Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “I like Winchester's popular history writing style anyway, and this is a fascinating look at an unstoppable natural phenomenon. Plate tectonics with its earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes continues to interfere with our oh so highly developed lives.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Interesting topic; writing does not take advantage of that.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“I like Winchester's popular history writing style anyway, and this is a fascinating look at an unstoppable natural phenomenon. Plate tectonics with its earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes continues to interfere with our oh so highly developed lives.”
L. Scott-Kellermeier wrote this review Wednesday, January 18, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Really well-researched (to the point of a distracting number of footnotes) but sometimes plodding of pace. Really interesting thesis, though, tying together natural disaster, Islam, social forces, history.”
JMW wrote this review Tuesday, October 18, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Accounts the events surrounding the largest volcanic eruption in the past 200 years. The 1886 explosion of Krakatoa was the first well documented and scientifically studied eruption to the date. The personal stories and descriptions of the disaster rival some of the best Hollywood disaster films.”
larry b wrote this review Tuesday, August 30, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Interesting topic; writing does not take advantage of that. ”
Cynthia Smith wrote this review Friday, July 29, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Though I did enjoy this book, I would reserve recommending it for anyone but the fairly serious fan of geology. ”
katiedaltonjames wrote this review Monday, July 11, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Wow. This has got to be the most out of topic (OOT) book I’ve ever read. It saddens me to only award it two stars. I usually have a soft spot for nonfictions *sigh*
Choccy wrote this review Thursday, June 30, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Why on earth did I do that? Some of my friends rated it five stars, after all… Here’s a glimpse of my train of thoughts while reading this book. You’ll see why.
Beginning:
“Yay, finally I get to read this book. A nonfiction about (something major happened in) Indonesia, oh the excitement!...*reading the first pages* Hmm ok, spice trade….pepper….Dutch early occupation…I already know most of the things here…but obviously the author never intended this book only for Indonesians so okay lah…But…but now he’s talking about map making…what the…I have a baaaad feeling about this book…oh crap now he’s blabbering about J.P. Coen (first VOC governor general)…hmm ok some of the factoids are insightful but if he’s keeping this OOT streak….hmm now stories about living in (the old) Batavia…I knew that….and that…and that…*skipping*…where’s the frickin Krakatau story?...OMG tell me he did not just drone on the Wallace line (and his life story) and continental drift theories for 60 pages? Seriously? 60 pages? Couldn’t he shorten it to 5 pages max?” Seven hells!"
*closing the book* *pissed*
Almost in the middle:
“Now page 115 and I haven’t read anything exciting about the eruption….ok now about living in (the new Batavia)…Daendels….Rafles….Bogor….dance parties….*skip skip*….Ahhh now he’s finally talking about the earlier (suspected) eruptions of the volcano…interesting speculations…hmmm yeah this book is growing on me now….wait wait, why he’s giving me a history lesson about Lloyd’s insurance? And the submarine telegraph cables? I know they’re relevant to the story but the sudden “expositions” in the middle of the main story is upsetting me…. Oh wonderful…truly marvelous Mr. Winchester, now you’re yapping about the history of news agencies/Reuters….throw me some bones here…
*closing the book* *pissed*
Halfway:
“Yikes it took halfway to the book to get to the real story! Hmm ok….now I know the difference between volcanic and earthquake vibrations…early warning system turned out to be quite ok…reports from various sources including ships….LOL the Dutch was offering disaster tourism (unique factoid) with daredevils going to the islands, walking in calf-deep ash to check out the craters (while the volcanos were still preparing for the big bang and spewing smokes here and there)…..er…what was with the elephant chapter? So, apparently there was a circus troupe in Batavia a night before the kaboom and an elephant went panic. The author for unknown reasons (maybe he felt the need to give attractive title to his chapters) made a chapter titled The Curious Case of the Terrified Elephant, 11 pages, but the elephant itself was only mentioned in the last 2 pages. Kind of reflecting the content of the book itself, huh?”
*closing the book* *slightly pissed – getting used to it by then*
The crack of doom:
“Finally *flexing my muscles” (now I’m on page 209) the book has at least 384 pages…..Whoa, great writing. Great facts. Quite gripping.
*concentrating* *frowned at some facts* *nodding in satisfaction* *feeling good for the first time when reading the book*
Near the end:
“Er….why Indonesian rebellion is discussed here? Now, now Mr. Winchester, you’re giving the eruption too much credit. *skip skip* Oh wow, a chapter about the Krakatau Jr. This is a must read. Uhuh. Yessir. This volcano is alive and kicking and close to me. I hope I’ll be long gone before it erupts again….Hmm wait..wait *flipping back a few pages* the book is over? But but…I only read something useful for about 150 pages…does this copy has missing pages? Am I dreaming?” *scratching my head in utter confusion*
*closing the book after realizing it wasn’t a dream and no missing pages*
Final thoughts:
Well, ok if the author could only write 150 pages why not make the book of only 150 pages of the REAL BLOODY DEAL? More than half of the book was about background stories, for Wallace’s sake! Why couldn’t he write like Dava Sobel in her enchanting (yet CONCISE) account about the invention of longitude (Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time) which is a far less sexy topic compared with a super volcanic eruption, I daresay.
Reading this book is like going to the movies, expecting to watch a drama-action movie, but interrupted with commercials and trailers on other movies even during some of the action scenes. Sorry, I am a very busy book-reader whose reading time is so valuable and hate to see it wasted. Thank goodness I only borrowed this book *putting it back on my boss’ shelf, kthxbye*”
“Amazing how Winchester was able to take the subject of a volcano eruption and turn it into a page turner filled with information and a plethora of interesting connections to the world we live in now.”
Ryan Curtis wrote this review Thursday, June 16, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Fascinating account of the build-up and blast that was heard around the world, woven with a half-dozen related stories: 1800s technology and the fact that telegraphs made this the first contemporaneous world-wide news event; the colonial history of the region; and the clearest account I've seen of how plate tectonics work and why as a result there are areas of southeast Asia just miles apart with completely different plants and animals. The author himself narrates the CD collection.”
David Hoover wrote this review Tuesday, May 17, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Interesting. Parts were a little dry and I listened on CD to some of it.”
N. Hoffmann wrote this review Sunday, May 8, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Unfortunately the book spends overmuch time describing the geography and geology of the area of Indonesia. It also provides a long history of the theory of plate tectonics, focusing less on describing Krakatoa and its aftermath than you'd think; the eruption doesn't occur until nearly 2/3 of the way through the book.”
Kenneth Hoffmann wrote this review Wednesday, May 4, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
