There was a period of about a year/18 months when I read every book about the space programs I could get my hands on. I even read a book about the Soviet effort (written before the Iron Curtain fell) and one authored by Gus Grissom (who gets excited about the space program that would kill him). Since I left that phase, I have less patience with engineering explanations.
I’ll make an exception for Apollo 13. Apollo 13 reads like a thriller. The pacing is magnetic, and easy to read. Though the reader already knows the outcome, the drama is riveting. Part of the spacecraft has exploded, and will they get home without any lasting damage? It’s a true story that could have gone horribly awry, except for all the people working their asses off trying to get these men back the planet. It’s told from multiple points of view — NASA Controllers and Engineers, both the astronauts involved and on the ground, wives children, mothers. The tension is palpable and the explanations don’t detract from the pacing.
The only real thing is the weird continuity in the beginning. The narrative jumps around a bit. First we are in the spacecraft just after it is crippled. Then, after a detour to TV, who are going to break the news, we are four years earlier, at the White House when Lovell and co. get news of the Apollo 1 fire. Then forward two years as Bill Anders, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell orbit the moon for the first time. Then we jump back to Lovell’s youth. Following? The narrative stops leaping about after a few chapters, and the extra information enriches the rest of the story. These leaps were mostly left out of the movie, probably because it’s all a bit disorienting at first.
The narrative could’ve turned into a large complicated mess, but remains immediate and clear throughout. Just don’t expect to keep everyone straight. Even the technical stuff is pretty clear and doesn’t get in the way of the drama.
Verdict: Worth finding new if interested in Space Exploration, but just as thrilling used.
The Brown Paper Book Review 