billie_visible's review against another edition
4.0
A thorough, albeit focused recounting of the Mount Saint Helens eruption that focuses on what placed those who died in the pathway of the eruption that day, and (at length) the history of the logging company that owned the land around the volcano. While well-written, it felt rather odd to see such an exploration of European settlement and conquest blatantly ignore any vestiges of Indigenous American life. Outside of that the scientific aspect of volcanology is somewhat limited, the history becoming the main focus as Olson investigates essentially why those who died were there that day, and why the entire area around the volcano hadn't been evacuated like it should've been when signs of an explosion began to show (the answer, as always is a mixture of greed, ignorance, and human-ness).
bentleyc's review against another edition
1.0
The chapters on Mt St Helens and the eruption were very good. Unfortunately, the book takes several detours when establishing the history of the land surrounding Mt St Helens. The detours were too detailed and not truly pertinent, and so I ended up skipping several chapters. The chapters I skipped would probably be more interesting to someone looking for a background on logging in the Pacific Northwest.
lisaeirene's review against another edition
5.0
I lived in Seattle for half of my life. I was 5 months old when Mount St. Helens erupted. My mom told me stories of sitting in the kitchen feeding me and hearing the boom and then ash covering their car. I’ve been to Mount St. Helens a few times in my life. I’ve heard the details but I really didn’t KNOW much about it. This book was an excellent informational about the famous eruption.
The book covers the history of National Parks/Federal land and how that whole thing came to be. It described early environmental conservation. It told the history of the Northwest and Gifford Pinchot National Forest–which I hadn’t known!
The big revelation for me, was the history of logging and Weyerhaeuser. Growing up in the NW you hear that name but probably don’t think much about it. But there is a lot of information about the logging company.
“By 1980, almost all of the old-growth forests more than two hundred years old were gone, with newer forests growing in their stead. All around the mountain, Weyerhaeuser and other companies were logging right up to the tree line on soils so thin that trees would never grow back.”
The book also described in detail the people who perished in the blast AND people who survived! I had no idea there were survivors!
“The blast cloud reached him before he could put the key in the ignition. The car windows facing the volcano blew out. The Volvo quickly filled with burning hot ash. Blackburn tried to breathe, but the blast cloud contained little oxygen. His nose, mouth, and lungs filled with ash. Ash from Mount St. Helens tastes like chalk dust mixed with metal; it smells like a dry field stirred by the wind on a hot day.”
The book talked about the after effects, the attempt at clean up and scientific study.
““Somebody said it looked like a moonscape, but the moon looks like a golf course compared to what’s up there. . . . The ash is several hundred feet deep. There are tremendous clouds of steam coming up. There are enormous icebergs, big as a mobile home. A lot of them are melting, and as the icebergs melt . . . the ash caves in and creates enormous craters. There are a few fires about, on the edge of the ash flow, where logs are still exposed. . . . It’s an unbelievable sight.””
The book was compelling, fascinating and informative. I really recommend it!
The book covers the history of National Parks/Federal land and how that whole thing came to be. It described early environmental conservation. It told the history of the Northwest and Gifford Pinchot National Forest–which I hadn’t known!
The big revelation for me, was the history of logging and Weyerhaeuser. Growing up in the NW you hear that name but probably don’t think much about it. But there is a lot of information about the logging company.
“By 1980, almost all of the old-growth forests more than two hundred years old were gone, with newer forests growing in their stead. All around the mountain, Weyerhaeuser and other companies were logging right up to the tree line on soils so thin that trees would never grow back.”
The book also described in detail the people who perished in the blast AND people who survived! I had no idea there were survivors!
“The blast cloud reached him before he could put the key in the ignition. The car windows facing the volcano blew out. The Volvo quickly filled with burning hot ash. Blackburn tried to breathe, but the blast cloud contained little oxygen. His nose, mouth, and lungs filled with ash. Ash from Mount St. Helens tastes like chalk dust mixed with metal; it smells like a dry field stirred by the wind on a hot day.”
The book talked about the after effects, the attempt at clean up and scientific study.
““Somebody said it looked like a moonscape, but the moon looks like a golf course compared to what’s up there. . . . The ash is several hundred feet deep. There are tremendous clouds of steam coming up. There are enormous icebergs, big as a mobile home. A lot of them are melting, and as the icebergs melt . . . the ash caves in and creates enormous craters. There are a few fires about, on the edge of the ash flow, where logs are still exposed. . . . It’s an unbelievable sight.””
The book was compelling, fascinating and informative. I really recommend it!
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
I was finally taking the time to explore Mount St Helens, so it was time to read about it. This was the second book I read. So by the time I read this one, we were almost done with our trip and I knew quite a bit about what happened. But even still, this filled in the blanks and was quite readable. It is written like a straight about disaster novel, which is fair because it kind of was. Complete with backstories of the important characters, primarily the victims and the escapees and the semi-evil industrialist and the scrappy oddball governor. Sure the chapters on Weyerhaeuser seemed to come from left field, but it made a whole lot of things clear - and the story describing how the red zone and blue zone were drawn would have made less sense without. A bit brutal in parts, but never unreasonable.
mkhunterz's review against another edition
3.25
Spent more time on the history of logging in the area than the actual eruption itself.
wynter's review against another edition
5.0
Heartwrenching. After a not so successful read-through of [b:Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded|25017|Krakatoa The Day the World Exploded|Simon Winchester|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407108467s/25017.jpg|2084098], this was definitely a change for the better. Olson puts you right into the event, alongside many who lost their lives on the fateful day of May 18th, 1980. The most devastating fact in this tragedy is of course how preventable many of these deaths could have been. The government and the local law enforcement failed their citizens in properly securing the area, educating them on the real dangers of volcanic activity, and expanding no-entry zones. Only three out of almost sixty victims died in the so-called "red zone", two of whom were there legally on scientific permit.
raingirlpdx's review against another edition
5.0
The back story behind the eruption - including the greedy Weyerheuser timber company, who defined a "red zone" around their business interests and sent loggers into dangerous areas, bat-shit crazy Washington State Governor Dixie Lee Raye, who's collusion with Weyerheuser and "pro-business" denial of the potential loss of life resulted in 57 deaths, scientists racing to understand the potential hazard and warn state and county officials, journalists who covered the story - they're all here. Exhaustively researched and carefully crafted in a stark documentary style, yet embellished with poignant accounts of both the victims and survivors of the greatest natural disaster in American history. High recommended, with lots of great analogies to the political volcano getting ready to blow right now. RUN!