Space (Michener novel)
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OCLC 8493271 | |
Space is a novel by
Michener writes in a semi-documentary style. The topics explored in the novel include naval warfare in the
.Plot summary
The story begins in 1944 and covers more than 30 years in the lives of four men and their families: Dieter Kolff, a German rocket engineer who worked for the
Michener dramatizes the life experiences of these men and their families against the backdrop of the real history of the U.S. space program, depicting their experiences in post-war aviation; the
On the human side, various subplots run through the novel, contrasting the "official" heroism of NASA with the human fallibilities of the cast—the difficulties the Kolffs face in integrating into American society; Norman Grant's initial embrace of the space program and his abandonment of it as it no longer serves his political aims, while his unstable wife and their daughter fall in with a highly intelligent but cynical cult leader calling himself Leopold Strabismus, who exploits first the
Pope retires from NASA and becomes a respected professor of astronomy, his wife Penny is elected to the Senate, and Mott is consulted on "Grand Tour" uncrewed missions to the outer Solar System, as well as the development of the Space Shuttle. The novel ends with a NASA workshop on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, at which Strabismus drops the creationist/fundamentalist persona he has adopted and joins in the intellectual debate on the inevitability of life elsewhere in the Universe.
History, geography and current science
The author displays extensive knowledge about the intricacies of
Television adaptation
The novel was adapted into a five-part, 13-hour CBS
References
- ^ Wilford, John Noble (19 September 1982). "A Novel of Very High Adventure". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2021.