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Jacques Cousteau Jacques Cousteau (2009)

by Bradford Matsen(Favorite Author)

3.59 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0307378276 (ISBN13: 9780307378279)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Pantheon Books

review 1: I didn't grow up watch Cousteau's films or television series. In fact, my first introduction to him was via Bill Murray's character in Wes Anderson's A Life Aquatic, which was inspired by Cousteau.Matsen portrays Cousteau as a flawed explorer, environmentalist and philosopher who inspired a generation to look beyond land's limits and under the water. His work to focus the world's attention on the health of the oceans and the need for sustainable practices cannot be underestimated. Nor can his contribution to the invention of the Aqua-Lung and advancing water-based technologies.Far from idolising Cousteau, Matsen's writing feels authentic and provides the reader with a character study that looks beyond his lengthy achievements.
review 2: jacques cousteau has got... more to be way more interesting than this book makes him out to be. maybe it's the fact that matsen relied heavily on interviews to tell episodic tales, but where's the gristle? the most interesting parts - the relationships behind his work, the fact that he kept a second wife that he had children with while his legal wife lived alone on the ship that made his career - are given small teaser paragraphs while the most asinine information about ship's size and berth are given page upon page. it was really interesting to learn that guinness family had a hand in getting him started by loaning him calypso for the equivalent of a pound, and that they still own it despite all of the intra-family fighting. but otherwise this was a snoozer that i despised carrying around and complained about at every opportunity. less

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