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Reviews tagging 'Child death'
Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan’s Disaster Zone by Richard Lloyd Parry
24 reviews
ish7's review
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Ghosts of the Tsunami is an examination of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the effects it had on the coastal inhabitants that faced its brunt. At times, it is a tearjerker - there is no way you can read the account of a woman who has lost her children, of men who lost their homes and livelihoods and entire families, of children who lost their schools and friends and family members, without crying. The sad reality that was hidden from us, from the world, is laid bare, and it is difficult to swallow. A tsunami is one of those forces of nature that we cannot do much about other than run. But once you've ran and survived, the story is not over. I hadn't paid much attention to the practicalities of living beyond a disaster. This book brought me face to face with my own ignorance, willful and otherwise.
A drawback, of course, is that the narrator is a white man. We are being explained another culture through his lens. Who knows what has been lost in translation, or mistranslated, or skewed through a Western lens? There were times when I wished I was reading a book by a Japanese journalist, someone from the region perhaps. But maybe those books exist and it is on me to go find them. Notes to self I suppose. Definitely worth the read.
A drawback, of course, is that the narrator is a white man. We are being explained another culture through his lens. Who knows what has been lost in translation, or mistranslated, or skewed through a Western lens? There were times when I wished I was reading a book by a Japanese journalist, someone from the region perhaps. But maybe those books exist and it is on me to go find them. Notes to self I suppose. Definitely worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
jameswilbourn's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
I have loved this book even if it's sometimes really hard and sad.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
tourthebookshelf's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
The contents discuss the 2011 tsunami and specifically the deaths of a large number of children and the effect it had on the local area. It discusses the discovery of multiple bodies throughout but it is not gratuitous imhoatomicwren's review
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
danielle95's review against another edition
emotional
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
ehmannky's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
A really heartbreaking look at the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan, particularly at the decision-making failures at Okawa Elementary School that led to 74 of the students and most of the staff drowning during the tsunami. It’s very sad and well-reported, without being sensationalized.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
kyrki's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
carrie_wallace's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
longstorysteph's review
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.0
This book was a tastefully written account of the 2011 tsunami tragedy in Japan. This book is centered on one particular primary school, which I was not expecting from the description I was given of the book and found very challenging to read. I felt the author respectfully explored loss, grief, and life after tragedy by allowing voices who lived it to be heard. The author also explored how Japanese society as a whole approached tragedy of this scale. Spiritual beliefs were also respectfully explored.
I definitely didn't enjoy this book - it was an exceptionally tough read - but the author has told an important story with grace and empathy, prioritising the voices of those who lived through the tragedy.
I definitely didn't enjoy this book - it was an exceptionally tough read - but the author has told an important story with grace and empathy, prioritising the voices of those who lived through the tragedy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
jhbandcats's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This is probably the most difficult book I've read in recent memory. Its focus is the preventable deaths of dozens of middle school children in the tsunami that followed Japan's huge earthquake on March 11, 2011. Through human error, negligence, and general ineptitude and confusion, seventy-four children were led to a "safe" evacuation spot that was in the direct line of the tsunami. They all had time to seek sanctuary on the nearby low hills behind the school, but none of the children assembled in the schoolyard that afternoon survived. The ones who did were picked up by their parents and driven away to higher ground. Of all the schools in the disaster zone, this was the only one where children died in the tsunami.
This book is based on several years' worth of interviews with survivors, the family and friends of the dead, priests ministering to the irreparably shocked and broken-hearted, and municipal workers. The author puts their anguish on the printed page in a way that's unforgettable. Their stories are so painful that I contemplated quitting the book several times - it was just too hard to read. That said, the book is a well-written, sympathetic analysis of Japanese society and the response to a tragedy that didn't have to happen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail