Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Post here to discuss The Calculating Stars. Spoilers ahead!

I loved this story. Kowal took great pains to get the science right, from calculating the effect of the meteorite on earth ecosystems to the details of training and suiting up for a space voyage.

Elma, our main character was, I think, a reasonable representation of her era. I recently visited the national WASP museum (in Sweetwater, Texas). I was struck by the competence and bravery of the women fliers, but also how they were forced into "acting womanly" to satisfy journalists and legislators. Unfortunately, as Kowal points out, the inclusion of women of color in the WASPs was a step too far.

I thought Elma was brave and smart. Her debilitating anxiety really annoyed me but, after all, public speaking IS the number one cause of anxiety. She didn't exactly embrace her public role as the "Lady Astronaut", but she did see it as one more hurdle to be crossed in order to fly in space.

Really enjoyed this one!

I finished this last night and really loved it! Like a fictional version of Hidden Figures. I loved Elma and Nathaniel's relationship - they were so sweet! I'm kind of a space nut, and was fascinated by the alternate version of the space race Kowal presented. The historical footnote describing which of the characters were real people or based on actual events was quite interesting.

I really appreciated the treatment of serious issues like racism, sexism, and mental health. Elma's growing awareness of racial discrimination was so well-drawn. And on a personal note, I'm reflecting on how nice it was for me as a Jewish reader to see my religion/culture represented in a book, and how necessary it is for society to do a better job of representation for other more marginalized populations. (Sorry for the soapbox moment, but I think it's so important. Back to the book!)

I will definitely be seeking out the sequel!

Although I think the novel a five-star read, getting everything right for the era, and that the author is an excellent writer - I HATE Elma. Despised her. I hated the fifties. I hated being put down as being 'only' a female. I hated all of the lost opportunities, the disrespect, the groping by men of women's bodies everywhere all of the time, men's assumed assumptions of the inferiority of women in EVERYTHING.

Although I am curious about how Elma gets to the Moon and Mars, I cannot STAND reading such a real portrayal of how it was for women during the 1950's and 1960's. I lived it. Elma has shockingly mild feelings about it all. I didn't. I seethed inside all of the time. So I complained with my girlfriends. We talked, yelled, and later marched for civil rights. Elma is WAY too fricking mild emotionally all the way down. In real life, the women I knew seethed.

This was a spectacularly researched book, in every respect.

I had a bittersweet time reading it - she captured the time period for women so accurately, it felt like recalling my mother and her circle of friends when I was a child....life in an impenetrable social box...and it brought back memories so strong I wanted to scream. (recalling, at age 3, Mom putting on bright red lipstick and me, watching, thinking how much of that stuff did she end up swallowing, (ugh) and swearing to myself I would NEVER EVER put that stuff near my mouth - a promise I kept).

The author did this so well, It threw me back into those times, so kudos to her!

Likewise the space program...I have extremely vivid memories of the first pictures coming back from the Mariner missions - and the Mercury program - and Life Magazine's brilliant color pictures - then Apollo....I still have the newspapers/still remember that night of Armstrong's first step on the moon. HUGE.

So reading this fictional re-creation in many ways felt 'dulled down.' NOT the fault of the author!!! She was writing from the perspective of a scientific/math minded adult. But the juxtaposition of the crackling sparkle of a child's recall of that excitement made the novel feel deadened down.

I loved the way she presented the opening - the fall of the metorite, the impact of it, and the tension she created with the different stages of the event - totally brilliantly done!

I think the sequel will be a better fit for me, given that she's likely to take it beyond the fifties earth perspective and dial up the survival factors. So I'll be along for the ride for the next one.

All of these opinions are my very deeply personal response and the story is IN NO WAY deficient. I spent a bit of time sifting through my responses while reading, and this is what I arrived at.

Hidden Figures is such a sharp edged story - very very hard to top that aspect of a true story.

The concept of taking the female astronauts program and allowing women to go forward into space is a completely brilliant and worthy idea.

Kudos to Mary Robinette Kowal for giving it a fictional launch. What, indeed, could history have been, given the times?