Customer Reviews

Phases of Gravity

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I had never heard of this Dan Simmons book until the moment when I first saw it in some comic book store . . . and that immediately intruiged me. Generally with a successful author you hear about all of their books, whether it's the glorious peaks of their best work or the terrible quality that is the worst they have to offer. Curious I picked it up and put it on a shelf to read until just the other day, and now I finally finished. And I'm definitely impressed. This has to be one of the Simmons' least known and most underrated works, all of his fans who read his Hyperion series or even the fans who like his horror work should come and get this, because it falls nicely in the middle. Neither a science fiction nor a horror novel, this time he chooses to write about the simplest and most complex of topics: people. The novel concerns the spiritual (in a sense) quest of a former astronaut who once walked on the moon and his attempts to come to terms with his life and all that has transpired. It raises the interesting question, once you've sacrificed nearly everything so you can do what only a handful of men have done, isn't everything downhill after that. And if you leave your life in ruins because of those sacrifices, well you can't stay in space forever and you've eventually got to come down and face the music. The more is vastly more complicated than that and even though it doesn't have snarling vampires or weird spiky creatures (not that I don't like those) guarenteed you won't miss them one bit. Simmons crafts his main character with all the depth of a real person and eventually he becomes someone you want to know and someone you do get to know. His style is still marvelously apparent, his gift for description and detail never in better evidence here, especially when describing dreams or nature sequences, or even the cold beauty of space. Most of all this book has heart, Simmons has a real affection for the material and the characters and that shows through on every page. This is one of those books you can't go wrong with. Sadly out of print, try your best to snag a used copy and get ready to discover another facet of the man that you might not have realized. If anything this proves that Simmons can do any type of novel he wants and still create something of quality.

Dan Simmons has done something very rare in writing today. He makes you think. He has written a book about taking stock of ones life. His protangonist has been to the moon, which would make him the envy of many people. Yet, his life is not working. So the story weaves its magic on the reader. As the story proceeds, some of lifes questions are answered for the hero, but not all of them. There is a sense of disquiet that pervades the story. Better yet, melancholy best describes this work. If you going through your own personal search for the meaning of life or want a sense of what it could be like, then I highly recommend this novel. There are no aliens or monsters with this read, but it stands along with the best of what he has written. It is truly an amazing piece.

This is one of those rare books that I try to read again every few years. I was searching for another book on Amazon by another author and a book by Simmons was suggested. This got me thinking about Phases, one of the few books I have ever read that inspired serious reflection without inducing an even more serious downer. I don't remember a great deal about the plot or the protagonist, Baedecker, but I do recall reading the last line and closing the book with a clean satisfaction.

This is not sf, despite its designation as such. Its just a damned good story about a middle-aged "success" trying to find himself in an odd little world. If this sounds a bit like you -- get a copy -- if you can find one. Seeing that this book is out of print just about ruined my day -- except that I know where my copy is at home!

The title of this review says it all. Dan Simmons is one of my all-time favorite authors, and Phases of Gravity stands out as one of his finest works. Beautifully written, the story of Baedecker's search for himself simply flows, and the book has (in my opinion) one of the greatest final lines in any story I've ever read.

If you are only familiar with Simmons work if strange alien races are embarking on Chaucer-like pilgrimages to distant worlds or troubled humans are brought at odds with the dark elements of human mythology and taboo, then read this book and watch Simmons demonstrate that he writes resonant tales in several categories of fiction.

This was the third Simmons book I read, and remains a close second behind Summer of Night after reading nearly all his catalogue. How wonderful to consider the many meanings to the title. And who will ever forget the glass enclosed planetarium - its images sear themselves upon the retinas of the minds eye, and your happy for it

Hazahhh!!!

I'm 22, I read a lot. Dan Simmons has recently become my all time favorite author after reading the Hyperion books, Ilium, Carrion Comfort, and a few of his others. One I checked out and bought through Amazon was this one Phases of Gravity. It already has some outstandingly written reviews that I just read through, so I can't really elaborate much on what they've said. Basically, this is not my genre of book, but damnit I'm committed to finding a book Dan Simmons has written that isn't absolutley genuinely phenomonal. Hahaha! Well, I haven't yet. I read this book in three or four days, and loved every minute of it. It's such a refreshing departure from everyones formula of "Save the world!" and "Gasp! People are getting eaten somewhere!" It's a down to earth (haha) book about Richard Baedecker and his search to find himself. It's amazing, because being one of the few people to go to the Moon and walk on it, it deals with his life afterwards and how he seems to be unable to find any meaning in anything. The book takes you through what basically amounts to a year or two of his life. I certainly walked away with something, a feeling almost palpable. I just finished it 10 minutes ago and I STILL have the chills!!! Great book! Not for everyone, but fantastic nonetheless. And it's not a long read either, so what have you got to lose? Give it a shot!

Years after I read this book, I still think about it often. The writing, an early hint to the fantastic writings of what I feel is the best science fiction writer of the last decade (Dan Simmons), is easy to read and full of eloquence. The story may not appeal to everyone, and the delivery most definitely will not appeal to everyone...but to those who it does work for, this book will stay with you for a long time. Don't expect anything too profound or something unlike anything you've read before. What you should expect is to feel something. I find it rare to read a piece of fiction that feels more autobiographical than fiction. Something that feels real, human and completely honest. The overall tone of the book reads something like the way Sophia Coppolla's Lost In Translation plays out. You feel like you're engulfed in the world of someone else. You see the ups and downs of their daily routine, and feel the love, lust, hurt and regret just as they do. But, back to what I said before. It's inexplicable why I think about this book so often still, as it's not like I am rummaging over what happened in the book again and being amazed by how great of a story it was...yet I cant get it out of my head (nor would I want to). Part of me is afraid to read it again, as if reading the book the first time was like a moment in time where everything just seemed to synchronize. Like that trip you went on when you were a certain age, with certain people to a certain place; you can never go back to how it exactly was. The trees have grown and been cut down, the buildings have risen and fallen and you, and the people with you, have all grown or been torn down into different people. Sometimes, it's best to just let go of the fact that you can never go back to that same place, that it's better just to live with the fantastic feelings and memories of that moment in time...even if it means you will never get to experience that beauty first hand again.

His friend, Dave, tells him how he wants his story written, "I want to know what these suckers are feeling. I want to know what they don't tell their wives in the middle of the night when they can't sleep. I want to know what moves them right down to the seat of their meat. I don't care how inarticulate we poor ex-jet jockeys are, I expect you to get in there with your little epistemological proctoscope...damn, that's good...I can't be too drunk if I can say that, huh? I want you to get in there and find out what we need to know about ourselves, okay, Richard?"
That one excerpt describes the heart of this book. I do have two minor complaints 1) a lot of the "inner" stories are dropped just when they get really interesting, and 2) skipping back and forth in time - I wish authors were not so compelled to do that. You gotta story to tell? Tell it! Flip-flopping back and forth takes away from the story (for me, anyway). Nevertheless. Great Book. Find It. Buy It. Read It!

Phases of Gravity is one of the first Dan Simmons books I read (after being hooked by Hyperion) and is definately one of the best. Simmons has an incredible style, and in Phases of Gravity it really shines. Read it just to be able to really appreciate the last line of the book, one of the most beautiful and moving phrases I have ever read. A truly great book.

In many ways, this is a very depressing book, as it shows just how badly the dream of space exploration has been lost, corrupted, mismanaged, and shoved under the carpet, out of sight of all too many people. At the same time, by investigating just what is important in life, it is uplifting and insightful.

The story tracks former astronaut Richard Baedecker, who is plagued by feelings of not doing anything meaningful in his post-NASA job, a divorce and an estranged son. The son has taken up with an Indian guru, seeking something he is not getting from his famous father, while Richard cannot seem to find a way to re-connect with his son, but does manage to connect with his son's semi-girlfriend. That connection leads him on a search for what is meaningful for him, from recollections of the items he left on the moon as a permanent mark on that world, to finding the magic of high places. His final actions of this book show that he has found, at least for him, some answers to the meaning of life, answers that will resonate with most readers.

This story is told very stylistically, with clean descriptions, very quiet actions, and with quick flashes backward and forward in time - potentially a confusing method of telling a story, but Simmons brings this off nicely. Richard's character is nicely portrayed, building on his recollections of his past exploits and his current interactions with those around him to show a fully realized man, one who has many doubts, fears, and sometimes moments of happiness. The characters around him, while not shown in as great a depth, are more than adequately developed, especially Dave, his former NASA crewmate. Perhaps the best item about this book is that all the characters and themes are developed by showing, not telling or pontificating.

The dream of space flight is here, still dazzling, but it is shown in today's light, not center-focus, almost just a background to Richard's story. And as such, I found some of this heavy going, for regardless of how realistic this portrayal is, for me that dream has not died, and if I can help it, it never will. Perhaps this book can help galvanize people into once more putting real effort into making this dream a true, commonplace, and daily reality.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)