A Fall of Moondust
Ratings26
Average rating3.6
Added to listClassicswith 16 books.
"How strange that the familiar fields and lakes and forests of Earth shone with such celestial glory when one looked at them from afar! Perhaps there was a lesson here; perhaps no man could appreciate his own world until he had seen it from space."
Not a bad book exactly, but you have to be in the mood for what this book is for it to really hit with you.
The Selene is a tourist craft on the Moon, dedicated to ferrying small groups of people around the surface on tours. On one of these tours, an earthquake (moonquake?) causes a sinkhole to open up around Selene and swallow up her and her passengers.
The bulk of the book is taken up by men of science doing their science thing in brainstorming ways to get air to the ship and rescue them. Meanwhile, we're treated to chapters involving the passengers keeping up morale, putting on plays, reading aloud, and generally being goofy (in a 1960s sort of way). It's very much a classic, a product of its time, but not in the racist/sexist way I've used that phrase to mean in other books. More like, a stilted way of writing, a plot with science galore but nothing/almost nothing in the way of character development. Really, the only characterization that exists is in the form of Pat (captain) longing after Sue (stewardess), again, in a 1960s sort of way.
It's fun, it's short, it's a classic for a reason. It's very readable, but you have to really like old sci-fi writing styles to enjoy this one.
"How strange that the familiar fields and lakes and forests of Earth shone with such celestial glory when one looked at them from afar! Perhaps there was a lesson here; perhaps no man could appreciate his own world until he had seen it from space."
Not a bad book exactly, but you have to be in the mood for what this book is for it to really hit with you.
The Selene is a tourist craft on the Moon, dedicated to ferrying small groups of people around the surface on tours. On one of these tours, an earthquake (moonquake?) causes a sinkhole to open up around Selene and swallow up her and her passengers.
The bulk of the book is taken up by men of science doing their science thing in brainstorming ways to get air to the ship and rescue them. Meanwhile, we're treated to chapters involving the passengers keeping up morale, putting on plays, reading aloud, and generally being goofy (in a 1960s sort of way). It's very much a classic, a product of its time, but not in the racist/sexist way I've used that phrase to mean in other books. More like, a stilted way of writing, a plot with science galore but nothing/almost nothing in the way of character development. Really, the only characterization that exists is in the form of Pat (captain) longing after Sue (stewardess), again, in a 1960s sort of way.
It's fun, it's short, it's a classic for a reason. It's very readable, but you have to really like old sci-fi writing styles to enjoy this one.
A bunch of ordinary people stuck in a tin can below the surface of the moon, battling one catastrophe after another, what is not to love? This is one of my favourite books and I can read it time and again, as indeed I have. So it seems a little dated? That is ok, after all it was written 53 years ago. If you ask me, it has stood the test of time pretty well. I read a review in which the reviewer considered it to be sexist - well, I don't agree. Put it in the context of the time it was written, it is remarkably forward thinking. There may not be any female scientists in the story but I can live with that, there still aren't as many as there should be in real life today. There are no aliens, monsters or zombies - just fine dust, trying to overcome them at every corner. Great fun.
A bunch of ordinary people stuck in a tin can below the surface of the moon, battling one catastrophe after another, what is not to love? This is one of my favourite books and I can read it time and again, as indeed I have. So it seems a little dated? That is ok, after all it was written 53 years ago. If you ask me, it has stood the test of time pretty well. I read a review in which the reviewer considered it to be sexist - well, I don't agree. Put it in the context of the time it was written, it is remarkably forward thinking. There may not be any female scientists in the story but I can live with that, there still aren't as many as there should be in real life today. There are no aliens, monsters or zombies - just fine dust, trying to overcome them at every corner. Great fun.