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There are currently 18 member reviews
for Enduring Courage
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J W. (Davis, CA)
A man for the time
Enduring courage is truly what Eddie Rickenbacker exhibited in his lifetime. This story is interesting and gives a fairly rounded picture of his life. It was not my favorite true war story - nothing seems to compare with Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" - but it does keep the reader interested and eager to learn of Mr. Rickenbacker's exploits.
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Catharine L. (Petoskey, MI)
almost a 5
I read Eddie Rickenbacker's "autobiography" in 1967 which I enjoyed, but Enduring Courage is the icing on the cake. The book emphasizes his car racing, WWI flying, and surviving two plane crashes. What a page turner! The book reads like fiction, but I learned so much about WWI flying and its changing philosophy. At times, a little too technical for me. I think it would be great supplemental reading for high school history.
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Bea C. (Liberty Lake, WA)
Mechanics: Read and Enjoy!!
The good part of this book is the amount of detail the author went into while telling about the life of Eddie Rickenbacker. A lot or work and research went into it and it reveals a genius at mechanics and a person unbelievably unafraid to try new machines at heretofore unheard of speeds and heights (planes). I didn't know that he had been a driver in the Indy 500 before becoming a pilot.
The part I didn't care for is all the detail that went into explaining every mechanical problem he had and how he solved it. That would be great for a person who loves to work on cars and engines and understands all of it, but I had a hard time staying interested in all of that since I don't have much knowledge about engines.
That doesn't take away from the amazing exploits of this ambitious, adventurous pilot. I would have liked a little more continuity to the story instead of it reading like a collection of short stories.
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Janet R. (Visalia, CA)
Not For Me
Although Enduring Courage starts out with an interesting biographical sketch of Eddie Rickenbacker's early life and his increasing interest in engine and racing, by page 51 I was totally bored and had to quit.
With that in mind, my review may be too biased and uninformed and should be ignored, but I believe that this book would only make interesting reading to those among us who are fascinated with the minute details of engines, the excruciating descriptions of early racing conditions and difficulties. So much time is spend on them and not the man himself.
Plus, the author uses some rather bizarre descriptive phrases in the book that just had to make me laugh! I hope no one who is not a native English speaker or even someone who is, would know what "Barnumesque hucksterism", (Pg42) is. A really descriptive phrase made me nauseated and laughing. That being on page 21 "the nose-hair-curling reek of the foundries and tanneries".
The book did flow-from one boring race to the next in which you were treated to an overly detailed dry description of track conditions, cars and mud. As I said before, this book will have great appeal to those who follow the exact details of car racing and the development of aviation.
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