Endurance

By: Scott Kelly

Narrated by: Scott Kelly

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

A stunning memoir from the astronaut who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station - a candid account of his remarkable voyage, of the journeys off the planet that preceded it, and of his colorful formative years.

The veteran of four space flights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now he takes us inside a sphere utterly inimical to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both existential and banal: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the pressures of constant close cohabitation; the catastrophic risks of depressurization or colliding with space junk; and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home - an agonizing situation Kelly faced when, on another mission, his twin brother's wife, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot while he still had two months in space. Kelly's humanity, compassion, humor, and passion resonate throughout as he recalls his rough-and-tumble New Jersey childhood and the youthful inspiration that sparked his astounding career and as he makes clear his belief that Mars will be the next ultimately challenging step in American spaceflight.

A natural storyteller and modern-day hero, Kelly has a message of hope for the future that will inspire for generations to come. Here, in his personal story, we see the triumph of the human imagination, the strength of the human will, and the boundless wonder of the galaxy.

©2017 Scott Kelly (P)2017 Random House Audio

Well told, in depth account of life on the ISS

This book is quite different from astronaut Mike Massimino’s book Spaceman, which I also enjoyed. Of course they have different backgrounds, and took different routes to becoming astronauts, but it’s more fundamental than that. Mike had almost unanimous pride and positivity about NASA, Scott was much more critical, at times even a bit angry and frustrated.

The book includes many fascinating insights into life on the ISS...the vast differences between the Russian and American ways of doing things, the intense camaraderie between these groups, and both the joys of the experience, as well as the often mundane and repetitive nature of many of the tasks required to repair and maintain the station.

The book jumps around a bit in time...from his pre NASA days, to his days on the Space Shuttle, to his time on the ISS in 2010, and then to 2015, his year in Space, at times it can be a smidge confusing regarding where he’s at in time with the audio version. His narration suits the book quite well, it all feels very personal, especially when he recounts some of the odd dreams he has while sleeping on the ISS, or something he is really frustrated with NASA about, or when he talks about his family and girlfriend. There is a brief passage actually narrated by his long time girlfriend...she reads a poem she wrote for him.

He covers his background in depth, and the simply extraordinary fact, that as of his freshman year in college he had poor grades, and no real plan, then suddenly he read The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe and then on separate but semi parallel paths he and his twin brother spent years becoming pilots and military officers and both end up accepted into the astronaut program at NASA.

If you read and enjoy the book I also recommend watching the two part documentary on PBS...A Year in Space, and Beyond a Year in Space.

12 people found this helpful

Great insights with bad audio quality

I really liked this one from a content perspective. I love anything space so I was very excited about this book and it fulfilled my expectations. What I cannot understand at all is how a 2017 audio book can sound so terrible? Most low budget podcasts sound better than this.

19 people found this helpful

A Truly Engrossing Adventure Into The Cosmos

Scott Kelly's intimate portrait of a long-lived and fascinating life of discovery through his days as a Navy aviator and NASA astronaut lends itself to fascinating stories. The way the book flows by interweaving stories of his past with the main star story of the book, being his year long stint at The ISS, is perfection. Everything from the mundane details of a routine repair on The ISS to space walks to piloting the space shuttle to looking for his friend's remains in the wreckage of The Columbia disaster are here in a wonderfully entertaining presentation. This book is honest, full of heart, and just a great journey taken with the author as he recounts a life filled with adventures taken by few.

I only docked it one star on the performance as author's tone is somewhat monotonous but it should in no way keep you from enjoying the story. It adds much to the story hearing the author tell HIS OWN story and I appreciate that in a memoir more than a polished audio book reader.

What an incredible journey this audio book takes you on! Close your eyes and travel into a frontier not yet conquered but well explored by Scott Kelly.

9 people found this helpful

amazing and insightful

I absolutely loved this book. Scott Kelly describes every aspect of his experiences before, during and after his year in space. If you are curious about what space is like, coming back from space, the ISS, feelings, smells, looks, jobs done in space and everything that goes into doing tasks and jobs, this book will be sure to answer every question you have. very well written, great narration by the author, I wish it wasn't over.

5 people found this helpful

Interesting but disappointing

As a fan of the space program and one who has read so many of the books out there such as "The Right Stuff", "Just us Seven", "A Man on the Moon", "Apollo 8", "Return to Earth", "Rocket Men" and so many others, my expectations were high. I had read excerpts from the book and was intrigued. Unfortunately, the book disappointed. While I have all the respect in the world for Scott Kelly and what he accomplished, both his writing style and more importantly his narration leave a lot to be desired. His reading was almost emotionless, even when describing events of great emotions. A professional narrator would have made this so much better. In terms of the content, there are events and ideas that are mentioned and never returned to, there are observations and comments that are repeated and many of the stories just lack depth. So much promise could have been helped by maybe a better editor or the help of a ghost writer and a narrator.

3 people found this helpful

Excellent Memoir

This is Kelly’s memoir of his year on ISS (International Space Station). Kelly has done four trips to ISS. This year long stay was part of a medical experiment to discover what effects time in space had on the human body. Scott’s identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, stayed on earth as a control subject. Kelly is a Navy Captain, fighter pilot and an engineer. It was fun to learn about the day to day information about life on ISS.

The book is well written. Kelly also described the difference between a shuttle astronaut and a space station astronaut. Kelly told about his problems in school, particularly high school. He apparently had problems with the ability to stay focused on what he was supposed to learn. He told about what triggered his desire to learn and achieve as well as what provided him with a goal to work for. If you are at all interested in the astronaut program or space, this book is for you.

The book is thirteen hours and six minutes. Scott Kelly does an okay job narrating the book.

3 people found this helpful

Pretty Good

I'm an Aerospace Engineer and a huge aviation/space nut. I was really looking forward to hearing about what it was like living in space for a year and what was learned. The stories that Scott told were interesting and some funny, but I was disappointed that only the epilogue was devoted to what was learned and it was literally an itemized list. I would have liked to hear more about the science that was performed as well rather than. How many times he fixed the CO2 scrubber. Overall though, I really enjoyed it. I especially liked learning how it was he became an astronaut as well as his experiences doing things like landing on carriers and performing space walks. As a narrator, Scott's voice is a little monotone and solemn sounding but not so much that it was hard to stay focused. Id recommend it.

3 people found this helpful

Huge fan

I am a huge fan of Scott Kelly, it’s a treat to hear his voice narrate this unique story. He’s very personable and presents an amazing POV of his life up to and through this infamous year in space.

3 people found this helpful

narration painful to endure.

The facts within the book were interesting but it is amazing to me that an editor did not improve the readability of the book and that anyone would have allowed this horrible narration to be released. The narration was the most excruciating experience I have ever experienced with audible. The author read it like a text book with no punctuation, in a monotone, often reading until out of breath. If I wasn't reading this for book club I would never have finished it.

6 people found this helpful

Interesting, but a little dry

I liked the story overall, but it would have been better with a professional reader. I also felt it lacked a better explanation,at the end, of how his physical recovery has gone, given that he starts the book with such a vivid description of the side effects of returning after a long duration mission. Still, his honesty makes this w worthwhile read.

1 person found this helpful