uninteresting (and repetitive) the mundane reality of being an astronaut is. We are told, over and over again that an astronaut spends most of his time on Earth, and it is good, and important. Maybe he never leaves the planet which is okay. Of course, going to space is what everyone wishes for but even that is not heroic, and life after it is not boring at all. They are preparing for years, practicing every movement they will be making, they plan for the worst, study long and hard, and are humble servants of a greater purpose only. Towards the end, I started to wonder who he was trying to convince. Me or himself? For most of the book, I believed him but by the last chapter, I felt he was really labouring the point. Anyway, I think this is a wonderful path; from watching the first Moon landing on TV as a kid, through highly conscious career choices and hard work, taking part in the installation of a robotic arm that helped build the International Space Station (ISS) which he becomes the commander of in the end. It is full of great life lessons (they would make superb memes) and really interesting details, all told with a brilliant sense of humour. I was especially fascinated by the effects of being in space on the human body. From the fact they are wearing diapers at launch because it may take much longer than expected, through the nausea everyone experiences at first, to the results of living in zero gravity for months. Without the pull of gravitational force, their muscles weaken, of course. But also their hearts! Their hearts even shrink. Their spines, on the other hand, elongate. Coming back to Earth, then, after spending months floating in a peaceful, quiet environment with only a couple of other humans is like being a newborn, he says. After a rather tough ride, they are faced with all the noise, the people, the rush, and merciless gravity. “No wonder babies cry in protest when they’re born.” – says Hadfield. Oh, and he’s afraid of heights. The ex-commander of the ISS. Would you believe that? For the most part I enjoyed this biography/encouragment book. Hadfield's writing is engaging and his stories are fascinating. I did, however, find that a few of those stories were told too many times - it was like the chapters were meant to be read independently. For those interested in life as an astronaut, the book is generally a good read. For someone not particularly interested in spacelife, I did enjoy his proverb-like maxims. It's just ok. It should just be renamed to 'Chris Hadfield: I Got Lucky' or something like that since the book seems to follow a timeline of the life of Chris. It does talk about his life when he's not in space, it's not that entertaining for the reader. If someone asked me if they should buy the book and read it I would say 'NO, the book isn't worth your time.' It's December 2011, and it's Christmas at my dad's house. Actually it's Christmas everywhere, my point is that I am at my dad's house, and it's Christmas. My little sister hands me my present and I receive it with thanks. Except as I try to take it from her she doesn't let go. Instead she says something. And it's not “Merry Christmas!” Nor is it “I'm so blessed for having such an awesome big brother!” It's not even “If I ever spontaneously change sex like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park then I hope my beard is as magnificent as yours!” No, what she says is “I'm sorry.” She's not apologising for some past transgression, though. She continues: “I don't know why I bought this for you, I just saw it in the shop and… oh God, I'm sorry.” And with that she finally lets go of the present. It's fair to say I'm a little put out by this stage. There are certain scripted things one says when handing over a Christmas present. Usually “This one's for you” or “I hope you like it.” At worst someone might say “I've still got the receipt,” but rambling apologies aren't supposed to be on the script. I open the present gingerly, and find myself the proud owner of a particularly fine looking trouser expander. For those who aren't as lucky as me and don't know what a trouser expander is: it's a smallish sausage shaped plastic pouch with an attached hand pump. When deflated the pouch fits snugly into one's underpants, but should the need to arise arise then one can surreptitiously give the pump a few swift squeezes through your pocket and hey presto, your trousers expand. Alas! It turned out that there was a little hole in the pouch and so it would quickly deflate unless you were willing to do some rather furious pocket-pumping. And let me tell you, you only try that in public once. In 2012 my sister was a bit more conventional in her choice of Christmas present. And then, this past Christmas, she handed me another small oblong shaped gift with the ominous words “I don't know if you'll like this or not.” It wasn't visions of sugar-plums that danced through my head upon hearing that so much as a battery of sex toys. I unwrapped the gift, half expecting an inflatable yet anatomically accurate pterodactyl to fall out. Instead what dropped into my lap was Chris Hadfield's An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. I, along with most people with the internet, had been following Chris Hadfield on Facebook for many months and am a great admirer of what he's achieved both scientifically and in that oh-so-difficult area of engaging the broader public. Basically, I'm a big fan of his. So when my sister added “I got it signed, by the way” then I suddenly came over all fanboyish and instantly forgave her for buying me a broken trouser expander. I mean for buying me a trouser expander. I assumed the book would be Chris Hadfield's memoirs. Now he's retired from the Canadian Space Agency it seemed a reasonable guess. Instead the first chapter gives a breakneck summary of his life up to heading up to the ISS. After that it becomes a kind of anecdote-filled self-help book. I have the kind of scorn for self-help books that comes from never having read one. In my mind they're filled with useless clichéd tat like “Before you can love others you have to love yourself” and “Dance like no one is listening” and “Don't mix whites and colours in the same wash”. Chris Hadfield's advice here is much more pragmatic. It's odd reading advice from someone who has commanded humanity's only space station. There's a danger that in explaining how he got where he is and scattering in anecdotes he'd make the reader feel like an unaccomplished cretin. But he doesn't. Instead I left the book feeling positive about myself and the world we live in – a world that can come together and build something as marvellous as the International Space Station and find people as magnificent as Chris Hadfield to put on it. -- Edited P.S. I originally linked to Chris Hadfield's amazing cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity here, but Bowie only gave his permission for that version to stay online for one year and that time has passed. Of course, the intrepid explorer might still find it somehow. It's December 2011, and it's Christmas at my dad's house. Actually it's Christmas everywhere, my point is that I am at my dad's house, and it's Christmas. My little sister hands me my present and I receive it with thanks. Except as I try to take it from her she doesn't let go. Instead she says something. And it's not “Merry Christmas!” Nor is it “I'm so blessed for having such an awesome big brother!” It's not even “If I ever spontaneously change sex like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park then I hope my beard is as magnificent as yours!” No, what she says is “I'm sorry.” She's not apologising for some past transgression, though. She continues: “I don't know why I bought this for you, I just saw it in the shop and… oh God, I'm sorry.” And with that she finally lets go of the present. It's fair to say I'm a little put out by this stage. There are certain scripted things one says when handing over a Christmas present. Usually “This one's for you” or “I hope you like it.” At worst someone might say “I've still got the receipt,” but rambling apologies aren't supposed to be on the script. I open the present gingerly, and find myself the proud owner of a particularly fine looking trouser expander. For those who aren't as lucky as me and don't know what a trouser expander is: it's a smallish sausage shaped plastic pouch with an attached hand pump. When deflated the pouch fits snugly into one's underpants, but should the need to arise arise then one can surreptitiously give the pump a few swift squeezes through your pocket and hey presto, your trousers expand. Alas! It turned out that there was a little hole in the pouch and so it would quickly deflate unless you were willing to do some rather furious pocket-pumping. And let me tell you, you only try that in public once. In 2012 my sister was a bit more conventional in her choice of Christmas present. And then, this past Christmas, she handed me another small oblong shaped gift with the ominous words “I don't know if you'll like this or not.” It wasn't visions of sugar-plums that danced through my head upon hearing that so much as a battery of sex toys. I unwrapped the gift, half expecting an inflatable yet anatomically accurate pterodactyl to fall out. Instead what dropped into my lap was Chris Hadfield's An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. I, along with most people with the internet, had been following Chris Hadfield on Facebook for many months and am a great admirer of what he's achieved both scientifically and in that oh-so-difficult area of engaging the broader public. Basically, I'm a big fan of his. So when my sister added “I got it signed, by the way” then I suddenly came over all fanboyish and instantly forgave her for buying me a broken trouser expander. I mean for buying me a trouser expander. I assumed the book would be Chris Hadfield's memoirs. Now he's retired from the Canadian Space Agency it seemed a reasonable guess. Instead the first chapter gives a breakneck summary of his life up to heading up to the ISS. After that it becomes a kind of anecdote-filled self-help book. I have the kind of scorn for self-help books that comes from never having read one. In my mind they're filled with useless clichéd tat like “Before you can love others you have to love yourself” and “Dance like no one is listening” and “Don't mix whites and colours in the same wash”. Chris Hadfield's advice here is much more pragmatic. It's odd reading advice from someone who has commanded humanity's only space station. There's a danger that in explaining how he got where he is and scattering in anecdotes he'd make the reader feel like an unaccomplished cretin. But he doesn't. Instead I left the book feeling positive about myself and the world we live in – a world that can come together and build something as marvellous as the International Space Station and find people as magnificent as Chris Hadfield to put on it. -- Edited P.S. I originally linked to Chris Hadfield's amazing cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity here, but Bowie only gave his permission for that version to stay online for one year and that time has passed. Of course, the intrepid explorer might still find it somehow. Grande, grandísimo libro autobiográfico de un laureado astronauta canadiense. En él, entremezclados con sus vivencias y anécdotas, hay imbricados unas cuantos consejos para la vida que el autor ha seguido a rajatabla y que han conseguido, junto a la suerte, que todo le haya ido de puta madre. Me cae simpático, el coronel Hadfield. El libro da muchísimos detalles sobre lo que supone ser un astronauta, sobre las partes técnicas, los interminables ensayos y pruebas, y luego el Espacio. Ver la Tierra de un solo vistazo. El autor apela repetidamente al sentido de la maravilla y yo se lo acepto. Me ha gustado muchísimo el libro. Altamente recomendable. I've admired this guy since I started watching his videos. He has translated his years of training and amazing life experiences into simple thought provoking ideas. I love any book that makes me think when I put it down, and he did that well. Sometimes when life seems overwhelming it's a good time to step back and take life in small simple steps. Today requires me to be a plus one. Wish me luck. I've admired this guy since I started watching his videos. He has translated his years of training and amazing life experiences into simple thought provoking ideas. I love any book that makes me think when I put it down, and he did that well. Sometimes when life seems overwhelming it's a good time to step back and take life in small simple steps. Today requires me to be a plus one. Wish me luck. I struggled a bit with this book. I missed the Space Oddity video and didn't know who Hadfield was when I picked this up. Perhaps it was that look of goodwill going into it that colored my perception, but he really seemed to vacillate between moments of recognizing his privilege and how that helped build his career and moments where he came off as arrogant and boot straps preachy. That makes sense; I doubt someone who doesn't have a bit of arrogance is going to make it through the education and training necessary to become an astronaut. Still, it didn't leave me with the best feeling about Hadfield and it made the content of the book difficult to get through at times. This book is about a guy who prepares to go out in space. He spends years and years out in space and works hard to get to where he wants. This book shows that you can do anything you want as long as you put your mind to it. It also shows how important math and science work together. He gives many great life lessons and it is based on a true story. I rate this 5 out of 5 because it shows how math is applied in the real world. I found this book fascinating, and difficult to put down. He's had an interesting, and very motivated life. I really enjoyed the behind the scenes look at what it takes to become (and remain) an astronaut. The book gets a little "preachy" in places where he's trying to be inspirational, but it more than makes up for it in how interesting, and unusual the rest of the content is. Lots of good advice, some of it counter intuitive. I liked "strive to be a zero, not a -1 or a +1": don't make things worse, learn first how you can make things better, don't force people to acknowledge you as a +1. He's super smart and an overachiever, and I liked how much credit he gave his wife for keeping the family running as he was dedicated to lots of time away. Super engaging and I learned a lot about life in space, and the process of getting there, as he drew back the curtain. Col. Hadfield is an interesting guy. Unfortunately, he's not a particularly interesting author. When I realized that I had come to resent this book, because reading it was keeping me from reading other books, I gave up. This was around page 200, shortly after he'd made it to the ISS. His straightforward writing style will probably appeal more to others, and I did find his advice interesting - just not enough to go on for another hundred pages. This book is just nice reading in every regard. You'll learn something about space. You'll learn about NASA and interntional space agency relations. You'll learn about Chris Hadfield's life on earth and in space. It's a peculiar mix of his life story (or rather work story), and the more fundamental approaches that he learned on the way, and that allowed him to get where he got. There are lots of calls for humility, and preparedness, and perseverance, and empathy and helping others bear their loads. And at the same time, the book is completely light-hearted, and made me smile on a regular basis. It made my day better, and maybe it will help make me better, too. When I was little, I always wanted to be an astronaut. I always wondered what it would take, what was necessary to become one. I never followed through with my dream, but this book was a good glimpse of what it takes to chase such a dream. Col. Chris Hadfield wrote a thoughtful book about what it meant to be not only an astronaut, but a human. He speaks of the lessons he learns in leadership and humility, of not forgetting the ones you love and always being prepared. Definitely a recommended read. |
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I really liked that it was more about his life and his trips to space (and the huge amount – years! - of preparation for it. Oh, the amount of planning is incredible – particularly focusing on (all) the worst case scenario(s). There were bits of “advice” here and there that can be taken for life in general. I just found the planning and the trips to space so interesting. (I hadn’t realized he’d also done some youtube videos, so I’ve had to take a look – very entertaining!) (