lakecake's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of this book for free from Goodreads Giveaways.
I knew nothing about the Johnstown Flood coming into this book, and in that regard this is a very good primer on the subject. Interweaving personal stories of victims and perpetrators, it moves at a brisk pace full of just enough intrigue to keep even casual readers intrigued, with enough facts to back up assertions to tantalize history buffs. I think if you know anything about the tragedy already, this might be a little too light of a read for you, but as an introduction it’s very good. I’m inspired now to pick up some of the works cited here to get more in depth about this corporate tragedy.
I knew nothing about the Johnstown Flood coming into this book, and in that regard this is a very good primer on the subject. Interweaving personal stories of victims and perpetrators, it moves at a brisk pace full of just enough intrigue to keep even casual readers intrigued, with enough facts to back up assertions to tantalize history buffs. I think if you know anything about the tragedy already, this might be a little too light of a read for you, but as an introduction it’s very good. I’m inspired now to pick up some of the works cited here to get more in depth about this corporate tragedy.
angelfireeast24's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Gore, Racism, Child death, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, and Grief
residentrunner1_'s review against another edition
5.0
"At about 3:00 PM, on May 31, 1889, an explosion of previously unknown force would smash that world. Twenty millions tons of towering water, released all at once from high above the town, falling with gathering momentum down the narrow Conemaugh Valley, picking up houses, factories, forests, railroad tracks, locomotives, livestock, and human beings as it came, would arrive with a roar like nothing heard in Johnstown before."
I've heard of the Johnstown flood, and I knew corporate greed (well kinda) caused the problem. The cast of villains? To name a few famous names:
1. Andrew Carnegie
2. Henry Clay Frick
3. Andrew Mellon
The reason why a dam was even built to eventually burst? Andrew Carnegie discovered this spot a while back and purposely had a dam built to create a lake for the millionaires and rich men to fish. His antics got the best of him, however, on May 31st, 1889, and the club members immediately vowed not to talk about the dam and instead give away huge sums of money to the relief effort for Johnstown.
4.5***out of 5 stars
Great book, but could use a little more emphasis on the trail in my opinion. Either way, it is definitely a good book to read during this quarantine.
I've heard of the Johnstown flood, and I knew corporate greed (well kinda) caused the problem. The cast of villains? To name a few famous names:
1. Andrew Carnegie
2. Henry Clay Frick
3. Andrew Mellon
The reason why a dam was even built to eventually burst? Andrew Carnegie discovered this spot a while back and purposely had a dam built to create a lake for the millionaires and rich men to fish. His antics got the best of him, however, on May 31st, 1889, and the club members immediately vowed not to talk about the dam and instead give away huge sums of money to the relief effort for Johnstown.
4.5***out of 5 stars
Great book, but could use a little more emphasis on the trail in my opinion. Either way, it is definitely a good book to read during this quarantine.
sarahfett's review against another edition
1.0
I'll start with the good. I was happy to see that a new book about the Johnstown Flood of 1889 was being released because people may not know about this horrific historical event.
Unfortunately that's all the good I can say about it. The first thing that troubled me was the writing. It tries too hard to be dramatic when the events are dramatic enough in themselves. It tries too hard to be relatable by creating fictitious thoughts and feelings for real people, which is great in historical fiction but not appropriate in non-fiction works. And my main frustration was the confusing writing with its overuse of commas in long and awkwardly worded sentences.
My second complaint was that the facts presented weren't always correct. The author incorrectly stated that "in 1879 the members of the South Fork Club determined to dam up a river and make a beautiful mountain lake." The dam was actually constructed several years before that by the state of Pennsylvania as part of the canal system. Not only does the author repeatedly state this erroneous detail, he then goes on to write Daniel J. Morrell’s imagined reaction to the South Fork Club members creating the dam. This was the point that I abandoned the book.
The book does have a bibliography, though it comprised almost entirely of websites (some reputable like the Johnstown Area Heritage Association but some not like one from blogspot!), not archival information.
If you are looking for a factually accurate, engrossing, and well written book based on solid research and interviews with survivors of the Great Flood (including my great-grandfather!) check out [b:The Johnstown Flood|2371|The Johnstown Flood|David McCullough|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1313667349s/2371.jpg|1391380] by David McCullough.
Unfortunately that's all the good I can say about it. The first thing that troubled me was the writing. It tries too hard to be dramatic when the events are dramatic enough in themselves. It tries too hard to be relatable by creating fictitious thoughts and feelings for real people, which is great in historical fiction but not appropriate in non-fiction works. And my main frustration was the confusing writing with its overuse of commas in long and awkwardly worded sentences.
My second complaint was that the facts presented weren't always correct. The author incorrectly stated that "in 1879 the members of the South Fork Club determined to dam up a river and make a beautiful mountain lake." The dam was actually constructed several years before that by the state of Pennsylvania as part of the canal system. Not only does the author repeatedly state this erroneous detail, he then goes on to write Daniel J. Morrell’s imagined reaction to the South Fork Club members creating the dam. This was the point that I abandoned the book.
The book does have a bibliography, though it comprised almost entirely of websites (some reputable like the Johnstown Area Heritage Association but some not like one from blogspot!), not archival information.
If you are looking for a factually accurate, engrossing, and well written book based on solid research and interviews with survivors of the Great Flood (including my great-grandfather!) check out [b:The Johnstown Flood|2371|The Johnstown Flood|David McCullough|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1313667349s/2371.jpg|1391380] by David McCullough.
toner1014's review against another edition
2.0
This book was meh, as my young adults might say. Overly flowery and yet still not well-written, it offers no new insights into the Flood. Read David McCullough’s book instead.
natchgreyes's review against another edition
2.0
Here's what Gary Provost wrote about writing -
“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”
This is how this book is written -
"In the spring of 1889, when an event whose only comparisons were biblical descriptions of the awful Last Day of Judgment came rushing into Johnstown, few people in the valley knew for certain who belonged to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the private retreat up on the mountain, with its marvelous, sparkling artificial lake. Almost all of the club's members lived in Pittsburgh, not Johnstown, and they weren't the kind of men who wanted their private affairs bandied about for all to see."
Whew! It's a long series of paragraphs of run-on sentences. And, what's more, they're repetitive. For example, one section reads -
"Yet those even those human alterations of nature, with so many unintended consequences, don't give us the ultimate cause of the sudden, horrific loss of life, and the stunning loss of so much else nature and human-made, that occurred so fast when the towering monster that became the Great Johnstown Flood was unleashed.
[New paragraph w/short sentence] Nothing like that horror would have occurred had the dam at the South Fork Creek...not let go, all at once...
[New paragraph beginning] Had the dam up on the mountain not broken..."
Ugh.
This could have been a really great book. The premise is interesting - a flood of biblical proportions which wiped out a town and saw the formation of the Red Cross as a consequence - but the run-on sentences and repetitive writing is just exhausting.
More nitpicky is the way the book frames the characters. It's very antiseptic. For example, one of the first characters introduced is Gertrude, the mischevious 6-year daughter of James Quinn, a wealthy dry goods proprietor and one of the few people in town worried about the dam's collapse. In describing her background and lead-up to the flood, the author introduces elements of first person - for instance, calling her father "papa" - but leaving the story third person and focusing on the relationships between her and her family members from a very outsider perspective. It feels more like a news report about some people affected by the flood instead of a living, breathing story about their experiences. I can't fault the author for that. He is a news reporter by training. But, it makes the story less engaging.
Overall, this wasn't really a book for me.
“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”
This is how this book is written -
"In the spring of 1889, when an event whose only comparisons were biblical descriptions of the awful Last Day of Judgment came rushing into Johnstown, few people in the valley knew for certain who belonged to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the private retreat up on the mountain, with its marvelous, sparkling artificial lake. Almost all of the club's members lived in Pittsburgh, not Johnstown, and they weren't the kind of men who wanted their private affairs bandied about for all to see."
Whew! It's a long series of paragraphs of run-on sentences. And, what's more, they're repetitive. For example, one section reads -
"Yet those even those human alterations of nature, with so many unintended consequences, don't give us the ultimate cause of the sudden, horrific loss of life, and the stunning loss of so much else nature and human-made, that occurred so fast when the towering monster that became the Great Johnstown Flood was unleashed.
[New paragraph w/short sentence] Nothing like that horror would have occurred had the dam at the South Fork Creek...not let go, all at once...
[New paragraph beginning] Had the dam up on the mountain not broken..."
Ugh.
This could have been a really great book. The premise is interesting - a flood of biblical proportions which wiped out a town and saw the formation of the Red Cross as a consequence - but the run-on sentences and repetitive writing is just exhausting.
More nitpicky is the way the book frames the characters. It's very antiseptic. For example, one of the first characters introduced is Gertrude, the mischevious 6-year daughter of James Quinn, a wealthy dry goods proprietor and one of the few people in town worried about the dam's collapse. In describing her background and lead-up to the flood, the author introduces elements of first person - for instance, calling her father "papa" - but leaving the story third person and focusing on the relationships between her and her family members from a very outsider perspective. It feels more like a news report about some people affected by the flood instead of a living, breathing story about their experiences. I can't fault the author for that. He is a news reporter by training. But, it makes the story less engaging.
Overall, this wasn't really a book for me.
deliriousofi's review against another edition
5.0
The first book published about the Johnstown flood in decades. Well researched, well written and highly engaging. Even if you've already read Davd McCullough's book, which was originally published in 1968, this is so worth a read. Drawing from many more sources and told from the perspective of multiple survivors, this is a wonderfully accessible book for any reader. The author doesn't just focus on the disaster itself, but weaves a rich three dimensional tapestry of how and why it happened in the first place and what the consequences were for the whole nation. The context is key and it is presented well.
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