Quotes from the Outside Reading

Here are a couple of interesting quotes that I found in my outside reading book:
1. "We were brothers. All of us. We had to work together, live together, eat together, sleep together, fail together, and succeed together. We had to know what each other was going to do at any moment and know how we would react to each situation with them. It was our job" (Kranz 83).
2. "At Mission Control, cetain things were understood. Every mission must achieve its objecties, and it ust be accomplished on schedule if we were to keep John F. Kennedy's pledge to land a mon on the moon in this decade" (Kranz 208).

Shakespeare

So far in the Shakespeare book, the story has gone nowhere. I feel like the plot has the potential to be interesting, but it is jsut talking and planning, no action. Yes, the book is literally about nothing, as stated in the title. But I still feel myself getting mad at Shakespeare for not getting the show on the road, so to speak. Although the characters are michevious and often very funny to read about, the story, like I said before, has gone nowhere. I am interested to see what will happen when Don Pedro's plan to set up Benedick and Beatrice goes into action. It seems intruging to me to think about what will happen when these two worst enemies who both hate even thinking about love, fall in love. It makes me chuckle inside already.

Comparisons?

When I look at the two books I am currently reading, Much Ado About Nothing and Failure is Not an Option, I do not see many similarities between the two. Much Ado is a love story and, as the title reveals, really should not be taken seriously by the reader. It is apparent that Shakespeare did not intend to make this a story that people are affected by, but the book is still interesting and fun to read. Failure, on the other hand, is a nonfiction book that gives you insight on the evolution of the space program and also teaches the reading about many themes that they can use throughout their life.

Science in the Book

One aspect of the book that has impressed me was the explanation of the Scientific aspects of NASA. The author explains fairly well how the rocket team had to find a new chemical for all the rockets because the old fuel was not producing enough thrust per pound to get the larger rockets into orbit. After months of experimenting with chemicals, NASA finally found its perfect fuel for the launch. The chemical is called Ammonium per chlorate, and it gave the astronauts the perfect amount of power to lift the multi-ton spaceship off the ground and into space. The chemical is so powerful that the American space program still uses it today for its space launches.

Halfway Reflection of the Book

Like I said before, the writing style of the author is a large negative to the bok. I sometimes feel myself drifting off into other thoughts while reading the book. It seems to me that Gene doesn't try to 'spice up' the books words and writing styles. The thing that keeps the reader interested is the story of his rise through the ranks of the infant Space Program and all the trials, sucesses, and failures of the program, and with it, the U.S. itself.

Writing Styles of the Book

Gene Kranz's writing style is not very complicated. He (obviously) writes nonfiction. But he is comletely straightforward. He does not add any inuendos or imagery at all. Gene's writing style seems to reflect his personality perfectly. He is a hard worker, no nonsense, straight to the point person. He never fools around, always meets his deadlines, and his leadership was the exact job description of what NASA needed at the time. His writing style is just that. Blunt, descriptive, and not very interesting. Some people would think that the book wouldn't be very interesting, but it is actually the story that keeps you into it.