Rating: 
Summary: Movie whets appetite, book fills it!
Review: It had been a long time since I first saw the Apollo 13 movie and it was on TV, so I stopped and watched (and didn't move again until it was finished). The movie was fascinating, and it really triggered an interest to know more about what actually happened. With the limited time format in a movie to convey the technical information and the science behind 'slingshotting' the Apollo spacecraft around the moon, it was difficult to the full impact of the immense effort to get these men back safely. So when I had an opportunity to get the book, I did.I think this is the first time I've read a book and seen a movie that were both excellent. The movie did the best possible job in a limited time to convey the urgency. The book, which is filled with the conversations of the astronauts with NASA space center, as well as the innovation behind the scenes of all the men involved (and the companies) is absolute 'must' reading for anyone who wants to understand the science and engineering behind this almost-disaster. I beg to differ with the men who felt they had failed, including Lovell who did not get to land on the moon. Without the knowledge they gained from this flight, more people may have died...and it certainly advanced knowledge and understanding for space flight for the rest of us left on earth below. This is an incredible story and an well-written book. I could hardly put the thing down, and this is not an area of expertise or interest for me usually. It's a little hard to keep the names and people straight, because so many were involved. But it is worth the effort. This is an excellent book to give to students interested in space or engineering. I could see requiring this book to be read in science classrooms, showing the movie, and then having the students get more involved in the actual science, such as calculations of distances...map/reliefs of why the moon for a slingshot effect, etc. Great stuff, and for once, great men who truly can be called heroes (both on the earth and in space). A means of teaching that true heroes are those who use their minds and actually 'do' something that has an impact for good. Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh
Rating:
Summary: Much different than other Apollo "tell-all" accounts...
Review: Most of the other first person accounts from ex-astronauts are mearly a re-hashing of their careers, but I think that Jim Lovell must be the one true "story-teller" amoung the former Apollo astronauts. That virtue plus his inclusion of the Misiion Control transcripts from Apollo 13 make this story stand out from the rest (it also doesn't hurt to have an amazing story to tell like the near disaster of Apollo 13!). If you're like me and think that the people in Mission Control and their roles are as important as the astronouts, than you'll love this book. Read this before any of the other astronaut stories and I'll bet that you agree that this is the best one...
Rating:
Summary: Better than fiction!
Review: Not sure what I expected, but this book was more gripping than any fictional novel I've ever read. The fact that it really happened simply adds to the appeal. Though it's a 'true story', it is written in the style of an adventure novel and, while this seemed strange at first, it really worked in the end. I was so disappointed when I reached the end - it's not like there's a sequal! I went on a shopping spree after this and bought dozens of books through Amazon, all about the Apollo program. Makes for interesting reading!
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Of course, this is going to be the definitive book on Apollo 13, written by James Lovell himself. I absolutely loved this book. It reads like a novel, instead of a dry technical briefing (ie Kranz's book, Tom Kelly's Lunar module book). Lovell was right to set the book in the third-person viewpoint, since that lends it to easily switch to Marilyn's role, and the flight controllers' roles in the flight of Apollo 13. Highly recommended for any closet astronaut such as myself.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a lie
Review: There's very little else that can be said. Apollo 13 like all other Apollo professed achievements is a lie. It's simple as that. Jim L. is just a puppet in the US shadowy game of deceit and propaganda.
Space is 0 Kelvin degrees, that's about 270 below. Without batteries, all 3 astronauts would turn to solid blocks of ice within seconds. This book would have the silly millions of people who ignored the very basics of high-school physics believe that they spent 2 weeks in this hostile subzero environment.
Foregoing the myriad of other physical laws making man space travel impossible in 20th century, this simple temperature issue alone should be enough of a reason to convince even the biggest Apollo hardliners of the hoax and a lie that this book is.
See my Apollo 13 Movie review. It has more details about the looney-comedy the US gov't pulled and, as all my poignant reviews, it has been helping buyers make up their mind for some time now.
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