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Phases Of Gravity
Richard Baedecker thinks his greatest challenge was walking on the moon, but then he meets a mysterious woman who shows him his past. Join Baedecker as he comes to grips with the son and wife he lost in his passion for space exploration, his forgotten childhood and the loss he experienced during the death-flight of the Challenger. The most difficult exploration of his life is not the cold, rocky crevices of the moon, but the warm interior of his heart. Brilliant and beautifully written, PHASES OF GRAVITY is a masterpiece about love and loss that transports readers far beyond the confines of space and time.
218 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1989
About the author
Dan Simmons
230 books12.4k followersDan Simmons grew up in various cities and small towns in the Midwest, including Brimfield, Illinois, which was the source of his fictional "Elm Haven" in 1991's SUMMER OF NIGHT and 2002's A WINTER HAUNTING. Dan received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970, winning a national Phi Beta Kappa Award during his senior year for excellence in fiction, journalism and art.
Dan received his Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1971. He then worked in elementary education for 18 years—2 years in Missouri, 2 years in Buffalo, New York—one year as a specially trained BOCES "resource teacher" and another as a sixth-grade teacher—and 14 years in Colorado.
ABOUT DAN
Biographic Sketch
His last four years in teaching were spent creating, coordinating, and teaching in APEX, an extensive gifted/talented program serving 19 elementary schools and some 15,000 potential students. During his years of teaching, he won awards from the Colorado Education Association and was a finalist for the Colorado Teacher of the Year. He also worked as a national language-arts consultant, sharing his own "Writing Well" curriculum which he had created for his own classroom. Eleven and twelve-year-old students in Simmons' regular 6th-grade class averaged junior-year in high school writing ability according to annual standardized and holistic writing assessments. Whenever someone says "writing can't be taught," Dan begs to differ and has the track record to prove it. Since becoming a full-time writer, Dan likes to visit college writing classes, has taught in New Hampshire's Odyssey writing program for adults, and is considering hosting his own Windwalker Writers' Workshop.
Dan's first published story appeared on Feb. 15, 1982, the day his daughter, Jane Kathryn, was born. He's always attributed that coincidence to "helping in keeping things in perspective when it comes to the relative importance of writing and life."
Dan has been a full-time writer since 1987 and lives along the Front Range of Colorado—in the same town where he taught for 14 years—with his wife, Karen, his daughter, Jane, (when she's home from Hamilton College) and their Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Fergie. He does much of his writing at Windwalker—their mountain property and cabin at 8,400 feet of altitude at the base of the Continental Divide, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park. An 8-ft.-tall sculpture of the Shrike—a thorned and frightening character from the four Hyperion/Endymion novels—was sculpted by an ex-student and friend, Clee Richeson, and the sculpture now stands guard near the isolated cabin.
Dan received his Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1971. He then worked in elementary education for 18 years—2 years in Missouri, 2 years in Buffalo, New York—one year as a specially trained BOCES "resource teacher" and another as a sixth-grade teacher—and 14 years in Colorado.
ABOUT DAN
Biographic Sketch
His last four years in teaching were spent creating, coordinating, and teaching in APEX, an extensive gifted/talented program serving 19 elementary schools and some 15,000 potential students. During his years of teaching, he won awards from the Colorado Education Association and was a finalist for the Colorado Teacher of the Year. He also worked as a national language-arts consultant, sharing his own "Writing Well" curriculum which he had created for his own classroom. Eleven and twelve-year-old students in Simmons' regular 6th-grade class averaged junior-year in high school writing ability according to annual standardized and holistic writing assessments. Whenever someone says "writing can't be taught," Dan begs to differ and has the track record to prove it. Since becoming a full-time writer, Dan likes to visit college writing classes, has taught in New Hampshire's Odyssey writing program for adults, and is considering hosting his own Windwalker Writers' Workshop.
Dan's first published story appeared on Feb. 15, 1982, the day his daughter, Jane Kathryn, was born. He's always attributed that coincidence to "helping in keeping things in perspective when it comes to the relative importance of writing and life."
Dan has been a full-time writer since 1987 and lives along the Front Range of Colorado—in the same town where he taught for 14 years—with his wife, Karen, his daughter, Jane, (when she's home from Hamilton College) and their Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Fergie. He does much of his writing at Windwalker—their mountain property and cabin at 8,400 feet of altitude at the base of the Continental Divide, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park. An 8-ft.-tall sculpture of the Shrike—a thorned and frightening character from the four Hyperion/Endymion novels—was sculpted by an ex-student and friend, Clee Richeson, and the sculpture now stands guard near the isolated cabin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
January 7, 2015
This is a hard book to categorize, and a long way from what I expected as I think of Simmons as an SF writer (and lots of people on Goodreads have this shelved as Science Fiction).
So it's not, in any sense, Science Fiction.
It's a story about a man's search: for love, for friendship, for family. Along the way, he'll solve a mystery.
Richard was an astronaut. He walked on the moon. You might think that would have been the high-point of his life, but all Richard really remembers is the regimentation of checklists on an Apollo flight. Now, he's divorced, estranged from his son, and in a dead-end job.
When his son, Scott, seems to have been pulled into a suspicious cult, Richard flies to India to try to see him, with the predictable result. Instead of bringing his son home, he meets Maggie, his son's girlfriend.
Maggie takes Richard sightseeing in India, showing him places that resonate with her, rather than necessarily the great tourist landmarks (though it does include the Taj Mahal), and she talks to him about "places of power". Through the rest of the story, Richard searches for those places of power (not usually consciously), both with and without Maggie. He hang-glides from the peak of Uncompahgre (one of the highest peaks in the US); finds a concrete replica of Stonehenge in Oregon; rebuilds a cabin on an artificial lake; and visits Maggie's own favorite, Bear Butte (yeah, I'm still immature enough to find that funny) in South Dakota.
While his relationship with his ex-wife is irreparable, Richard rebuilds his relationship with his old friend and crewmate on the moon mission, Dave, and with his son. Dave's now a politician, an Air Force reservist, a writer, ... and he has terminal cancer. When Dave dies in the crash of an Air Force T-35, everyone, including his much younger—and pregnant—wife, suspects suicide and Richard inserts himself into the investigation to find the truth.
And of course, he falls in love with Maggie. But she's his son's girlfriend...
August 23, 2010
Years after I read this book, I still think about it often. The writing, an early hint to the fantastic writings of what I feel is the best science fiction writer of the last decade (Dan Simmons), is easy to read and full of eloquence. The story may not appeal to everyone, and the delivery most definitely will not appeal to everyone...but to those who it does work for, this book will stay with you for a long time. Don't expect anything too profound or something unlike anything you've read before. What you should expect is to feel something. I find it rare to read a piece of fiction that feels more autobiographical than fiction. Something that feels real, human and completely honest. The overall tone of the book reads something like the way Sophia Coppolla's Lost In Translation plays out. You feel like you're engulfed in the world of someone else. You see the ups and downs of their daily routine, and feel the love, lust, hurt and regret just as they do. But, back to what I said before. It's inexplicable why I think about this book so often still, as it's not like I am rummaging over what happened in the book again and being amazed by how great of a story it was...yet I cant get it out of my head (nor would I want to). Part of me is afraid to read it again, as if reading the book the first time was like a moment in time where everything just seemed to synchronize. Like that trip you went on when you were a certain age, with certain people to a certain place; you can never go back to how it exactly was. The trees have grown and been cut down, the buildings have risen and fallen and you, and the people with you, have all grown or been torn down into different people. Sometimes, it's best to just let go of the fact that you can never go back to that same place, that it's better just to live with the fantastic feelings and memories of that moment in time...even if it means you will never get to experience that beauty first hand again.
March 12, 2022
”He did not believe that the universe was infinitely complex—one ten-thousandth of an infinite set was still an infinite set—but he felt in his gut that even in the limited realm of basic physical laws, humans probably had not glimpsed a ten-thousandth part of the permutations and possibilities…”
Given the length of this book, it took me longer to get through than it should’ve, maybe. Some of that is probably because I’ve been reading about current events too much, but it’s also because this was a tough book to read in big chunks. It’s slow, reflective, and virtually plotless. It rewards a slow and attentive approach. It is ponderous, introspective and lofty literature—something Dan Simmons has proved himself a pro at time and time again. It’s also worth nothing that Simmons cites this novel as his personal favorite of his own works. It’s definitely a personal book, and it will definitely stick with me.
The plot, if you could call it that, revolves a man named Richard Baedecker. A marine, a pilot, an astronaut; a man who walked on the moon. A guy who has just been through a divorce and has grown distant from his son. The book has no chapters, only four parts, and is kind of a series of vignettes as Baedecker travels the country, even the world, visiting his son and the men who flew to the moon with. I could say more, but I think it’s better you go in blind and let Simmons unfurl his story in a way that only he can.
”But even as he pivoted and prepared to stroke across the short distance remaining, he knew that this one thing was denied to him. No, not denied he realized, for once it had been allowed. Only return was denied. But then, as if in recompense, he was floating over the familiar white peaks and shattered craters, and he can see even more clearly than before.”
The end unfolds in a way I simply never would have dreamed. It was beautifully done. A perfect ending—something I have mostly come to expect from Dan Simmons. This was an early novel, released in 1989; the same year that saw the release of Hyperion AND Carrion Comfort. I don’t know what this man was drinking, eating, smoking, or whatever around this time, but all three novels are brilliant, and completely different from one another.
There’s a review on the cover from Harlan Ellison that says, “Earth, air, fire and water: Dan Simmons. Warily, in awe, we watch him, and marvel.” And I have to agree. 4.5/5
Given the length of this book, it took me longer to get through than it should’ve, maybe. Some of that is probably because I’ve been reading about current events too much, but it’s also because this was a tough book to read in big chunks. It’s slow, reflective, and virtually plotless. It rewards a slow and attentive approach. It is ponderous, introspective and lofty literature—something Dan Simmons has proved himself a pro at time and time again. It’s also worth nothing that Simmons cites this novel as his personal favorite of his own works. It’s definitely a personal book, and it will definitely stick with me.
The plot, if you could call it that, revolves a man named Richard Baedecker. A marine, a pilot, an astronaut; a man who walked on the moon. A guy who has just been through a divorce and has grown distant from his son. The book has no chapters, only four parts, and is kind of a series of vignettes as Baedecker travels the country, even the world, visiting his son and the men who flew to the moon with. I could say more, but I think it’s better you go in blind and let Simmons unfurl his story in a way that only he can.
”But even as he pivoted and prepared to stroke across the short distance remaining, he knew that this one thing was denied to him. No, not denied he realized, for once it had been allowed. Only return was denied. But then, as if in recompense, he was floating over the familiar white peaks and shattered craters, and he can see even more clearly than before.”
The end unfolds in a way I simply never would have dreamed. It was beautifully done. A perfect ending—something I have mostly come to expect from Dan Simmons. This was an early novel, released in 1989; the same year that saw the release of Hyperion AND Carrion Comfort. I don’t know what this man was drinking, eating, smoking, or whatever around this time, but all three novels are brilliant, and completely different from one another.
There’s a review on the cover from Harlan Ellison that says, “Earth, air, fire and water: Dan Simmons. Warily, in awe, we watch him, and marvel.” And I have to agree. 4.5/5
May 27, 2014
When I closed the book for the first time, I said to myself: "Beautiful." Dan Simmons has his place in my shelf and I must admit I am used to his narrative style. However I also must admit this book's style is not for everyone. Its jumbled chronology in fact creates pictures instead of telling a story, which is pretty much simple. However it's not the story that matters, it's the whole "finding oneself" journey throughout the decades of one man's life. Under the seemingly simple plot, the story grows into something deep, something meaningful, something beautiful. In the end, it's a book about a man, who touched the stars, but never touched his own heart. In the end it's a book about a man reaching the endless boundaries of his self. And when I realized that, I opened the book on its first page once more and started reading it again. When I closed the book for the second time, I was speechless.
January 30, 2020
This slender, largely understated and unpretencious novel shows Simmons at his best; it's not bloated, doesn't have irrelevant lit. crit. essays stuffed into it and quietly grips despite mostly pretty low stakes.
You go to the moon; you walk on the moon; you come back. Now what? Richard Baedecker did it as part of the Apollo programme. Years later he's drifting, divorced, estranged from his son, unable to understand the personal significance of what only 12 people have ever done. Enter the Manic Pixie Dream Girl - except she does defy the cinematic trope in a couple of significant ways.
You go to the moon; you walk on the moon; you come back. Now what? Richard Baedecker did it as part of the Apollo programme. Years later he's drifting, divorced, estranged from his son, unable to understand the personal significance of what only 12 people have ever done. Enter the Manic Pixie Dream Girl - except she does defy the cinematic trope in a couple of significant ways.
September 25, 2020
This is a good novel from early in his career that doesn't comfortably fit into any genre pigeonhole. In the wake of the success of the Hyperion books and his later long literary works, it frequently gets overlooked, which is a shame since it's well worth reading. It has science fiction trappings in that it examines the post-lunar life of an Apollo astronaut, but it's more of a romance/character study of a man who's accomplished a lot early and is looking to find meaning for himself. It's quite slow paced at times, but a challenging and thought-provoking novel.
October 10, 2015
Я спокойно отношусь к различным проявлениям таланта любимых литературных ваятелей, да и вообще была морально готова к полной самокопаний и рефлексии книге, совсем не похожей на «Гиперион». Пару недель глазела на корешок обложки и отрешалась от любых предубеждений, способных испортить знакомство с новой стороной Симмонса.
К сожалению, все мои подготовительные действия не помогли избежать разочарования. Книга превратилась в 384-страничный эквивалент кактуса, который я дожевывала с мыслями «господи, ты когда-нибудь кончишься или нет?». Чтение приносит мне море удовольствия и океан возможностей, которые можно исследовать до конца жизни, а безвозвратно потраченное на бездарности время ускоряет течение и повышает цену каждой последующей секунды. Потому я не ставлю добротно написанным книгам высокие баллы за их литературную ценность, если содержание не оставляет после себя мыслей и идей. Дальше возможны спойлеры.
«Фазы гравитации» – это кризис среднего возраста бывшего астронавта, начинающего жить по-настоящему только после хорошего пинка. Голый реализм с сопутствующей бытовухой. Любая толика философствования могла бы подсластить пилюлю, но ее нет и в помине, только дешевая религиозность. У дядьки плохие отношения с семьей, нелюбимая работа, отсутствие целей – в чем он сам виноват. Он, конечно, поднимается на ноги, на ходу добавляя в конец каждой главы словечко «гравитация», чтобы придать своим бытовым переживаниям метафизический смысл, но вот сочувствовать ему совсем не хочется. Мне бы его проблемы, честное слово. Жив, здоров, а ноет по поводу фигни, которую не в силах изменить в силу своей слабовольности. После пары десятков страниц я уже с содроганием ждала момента, когда он свернется клубочком и заплачет «никто меня не люююбит», а какая-нибудь девица прыгнет к нему в постель просто из жалости. Примерно так и получилось, потому что симпатия молодой, красивой и неглупой девушки к старому пердуну-нытику не выдерживает проверки реальностью – л��бо она с ним из жалости, либо наделяет его теми качествами, которые ей хочется видеть. А добил окончательно совсем не романтичный подход к полету на Луну – это была последняя возможность зацепиться за хоть что-то во всей этой канители. Он говорит, что этот полет его совсем не изменил. Ну и в топку этого мудака.
annikeh.net
К сожалению, все мои подготовительные действия не помогли избежать разочарования. Книга превратилась в 384-страничный эквивалент кактуса, который я дожевывала с мыслями «господи, ты когда-нибудь кончишься или нет?». Чтение приносит мне море удовольствия и океан возможностей, которые можно исследовать до конца жизни, а безвозвратно потраченное на бездарности время ускоряет течение и повышает цену каждой последующей секунды. Потому я не ставлю добротно написанным книгам высокие баллы за их литературную ценность, если содержание не оставляет после себя мыслей и идей. Дальше возможны спойлеры.
«Фазы гравитации» – это кризис среднего возраста бывшего астронавта, начинающего жить по-настоящему только после хорошего пинка. Голый реализм с сопутствующей бытовухой. Любая толика философствования могла бы подсластить пилюлю, но ее нет и в помине, только дешевая религиозность. У дядьки плохие отношения с семьей, нелюбимая работа, отсутствие целей – в чем он сам виноват. Он, конечно, поднимается на ноги, на ходу добавляя в конец каждой главы словечко «гравитация», чтобы придать своим бытовым переживаниям метафизический смысл, но вот сочувствовать ему совсем не хочется. Мне бы его проблемы, честное слово. Жив, здоров, а ноет по поводу фигни, которую не в силах изменить в силу своей слабовольности. После пары десятков страниц я уже с содроганием ждала момента, когда он свернется клубочком и заплачет «никто меня не люююбит», а какая-нибудь девица прыгнет к нему в постель просто из жалости. Примерно так и получилось, потому что симпатия молодой, красивой и неглупой девушки к старому пердуну-нытику не выдерживает проверки реальностью – л��бо она с ним из жалости, либо наделяет его теми качествами, которые ей хочется видеть. А добил окончательно совсем не романтичный подход к полету на Луну – это была последняя возможность зацепиться за хоть что-то во всей этой канители. Он говорит, что этот полет его совсем не изменил. Ну и в топку этого мудака.
annikeh.net
October 3, 2016
I give up at 20%. There are other books to enjoy instead of searching for a plot that never comes.
May 16, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
3 stars
Richard Baedecker is an astronaut who once walked on the moon, but has since wandered into a grey and lonely existence of aircraft engineering sales. A visit to his directionless son's ashram in India sets Baedecker on a new path.
Phases of Gravity is SF in that it deals with an ex-astronaut and uses some technical jargon. Otherwise, it's a contemporary novel of man searching for meaning in his life, and a reason to live it. It's about a gray man with a gray existence, and unfortunately, the novel turns out to be pretty gray as well.
I'm a fan of some of Dan Simmons' work, but this book just doesn't offer much. It's well written, but the theme of an aging ex-astronaut's midlife crisis didn't attract me. Baedeker is drifting, emotionless, and acted upon. The main external driver of the story is a younger woman attracted to him for no particularly good reason. Baedeker himself meanders here and there, never interested in much, never doing much. It's hard to see why anyone would really care much about him, and I didn't.
The story is not helped by being composed largely of flashbacks interspersed. "Baedeker suddenly recalled" could be the theme of the story. Occasionally the story jumps forward, apparently so that the time skipped can be reviewed in flashbacks later. It's awkward, and not particularly effective.
Baedeker spends a lot of his time thinking back to his walk on the moon, and the moments that went with it. He's vaguely interested in a transcendent experience, and in how to evaluate experience in general. He's also, in a subdued way, a bit of a whiner. That is, he doesn't feel his life has amount to much beyond his brief moment of glory, but since he's so passionless, I found I didn't much care.
It's possible that there were hidden levels of meaning. For example, that the name Baedeker hints at the Baedeker travel guides, given that Baedeker is trying to find his way. But I think that gives Simmons too much credit for subtlety. I think he was really just trying to tell a story about man and middle age, but ended up with too much of the latter, and not enough of the former. By page 16, I was already finding the book dull, and despite smooth writing, it never really did get better.
The story is grouped loosely around Baedeker's reunions with his two former mission-mates. In the second, he seems to wake up a bit, but only a bit. He's generally in a bit of a fog, paying more attention to memory than to reality. Simmons has clearly done his research on proper terminology, so that the men can converse with great verisimilitude, but occasionally, he's so intent on getting it right that he forgets to keep the jargon interesting. I don't really care if an access port is called a hell-hole when I also don't care what's behind it. On the other hand, he quotes "one giant step for man" without comment, when surely an astronaut with at least think about Armstrong's claim to have said "for a man". Similarly, technology that is "light-years ahead" doesn't really underline the book's SF character.
A portion of the novel relates to a book a character is writing - noting that the heart of the book will be profiles of ex-astronauts. Clearly that's part of what Simmons is attempting, but I'm afraid his character succeeds better than he does. Simmons' introduction of colorful but extraneous characters doesn't really help.
Open Road Media's uneven proof-reading continues here, with a few dozen incorrect paragraph breaks scattered throughout. The lack of scene breaks doesn't help.
All in all, a decent look at what an astronaut's post-mission life might look life. Unfortunately if you're the dispassionate type, it mostly looks dull.
April 25, 2017
“You think a new born know what it all means? It just happens … awareness comes later, if it comes at all.”
A well-told mélange of science and speculative fiction with a helping of mysticism. This thirty-year-old tale has aged well. Worth the effort to sort out who’s doing/saying what to whom. Strong male and female leads. Good friction. Many emotional hooks.
“There’re places of power. You have to help make them … be in the right place at the right time and know it. By dreaming about it but not thinking about it.”
Tangled time lines often confuse, but the origami plot structure keeps the reader close to Richard’s consciousness (and wondering about Maggie). Just when you think the plot thread written in present tense is the main one, it isn’t.
“All the while telling each other and yourself that the good times are coming, and then everything falls to pieces and you’re just waiting to die.”
Wry humor both in the telling and in the dialogue. Time-appropriate jargon helps pull the reader into that time and place, since America in the 1940s through 1980s is ancient history to many current readers.
“To write something you have to have something to say.”
Quibbles: An F-104 can’t fly from Pensacola, FL to Homestead AFB, FL in ten minutes. An F-104 lights its afterburner at brake release, not rotation (halfway down the runway). The USAF anti-satellite missile (ASM-135) was not borne by the F-16; not enough power.
“Even places of power are useless unless you’re prepared to bring something to them.”
A well-told mélange of science and speculative fiction with a helping of mysticism. This thirty-year-old tale has aged well. Worth the effort to sort out who’s doing/saying what to whom. Strong male and female leads. Good friction. Many emotional hooks.
“There’re places of power. You have to help make them … be in the right place at the right time and know it. By dreaming about it but not thinking about it.”
Tangled time lines often confuse, but the origami plot structure keeps the reader close to Richard’s consciousness (and wondering about Maggie). Just when you think the plot thread written in present tense is the main one, it isn’t.
“All the while telling each other and yourself that the good times are coming, and then everything falls to pieces and you’re just waiting to die.”
Wry humor both in the telling and in the dialogue. Time-appropriate jargon helps pull the reader into that time and place, since America in the 1940s through 1980s is ancient history to many current readers.
“To write something you have to have something to say.”
Quibbles: An F-104 can’t fly from Pensacola, FL to Homestead AFB, FL in ten minutes. An F-104 lights its afterburner at brake release, not rotation (halfway down the runway). The USAF anti-satellite missile (ASM-135) was not borne by the F-16; not enough power.
“Even places of power are useless unless you’re prepared to bring something to them.”
June 10, 2010
Phases of Gravity is a treatment of the human journey, paralleled and perused by a middle-aged fictional astronaut and his personal wanderings. It is a story of the aftermath of success, and the gaping hole of fear left by failure. Three levels of experience are interwoven in this book: that of Richard Baedecker, America's space program, and mankind in general. Author Dan Simmons asserts that his characters and therefore his readers as well, are part of "...a culture choosing between a frightening future of exploration and discovery, or a retreat into the safe and familiar harbors of internecine wars, stagnation, and decline."
Decades since his walk on the moon, Baedecker is haunted by the memory of that moment. The illusory experience left him confused and striving for purpose, and now he is hounded daily by gravity and the sight of the moon herself- reminders that his internal footing remains unsteady and unsure. Surrounded by broken relationships and striving for direction, he searches for a meaning to it all. The Challenger accident provides a backdrop and a national focal point for this same feeling of shaken courage and determination (and indeed was the author's real-time impetus for completing the novel.) Like the nation, Baedecker is at a crossroads, though he can't see clearly what his options should even be. Revisiting elements and figures from his past as he travels across America, he encounters the mundane, the invasive, the exalting and the profane and must make something cohesive of these puzzle pieces if he is to find any peace with himself or his world. All serve to stir and catalyze his ideas, for better or worse.
His journey reminded me of several important truths. There are so many small things in life that can help restore joy and peace if we will stay mindful of them. Focusing on the journey while keeping one's eyes open for the destination, maintaining flexibility and good humor with others, genuinely engaging in meaningful conversation, celebrating the beauty of the natural world, persevering in the face of feeling uprooted and denied your truest desires, are all facets that make the journey worthwhile. If we can truly examine the experiences and people that cross our path, and remain committed to deepening this life, we might just be surprised that sometimes, even in some small way, the impossible wish might be granted.
Although I don't share all of the specific conclusions the author draws, they are laid out poignantly, wrought with genuine effort on the part of the characters, and are deftly employed to tether the characters together in some semblance of hope and endurance. Simmons insists this is not a science fiction tale although those who enjoy his particular style will appreciate echoes of his other works. Ultimately, anyone who finds value in thoughtfully taking the pulse of the individual, the nation, and the world at this crossroads in time will glean traces of merit from Phases of Gravity.
Decades since his walk on the moon, Baedecker is haunted by the memory of that moment. The illusory experience left him confused and striving for purpose, and now he is hounded daily by gravity and the sight of the moon herself- reminders that his internal footing remains unsteady and unsure. Surrounded by broken relationships and striving for direction, he searches for a meaning to it all. The Challenger accident provides a backdrop and a national focal point for this same feeling of shaken courage and determination (and indeed was the author's real-time impetus for completing the novel.) Like the nation, Baedecker is at a crossroads, though he can't see clearly what his options should even be. Revisiting elements and figures from his past as he travels across America, he encounters the mundane, the invasive, the exalting and the profane and must make something cohesive of these puzzle pieces if he is to find any peace with himself or his world. All serve to stir and catalyze his ideas, for better or worse.
His journey reminded me of several important truths. There are so many small things in life that can help restore joy and peace if we will stay mindful of them. Focusing on the journey while keeping one's eyes open for the destination, maintaining flexibility and good humor with others, genuinely engaging in meaningful conversation, celebrating the beauty of the natural world, persevering in the face of feeling uprooted and denied your truest desires, are all facets that make the journey worthwhile. If we can truly examine the experiences and people that cross our path, and remain committed to deepening this life, we might just be surprised that sometimes, even in some small way, the impossible wish might be granted.
Although I don't share all of the specific conclusions the author draws, they are laid out poignantly, wrought with genuine effort on the part of the characters, and are deftly employed to tether the characters together in some semblance of hope and endurance. Simmons insists this is not a science fiction tale although those who enjoy his particular style will appreciate echoes of his other works. Ultimately, anyone who finds value in thoughtfully taking the pulse of the individual, the nation, and the world at this crossroads in time will glean traces of merit from Phases of Gravity.
May 11, 2020
DNF 50%
Abandonado por la mitad. Me gusta Simmons cuando escribe fantasía, ciencia ficción y hasta policial. Pero esta novela sobre la crisis existencial de un ex astronauta, con abundantes descripciones del Estados Unidos rural, no me puede interesar menos.
Abandonado por la mitad. Me gusta Simmons cuando escribe fantasía, ciencia ficción y hasta policial. Pero esta novela sobre la crisis existencial de un ex astronauta, con abundantes descripciones del Estados Unidos rural, no me puede interesar menos.
June 22, 2020
Retired Astronaut Richard Baedecker finds himself looking back, and also looking forward, to finding the meaning of life. Interesting take on male mid life crisis with a NASA astronaut seeking something more in his middle aged years. 6 out of 12.
September 8, 2020
Bittersweet astronaut story. I really liked this book a lot until around 60% into it. Then it tanked for me, for some reason. It was 5 stars to that point, and then maybe 2 after that, so 3 overall. Not sure what happened. I just felt so weary with it eventually, and was also challenged by a lot of formatting errors in the Kindle version. So, if you are interested in the Kindle version, be warned. The paragraph indents barely exist, like an en-dash at most. And a lot of paragraph returns happen in the middle of a paragraph! The Kindle really needs a revise if whoever made it cares enough to do that.
November 8, 2015
Peregrinación de un hombre para volver a encontrase con su hijo y con sí mismo.
Tal como lo hizo con “Terror”, Dan Simmons desarrolla los personajes y nos involucra en sus reflexiones y sentimientos usando un fondo histórico, aquí el programa espacial de los 60/80.
Tal como lo hizo con “Terror”, Dan Simmons desarrolla los personajes y nos involucra en sus reflexiones y sentimientos usando un fondo histórico, aquí el programa espacial de los 60/80.
July 5, 2023
The only thing I disliked was the false advertising of this book as a sci-fi novel. There is literally zero sci fi here. It's a literary book, describing what a person goes through after they reach the peak of their lives in their 30s (in this case, our protagonist walked on the moon). The book deals with depression, loss, parenthood, friendship, and the hardship of getting older. It's also a book about loneliness and purpose. An excellent piece of literature from the ever chimeric Dan Simmons.
July 22, 2023
Cool cover, neat story, but the amount of words read for the few bread crumbs of story are so far. It made it frustrating after about 50 pages.
April 2, 2024
Una novela muy correcta y entretenida, pero que no es nada de lo que esperaba. Yo pensaba que sería una novela de ciencia -ficción o terror, los géneros con los que identifico al autor. Y no es eso.
La novela sigue la vida de uno de los astronautas que pisaron la luna, no los primeros, muchos años después, mientras intenta seguir con lo suyo. Explora cómo una experiencia así puede cambiarte. Y es un viaje interesante, Simmons sigue siendo un gran narrador. De modo que la recomiendo, aunque no sea lo que esperaba.
La novela sigue la vida de uno de los astronautas que pisaron la luna, no los primeros, muchos años después, mientras intenta seguir con lo suyo. Explora cómo una experiencia así puede cambiarte. Y es un viaje interesante, Simmons sigue siendo un gran narrador. De modo que la recomiendo, aunque no sea lo que esperaba.
September 9, 2021
No ha sido lo que esperaba, pero me ha gustado más de lo previsible.
August 2, 2018
Not a soap opera…
So much of what is written, and read, Is retreaded soap operas and romance novels, couched in perhaps less obvious language and structure. Blended with the adventure tales from the stone age campfires of our ancestors, they still move us, and I quite like them.
This is not one of those stories.
Nor is it a piece one might call mainstream literature, the millions of copies of which flood the shelves of used book stores.
Think of a piece written by early Carlos Castaneda blended with early JD Salinger, and a bit of Aldous Huxley thrown in. Perhaps Harold Lamb contributed as well. Have I mentioned a tincture of James Joyce in the mix?
It is best to read with no knowledge of the plot or the ending.
The Kindle version has fewer errors and anomalies than usual.
If you are over 40, read it now. If you are under 40, read it now, and then again later.
So much of what is written, and read, Is retreaded soap operas and romance novels, couched in perhaps less obvious language and structure. Blended with the adventure tales from the stone age campfires of our ancestors, they still move us, and I quite like them.
This is not one of those stories.
Nor is it a piece one might call mainstream literature, the millions of copies of which flood the shelves of used book stores.
Think of a piece written by early Carlos Castaneda blended with early JD Salinger, and a bit of Aldous Huxley thrown in. Perhaps Harold Lamb contributed as well. Have I mentioned a tincture of James Joyce in the mix?
It is best to read with no knowledge of the plot or the ending.
The Kindle version has fewer errors and anomalies than usual.
If you are over 40, read it now. If you are under 40, read it now, and then again later.
August 19, 2015
I've engaged with lots of people about Dan Simmons's work and nobody ever mentions this book. Why not? It's a beautiful piece of writing, commensurate with his best works. I guess I get it though: there's no real sexy 'hook' in this book. No fantastic plot, no secrets to be unveiled; it's not really even a tenacious page-turner. But in the hands of a good writer (and that part is key), something magic happens when you strip away those things. The novel suddenly gets to breathe, and in turn, so do its characters.
This book feels like life, and you get to experience it through the mind of an intrepid writer. For that reason, I recommend this to anybody who likes reading.
This book feels like life, and you get to experience it through the mind of an intrepid writer. For that reason, I recommend this to anybody who likes reading.
January 26, 2023
Very cool book about a former astronaut going through a midlife crisis...basically. There is way more to this book at first glance and I wish it was wayyy longer. This would be 5 stars if we could have gone on a suspenseful and eerie journey with the main character(maybe involving aliens) so typical in Dan Simmons writing. That being said, this is easily 4 stars for an early novel by a tremendous writer. Most people skip this book when talking about Dan Simmons but it is a very introspective book that will get you thinking about your own life. Highly recommend especially since you probably haven't read this book yet or in a long time!
Read
July 28, 2011Compared to a lot of his recent stuff, this is a brief novel and is one of his earliest. While the story is relatively straight-forward, it was not what I expected. A lot of philosophical navel-gazing which through the dialogue of the characters is well expressed, but somehow doesn't quite deliver. Still as an early novel, it is more than competent and shows the early signs of the excellent writer he has since become.
May 25, 2012
A book of not a whole lot happening. What happens when a middle aged man who walked on the moon has to live life? Well this book describes 5 snippets of that life. Yet somehow it was not as boring as it sounds. It held my interest for all 310 pages. I just wish it had more details about his days at NASA or walking on the moon other than the short bit of part one, every other paragraph.
Subterranean Press 181/500
Subterranean Press 181/500
May 4, 2021
This was disappointing. I used to love Dan Simmons...
The blurb of my edition tried to give the impression that this is horror or fantasy. It is neither. It is a mainstream book that tells about the life of an ex-astronaut. The guy is frustrated and bored with his life.
Unfortunately he is a bore himself. Why should I as a reader be interested in him? I was not.
I quit after 90 pages.
The blurb of my edition tried to give the impression that this is horror or fantasy. It is neither. It is a mainstream book that tells about the life of an ex-astronaut. The guy is frustrated and bored with his life.
Unfortunately he is a bore himself. Why should I as a reader be interested in him? I was not.
I quit after 90 pages.
May 27, 2012
As a Dan Simmons fan, I read everything that he publishes, including the lousy stuff like "Flashback.". But this little book is simply wonderful. And with the space shuttle program completed, there is a sense of nostalgia that rises to the surface when read today.
April 1, 2013
Český překlad je dost ohavný.
http://sataiovo.tumblr.com/post/45263...
http://sataiovo.tumblr.com/post/45263...
November 23, 2018
Yet another older white man comes to terms with his life thanks to a Manic Pixie Dream Girl and help from a Magical Person of Color. It is Dan Simmons though, so it has its moments.
July 5, 2018
This book is definitely not your typical novel from Simmons. There are no elements of Science Fiction or fantasy or even horror. What you get instead is a character study of an astronaut who once walked on the moon but now finds himself lost in life. While some elements of this book are hackneyed, such as an older man falling in love with a woman half his age, Simmons is a strong enough writer that the lack of any discernible plot does not detract too terribly much from the strong character work. Still, this book really isn't my cup of tea. I was expecting something more in the genre fiction department, but the book is fine if you jettison all expectations of a Simmons book. I award the book 3 stars for its character study. If the book had any sort of plot, the rating would be higher.
March 20, 2023
-Si bien Simmons es muy reconocible, lo fantástico brilla por su ausencia.-
Género. Novela.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Fases de gravedad (publicación original: Phases of Gravity, 1989), y a finales de la década de los ochenta, nos presenta a Richard E. Baedecker, empleado de una empresa del sector aeroespacial que, tres lustros atrás, fue astronauta y llegó a pisar la Luna. Richard aprovecha un viaje de negocios a la India para tratar de verse con su hijo, Scott, pero el joven está en el retiro espiritual de un conocido gurú y no pueden verse, lo que permite que conozca a Maggie Brown, una amiga de Scott.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Novela.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Fases de gravedad (publicación original: Phases of Gravity, 1989), y a finales de la década de los ochenta, nos presenta a Richard E. Baedecker, empleado de una empresa del sector aeroespacial que, tres lustros atrás, fue astronauta y llegó a pisar la Luna. Richard aprovecha un viaje de negocios a la India para tratar de verse con su hijo, Scott, pero el joven está en el retiro espiritual de un conocido gurú y no pueden verse, lo que permite que conozca a Maggie Brown, una amiga de Scott.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
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