Simon Winchester – ~*LunaSea*~

Winchester, Simon. Krakatoa: the Day the World Exploded August 27th, 1883. HarperCollins Publishers, 2003.

Reason read: one hundred and forty years ago this month a volcano blew its top, killing 40,000 people.

Reading anything by Simon Winchester is like going into a restaurant that has a twenty-plus page menu. So much information and everything looks good. I personally find Winchester fun to read because he is not didactic, dry or stale. His personal anecdotes add flavor and spice to just about any topic he cares to write. In this case, “the day the world exploded,” the day the volcano, Krakatoa, erupted. Winchester delves into the science behind the disaster; what caused the eruption and the deadly tsunami that followed. For example, on the “explosivity index” Krakatoa was a seven; measured by the amount of material that is ejected and the height to which it is spewed through the atmosphere. Rest assured, he will tell you everything beyond the science as well. Death counts, survivor recollections, political implications, even information you didn’t know you needed like the origin story of time zones and anecdotal information about historical characters. He’ll joke about the different ways to spell Krakatoa and emphasize the fact that the original island was blown to smithereens.
My only letdown was that I was disappointed with the inclusion of a black and white photograph of Frederic Edwin Church’s painting of a sunset over ice on Chaumont Bay of Lake Ontario. The whole point of mentioning the painting was the colors most likely caused be Krakatoa. Not helpful as a black and white picture.

Quote I liked, “Krakatoa, after the final majestic concatenation of seismic and tectonic climaxes that occured just after ten that Monday morning, had simply and finally exploded itself out of existence” (p 257). Can you just imagine it? I picture a toddler having a ginormous, ear-piercing, destructive meltdown and then falling asleep without fanfare.

Author fact: I am reading seven books by Winchester. I couldn’t tell you which one has been my favorite thus far. Everyone knows The Professor and the Madman but I think I am looking forward to The River at the Center of the World.
Another small fact: at the time of publication Winchester was living in the Berkshires.

Book trivia: Krakatoa includes a bunch of black and white photographs and maps. I mentioned that already.

Playlist: Ebiet G. Ade’s “Jakarta 1”.

Nancy said: Pearl only mentioned two books in the chapter on Krakatoa.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Krakatau” (p 133).

Winchester, Simon. Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. Narrated by Simon Winchester. Harper Collins, 2005.

Reason read: San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge opened on May 27th, 1937.

From soup to nuts, Simon Winchester’s Crack in the Edge of the World tells the complete story of the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 with humor, intelligence, and clarity. He begins with the humble birth of the city coupled with the scientific explanation for earth’s volatile nature.
Curiously, when talking about other disasters which have wiped out entire regions Winchester mentions Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but only hints at the destruction of a large portion of Manhattan after the attacks of 9/11. And speaking of the attacks on the World Trade Center, I imagine that witnessing the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake was similar to east coast residents watching the events of 9/11 unfold on their smartphones and television sets. If you were not suffering personal tragedy and your barometer for compassion was at an all-time low, you looked upon the destruction with awe and a strange but removed fascination.
My favorite post-disaster response. The post office was the hero of my childhood, keeping me connected to friends and family miles away. San Francisco’s post office employees made and all-out effort to save their building. As a result they were able to resume service two days after the earthquake. The postmaster understood the importance of communicating with loved ones; an early version of “marked safe.”

Edited to add: I had to come back in here to add this! How could I forget that Winchester quoted Natalie Merchant! She wrote about the San Andreas fault on her first solo album, Tigerlily.

Quote to quote, “But generally speaking, so far as their respective quiddities are concerned, great cities always recover” (p 313).

Author fact: I have a total of eight Winchester books on my Challenge list. I have read three of them so far. Crack in the Edge of the World is my favorite at present.

Nancy said: Pearl said Crack in the Edge of the World was one of the best – if not the best – books about the great earthquake.

Book trivia: Winchesters description of German photographer Genthe sparked an interest in his work.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “San Francisco” (p 196).