I did write a few notes when the story changed and became the Lady Astronaut story. Here is my first ranting note.
Location 2710 - I do not like that in a book trying to show how a woman’s strength and ability is equal to a man’s in the space industry, the woman has a nervous breakdown every time she is the center of attention. The scene when Elma throws up on her husband’s floor really rubbed me the wrong way. It kind of proved the stereotype that women are too emotional.
I eventually calmed down about all this once I had Elma’s backgroud. I decided two things.
It is okay to be brilliant and vulnerable. Kowal also showed Nathaniel’s vulnerablity and Parker Stetson’s as well.
I needed to remind myself they were in the 1950s. I had a hard time not putting my own beliefs and feelings on the female characters.
I also like how she always talked to the little girls who admired her. She encouraged them to believe in themselves and all the possiblities of their futures.
It may have been wrong, but I understand why Elma was not forthcoming. There is still a stigma about anti-anxiety meds; I imagine it would have been that much worse in the 1950s. It would have been used against her – to declare that women were too “weak” to be astronauts, as if Elma had the vapors or something.
Are there rules about what medications astronauts can (or can’t) take when they’re in space?
Apparently they have quite a few drugs up there including tranqualizers in case someone has a psychotic episode. A number of sites say that drugs degrade faster in space. They definitely use anti-nausea drugs and sleeping pills and uppers when they need to stay awake.
^ But those are like “team” drugs – the pharmacy on hand. I wonder if there would be any problem if an individual astronaut had a prescription for, let’s say, Prozac.
I highlighted that scene when I was reading because the logistics of it bothered me. She vomits everywhere in Nathaniel’s office-- “What little I’d managed to eat at lunch spattered in messy chunks on the linoleum floor of his office,” after which she immediately vomits again: “He had me by the shoulders and braced me as I threw up again, sobbing.”
And then they have a heart-to-heart talk, followed by a discussion of math calculations for a Jupiter class launch and some work at his desk without cleaning up the mess.. Hello, can you imagine?
By the way, I tried to quickly search for that scene on the kindle by entering the word “vomit”–26 results. So. much. vomiting. It did cross my mind that the frequency might be taking a serious toll on her body.
Anyway, I agree with @Caraid that it is okay to be brilliant and vulnerable. And it’s fine that Elma is flawed (we’ve been critical of the unrealistic flawless Nathaniel). However, I don’t think her flaw is her anxiety (that’s a physical thing, not a personality trait). I think her flaw is that she is self-centered. Her single-minded drive to make it into space has made her insensitive to other human beings. We’ve already talked about her Grandma, and then there is also her aunt. She discovers that her aunt survived, and “Two weeks after I called Hershel to let him know she was alive.” Two weeks? Seriously?
Even her attention to the girls who admire her seems to be done out of a need to be The Lady Astronaut rather than out of any genuine interest in them.
And although Elma loves her husband, if the situation were reversed, would she be as unwaveringly supportive and present to him as he is to her? For those who have read the short story, is there any question in your mind what choice Nathaniel would have made if Elma were dying and he were asked to go to Mars? You know he wouldn’t even entertain the idea of leaving.
I agree she’s self-centered - and gets called out on it several times. I’m not so sure what Nathanial would have done if the tables were reversed. He seemed pretty dedicated to his career, it’s just his career was a desk job. She does say that they were taking a break at the cabin because they had hardly seen each other for months and that only because she was also working on the project.
I found the book very engaging. I had read Fly Girls and found that fascinating as well.
I don’t relate to the terror of publicity and public speaking the protagonist had, but know many can find it disabling. One of my young relatives is a math whiz and would easily have been a human computer but is a male.
I have to say, I’m close to the age Elma is supposed to be and my docs say I may live another few decades, like my folks. I don’t have arthritis, as far as I know. My relatives will be 90/95 this year!
As a side note, the 1963 “Barbie’s Keys to Fame” board game included eight potential careers for girls, including astronaut (and ballerina, fashion designer, mother, movie star, nurse, teacher, or stewardess). By 1991, astronaut had morphed into pilot.
OK, I have to admit I totally “spaced out” that the December 1 start date for this discussion was 4 days ago! I’m blaming my New England location and the dragged out early winter snowstorm which started Sunday afternoon and finally ended Tuesday afternoon.
ANYWAY, I finished this book in mid November, quickly followed by “The Fated Sky” and “The Lady Astronaut of Mars.” What’s interesting, in an odd way, is that I didn’t really love any of the books, but I was hooked enough to keep reading. Somewhat hard to explain.
I’m not usually a fan of science fiction, so wasn’t expecting to like this book at all. But, as someone mentioned up-thread, the book isn’t what I think of as typical science fiction. I found many of the characters to be engaging but annoying – with Elma at the top of the list. Here’s this smart, independent, career-minded woman, and yet there were a number of instances, IMO, of her being a stereotypical fifties woman/wife. (I’m not including her public speaking anxiety.) And the “rocket launching” sex scenes? Just e-w-w-w-w!!! I really hated those. Also, I just didn’t get the need for the author to change history by having Dewey be President. I read her explanation, but still didn’t see the point.
And yet … I still liked the book(s). I didn’t rate them 5 stars, but they definitely pulled me in.
I ended up thinking a lot about women’s roles and how they have evolved. In our universe I think the sexual revolution and the pill made a huge difference. Will the pill be invented in Elma’s universe on the same time table? Or is all research going to be redirected to getting into space?
I do wish some editor had said that “Less is more” regarding the sex scenes.
I liked the first and last sentences of the book. “Do you remember where you were when the meteor hit?” and “Do you remember the first time you saw the stars again? I am sitting in a capsule, on my way to the moon.”
I totally get it. I finished The Calculating Stars, crabbily made a mental list of everything I wanted to complain about…and then immediately moved on to “The Lady Astrounaut of Mars.”
My mom, age 97, was a stewardess (no such thing as a “flight attendant” back then). She flew in a non-pressurized DC-3, in the first crop of women who were not nurses. (It’s worth noting that the first female stewardess, Ellen Church, RN, actually wanted to be a pilot.)
My mom’s “interview” for the job included being told to open her mouth to let the interviewer look at her teeth, as if she were a horse. Getting in was all about looks, but staying in was all about hard work and long hours. She made a career of it and after a decade became the first female chief stewardess at United Airlines. Before her, the chief steward was–had to be–a man. It may seem like a small accomplishment now, but it was a feat back then. I’m sure we all have similar tales about our mothers. We are standing on the shoulders of giants.
Here are a few excerpts from an interview with Mary Robinette Kowal (who, for what it’s worth, is also a professional puppeteer). I thought she sounded a lot like Elma:
Wherever proto-Parker is now, he probably won’t like her any better after reading that description!
Interesting. I didn’t really catch that in The Calculating Stars, except that I thought maybe Bubbles was gay.
^ I found that quote a little grating. One of those things you might think, but don’t say, lest you come across as conceited.