saratellmanveloz's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.75
Facing the Wave reads like a poem. It is atmospheric, meditative, reflective unlike the subject of its musings.
cook_memorial_public_library's review
4.0
A favorite of 2014 recommended by Haley.
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sfacing%20the%20wave%20ehrlich__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sfacing%20the%20wave%20ehrlich__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
dujyt's review against another edition
4.0
I can't imagine trying to understand the Japanese earthquake/tsunami disaster of 3/11/11 without reading this book. The short, episodic chapters recount the author's visit to the area after the disaster and her encounters with survivors and their stories. She narrates her growing understanding of how the larger picture of radiation contamination and the ecological disaster continues to affect the people, the land and the future. It was a very sobering, personal look at an event I can't even begin to imagine facing.
The theme of fear, and facing fear, is a strong line of thought throughout the book. I was struck by her emphasis on talking to the fishermen who survived the tsunami wave by running to their boats as soon as the earthquake happened, getting into their boats and rushing *into* the oncoming wave. By facing that wave, that fearsome wall of deadly water, their boats were carried over the crest and behind the wall of water that slammed into the coast, destroying everything familiar about their lives on land. I found it an apt metaphor on facing fear in life and how meeting fear head on is almost always the way through it.
I was easily fascinated by many of the Japanese art, history and cultural references that the author included. Buddhist tradition and Shinto religious practice were incorporated into the narrative of disaster recovery and radiation exposure, and 17th-century haiku and other Japanese poetry became relevant to the present day survivors and historians. It is a rich source of further reading and research about Japan.
The theme of fear, and facing fear, is a strong line of thought throughout the book. I was struck by her emphasis on talking to the fishermen who survived the tsunami wave by running to their boats as soon as the earthquake happened, getting into their boats and rushing *into* the oncoming wave. By facing that wave, that fearsome wall of deadly water, their boats were carried over the crest and behind the wall of water that slammed into the coast, destroying everything familiar about their lives on land. I found it an apt metaphor on facing fear in life and how meeting fear head on is almost always the way through it.
I was easily fascinated by many of the Japanese art, history and cultural references that the author included. Buddhist tradition and Shinto religious practice were incorporated into the narrative of disaster recovery and radiation exposure, and 17th-century haiku and other Japanese poetry became relevant to the present day survivors and historians. It is a rich source of further reading and research about Japan.
socopebbles's review against another edition
4.0
At times beautifully fragile, it's also a burtal read. That shouldn't be particularly surprising, but the spare prose magnifies the tragedy more than obscures it. If there are complaints, it would be the general lack of organization or structure, but I think that's largely intentional.
arielkirst's review against another edition
4.0
The writing style was almost more poetic than anything else, but still did a good job of conveying the horror and sorrow of the tsunami and how it affected the people.
nce14210's review
3.0
There are some amazing stories in this book. Gretel Ehrlich is a powerful writer. I'm very grateful that she turned her talents to this tragedy. She gives us a very good overview through the stories of individuals and families up and down the effected coast.
pattydsf's review
3.0
”From under a thin futon on tatami that no longer smells like grass, I hear the rattle of shoji screens until a seismic wave carries the house forward and upward in a hard jolt – a slice of contained chaos – and drops it again, down the face of a geologic wave to Earth’s uncertain crust.”
A decade ago I read The Future of Ice: A Journey into Cold. At the time, I regretted that time had gone by since I had last read a book by Ehrlich. In my optimist way, I said that I would look for the books I had missed that Ehrlich had written and I would read them. Fat chance. I may be an omnivore reader, but not matter how I try, I can’t read everything. Not even everything I want to read.
Thank goodness I am going to Japan and feel obligated to stop trying to read my TBR list and concentrate on books about Japan. None of which were on my radar, let alone my list. This way I get to run into Ehrlich’s writings again.
The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 broke the world apart for many people. Most of those affected were Japanese, but there are others for whom this disaster caused heartache and pain. As far as I can tell, Ehrlich is one of those people.
Ehrlich writes sparingly, in an episodic manner. It took me awhile to adjust to her style and I don’t think I appreciated this book as much during my reading as I do afterwards. The book seemed disjointed to me. Since I will be visiting Ishinomaki, I was looking for a cohesive narrative and that is not how this book is written. However, now that I have read other material about the tsunami, I have my straightforward story. I think I would understand Erhlich’s account better now.
A decade ago I read The Future of Ice: A Journey into Cold. At the time, I regretted that time had gone by since I had last read a book by Ehrlich. In my optimist way, I said that I would look for the books I had missed that Ehrlich had written and I would read them. Fat chance. I may be an omnivore reader, but not matter how I try, I can’t read everything. Not even everything I want to read.
Thank goodness I am going to Japan and feel obligated to stop trying to read my TBR list and concentrate on books about Japan. None of which were on my radar, let alone my list. This way I get to run into Ehrlich’s writings again.
The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 broke the world apart for many people. Most of those affected were Japanese, but there are others for whom this disaster caused heartache and pain. As far as I can tell, Ehrlich is one of those people.
Ehrlich writes sparingly, in an episodic manner. It took me awhile to adjust to her style and I don’t think I appreciated this book as much during my reading as I do afterwards. The book seemed disjointed to me. Since I will be visiting Ishinomaki, I was looking for a cohesive narrative and that is not how this book is written. However, now that I have read other material about the tsunami, I have my straightforward story. I think I would understand Erhlich’s account better now.
biblioholicbeth's review
4.0
Like everyone else around the world, I watched in horror as Japan's coast was devastated by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. The horror was mingled with an awe so strong that it is hard to put into words - Mother Nature's strength and power were absolutely overwhelming, even from the safety of my living room so many miles away. As our concern grew for the exchange students we had hosted, both after the original earthquake and then after the tsunami, it was heartbreaking to see the expanse of the waste. I remember asking myself, "How will they deal with this?".
Facing the Wave details just how so many dealt with the aftermath, as well as the stories of those who lived through it. The strength, bravery and resilience of so many are just as inspiring as the tsunami was horrifying. Gretel Ehrlich alternates between the strengths of poetry and beautiful writing and the strengths of facts to tell not just a story of the aftermath, but the story of the Japanese people as a whole. Those who risked their lives to help others, those who continue to risk their lives to help abandoned animals in the no/go zone, and those who simply keep putting one foot in front of the other in the face of overwhelming odds. The priests who walked for miles and miles to pray, the geisha who finally passed on her last remembered song, and the fishermen who lost it all. All of these stories, surrounded by a landscape that is bleak and bloated with the dead, a government who is practicing a cover-up of epic proportions, and entire areas that shifted over and down, not by inches, but by several FEET. And finally, the over-riding shadow of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and the inescapable radiation that poisoned the air, the land, and even the sea from which so many draw sustenance and their livelihoods.
Facing the Wave is a book of heartbreaking beauty and absolute cruelty. It is best read in smaller portions, as it is all too easy to get overwhelmed. But far from being a book of horrors alone, it is also a book of the strength, the love, and even the happiness and humor of the Japanese people. The beauty of much of the writing had me underlining passages, as I wanted to be able to go back and read them over again. There is a spare beauty to much of the poetry included within the book, and it fits the narrative well.
This is a book that I'm glad I took the time to read. It's not a long book, but it is emotional, just by the very nature of what it covers. But it gives hope and strength, and that alone is always worthwhile.
Facing the Wave details just how so many dealt with the aftermath, as well as the stories of those who lived through it. The strength, bravery and resilience of so many are just as inspiring as the tsunami was horrifying. Gretel Ehrlich alternates between the strengths of poetry and beautiful writing and the strengths of facts to tell not just a story of the aftermath, but the story of the Japanese people as a whole. Those who risked their lives to help others, those who continue to risk their lives to help abandoned animals in the no/go zone, and those who simply keep putting one foot in front of the other in the face of overwhelming odds. The priests who walked for miles and miles to pray, the geisha who finally passed on her last remembered song, and the fishermen who lost it all. All of these stories, surrounded by a landscape that is bleak and bloated with the dead, a government who is practicing a cover-up of epic proportions, and entire areas that shifted over and down, not by inches, but by several FEET. And finally, the over-riding shadow of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and the inescapable radiation that poisoned the air, the land, and even the sea from which so many draw sustenance and their livelihoods.
Facing the Wave is a book of heartbreaking beauty and absolute cruelty. It is best read in smaller portions, as it is all too easy to get overwhelmed. But far from being a book of horrors alone, it is also a book of the strength, the love, and even the happiness and humor of the Japanese people. The beauty of much of the writing had me underlining passages, as I wanted to be able to go back and read them over again. There is a spare beauty to much of the poetry included within the book, and it fits the narrative well.
This is a book that I'm glad I took the time to read. It's not a long book, but it is emotional, just by the very nature of what it covers. But it gives hope and strength, and that alone is always worthwhile.
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