Cousteau: The Captain and His World

Rating:
Summary: An honest portrayal of a great man.
Review:

Every year at the Oscar ceremony they show brief clips of those who were involved in the film industry and who have died during the previous 12 months. Most of those attending stand and clap their way through the few minutes it takes to show either a film clip or photograph of those who are now deceased. At the ceremony following Cousteau's death it was no different until they actually came to a photograph of the man himself. Below that photograph was written Jacques-Yves Cousteau - Film maker. What was so memorable for me was that the tempo of the applause increased quite markedly for as long as his photograph was on the screen and then decreased to it's former level when the next person was portrayed. That has never happened when any of the truly great Hollywood stars have been portrayed in such a manner.

Cousteau brought the underwater world into our homes - on both sides of the Atlantic. I still refer to his books on matters of research and often regret I do not have a copy of every single one.

"Cousteau - The Captain and His World" by Richard Munson is an excellent account of the life and times of this great man. It does not portray Cousteau and an angel - but describes the man exactly as he was. Some people will be surprised at some of the personal traits and aspects of his private life. Others will think differently.

Arguably, the greatest Frenchman of the 20th Century, this is a book worth reading.

NM






Rating:
Summary: Cynical, Mediocre account of the Captain's life
Review: A decent recapping of the events of the Captain's life, with little real insight, except that the author seems to want to write an expose. To Munson, the glass is always half-empty. At times the criticism is justified, but more times than not the jabs come off as naive, mean-spirited, and rationalized; that is, not really conforming to the facts he has already laid out. There is a fair amount of information here, good if you are a Cousteau fan hungry for a few new tidbits about your hero (that is, if you can take Munson's own interpretations with a grain of salt.) Beyond that limited audience the book has little appeal. The writing is competent but uninspired.

Rating:
Summary: Cynical, Mediocre account of the Captain's life
Review: A decent recapping of the events of the Captain's life, with little real insight, except that the author seems to want to write an expose. To Munson, the glass is always half-empty. At times the criticism is justified, but more times than not the jabs come off as naive, mean-spirited, and rationalized; that is, not really conforming to the facts he has already laid out. There is a fair amount of information here, good if you are a Cousteau fan hungry for a few new tidbits about your hero (that is, if you can take Munson's own interpretations with a grain of salt.) Beyond that limited audience the book has little appeal. The writing is competent but uninspired.

Rating:
Summary: An honest portrayal of a great man.
Review: Every year at the Oscar ceremony they show brief clips of those who were involved in the film industry and who have died during the previous 12 months. Most of those attending stand and clap their way through the few minutes it takes to show either a film clip or photograph of those who are now deceased. At the ceremony following Cousteau's death it was no different until they actually came to a photograph of the man himself. Below that photograph was written Jacques-Yves Cousteau - Film maker. What was so memorable for me was that the tempo of the applause increased quite markedly for as long as his photograph was on the screen and then decreased to it's former level when the next person was portrayed. That has never happened when any of the truly great Hollywood stars have been portrayed in such a manner.

Cousteau brought the underwater world into our homes - on both sides of the Atlantic. I still refer to his books on matters of research and often regret I do not have a copy of every single one.

"Cousteau - The Captain and His World" by Richard Munson is an excellent account of the life and times of this great man. It does not portray Cousteau and an angel - but describes the man exactly as he was. Some people will be surprised at some of the personal traits and aspects of his private life. Others will think differently.

Arguably, the greatest Frenchman of the 20th Century, this is a book worth reading.

NM