Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I hate Commander Chris Hadfield. Like him, I recall as a kid growing up in Canada watching the first moon landing. Like many kids, I was a space nut with books, posters and hand-drawn timetables of the NASA Apollo programme. But I knew, as a Canadian, that I'd never be able to go up in space: that was for US and USSSR citizens. So now I hate Canadian Chris Hadfield for showing that I didn't have enough conviction, confidence and capability to do what he did - setting a long term goal and doing all the work necessary to achieve it. Okay, so what he did was incredibly demanding and tough, not just on him but his family as well. And he proved that it can not only be done but executed so well he achieves Top Test Pilot of the Year awards in both the US Navy and US Air Force training schools. Makes me look pretty bad for not trying harder, eh? And I hate that not only does he go to space, he goes three times. Like once isn't enough? I hate that not only should he have the top +1 bragging rights anywhere he goes, he keeps modest, works to being a `zero' - hoping not to screw up. I mean what type of role model is that? Now I've had a career working with electronics engineering, then computers and as I moved through the ranks of programmer into management, I've always been advised to focus on the `big picture'. Sometimes those big pictures were painted in muted, water colours on a wet canvas in a rain storm. So, some pretty epic failures have occurred. Now comes the Commander saying I really should `sweat the small stuff': be prepared not for the worst case, but all the worst cases; check and check again; learn a lot but use a little; help the specialists do their best work; 'be' in the moment. Sure, you get great results, but this doesn't sound like a lot of fun, does it? I used to feel proud about studying Mandarin for a few years but not anymore. Now the Colonel comes along and decides to learn Russian, not just for a bit of shopping in Red Square Gum but to be NASA's man in charge of operations in Russia. Oh and why not learn to pilot a Russian Soyuz rocket as well. It's not like it's rocket science...actually it is, isn't it? And I hate the musician Chris Hadfield, too. I too studied guitar but the only ones ever to see me play were my kids during birthday parties. Only one video ever on DVC, seen by about 5 or 6 people. I would have been embarrassed to play in front of more. And so here Chris plays one little song, not even his own, while floating around in the International Space Station and puts it on YouTube where more than 20 million views occur in a few months. I mean, his singing is just not that good. The guitar playing is okay, but really it is not that tough a song. Sometimes it doesn't even look like he's holding the guitar he's playing and it could float away! Could it have been dubbed? Even when he describes his return to earth after six months in space, he is so rudely self-effacing about his weaknesses and pains; understanding about his colleagues and partners; so willing to come to sacrifice to help others. He's so different than the heroic Captain Kirk that it has ruined my appreciation of all those Star Trek movies. So who am I going to look to for heroes now? So, yes, I hate Commander Chris Hadfield because he does so many things well, including writing an unexpectedly brilliant book. He's modest, capable, polite to the extreme, a loyal friend, a loving father, an appreciative husband, and as fine a model of a good Canadian that you could find anywhere. I really hate...yes HATE...that I didn't ever meet him 40 years ago. If he has taught me so much in just the short time it took to read his book, I can only imagine how much his lessons could have helped me in all these years. I give this book only one star because clearly he has a galaxy of them already.