First Man
by Kate Walker · first published 1986
6mentions
3recommended by
4HN commenters
2012–2018first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
“One thing you ought to know about me is that I can never resist a challenge—I always take them up and when I do I invariably win.” Adam Rochford might be her father's business partner, but that didn't entitle him to rule Micky's life. She had no intention of falling in with her parents' plans, and Adam's arrogant interference was the final straw. Then, just when she was sure that he thought of her as an irritating child, she realised that she wanted him to see her as a woman.
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It is a play, yes. > I didn't mean all themes had to be in one work. Oh, in that case...I can recommend so much. It'd take way too long. Here are a few, off the top of my head: The First Man by Albert Camus (novel) The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde (short story) Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (play) If you want something challenging, try Cervantes' Don Quixote.
on ““A book is a sneeze”” ↗…of the NACA guys not being as skillful behind the stick as the Air Force pilots even though they may have been better engineers, etc. etc. Armstrong's version of the story (recounted only briefly in First Man - incredible book btw) makes it sound more like Neil Armstrong was the victim of a practical joke wherein Yeager encouraged him to land even though he knew full well they'd get stuck. It's actually a…
on “In Search of Chuck Yeager’s Evading Germans 1944 (2013)” ↗I haven't read much Camus but I absolutely loved his semi-autobiographical story about his childhood growing up in Algeria he wrote just before he died in a car accident: https://www.amazon.com/First-Man-Vintage-International-ebook... The story stuck with me for a long time and I was told it was much more accessible than many of his earlier books that were more philosophical. It's a great story if you…
on “Albert Camus: A reconstructed conversation” ↗I just recommended someone on HN a book by Camus. The First Man. I read your other comment about your having a troubled childhood. I can relate. When I was 14 I started reading everything Camus ever published. I became very withdrawn. My family became very concerned.…
on “Albert Camus: The Life of the Artist – A Mimodrama in Two Parts (1953)” ↗…http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Man-Moon-Astronaut/dp/0312199... written by Eugene Cernan (the last man on the moon) http://www.amazon.com/Flight-My-Life-Mission-Control/dp/0452... written by and about mission control http://www.amazon.com/First-Man-Life-Neil-Armstrong/dp/B001O... about Armstrong but representative of many astronauts (and the only book Armstrong cooperated with) http://www.amazon.com/Two-Sides-Moon-Story-Space/dp/03123086... about…
on “Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater” ↗…lunatic because he wouldn't stop harassing him in the street, even though multiple people tried to intervene. I can't imagine Aldrin cared too much about the guy's conspiracy theories. Perhaps in contrast, First Man (the book) relates that Armstrong hid in a college bathroom when some autograph seekers came by the college where he taught.
on “Neil Armstrong Remembered” ↗