Eruption
Ratings2
Average rating2.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating2.5
For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, sightseers, and nearby residents listened anxiously to rumblings in Mount St. Helens, part of the chain of western volcanoes fueled by the 700-mile-long Cascadia fault. Still, no one was prepared when an immense eruption took the top off of the mountain and laid waste to hundreds of square miles of verdant forests in southwestern Washington State. The eruption was one of the largest in human history, deposited ash in eleven U.S. states and five Canadian providences, and caused more than one billion dollars in damage. It killed fifty-seven people, some as far as thirteen miles away from the volcano's summit. Shedding new light on the cataclysm, author Steve Olson interweaves the history and science behind this event with page-turning accounts of what happened to those who lived and those who died.
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Having grown up in the Northwest, I found all the background history to be tedious, and at times, was wondering if it had been lifted straight from Schwantes (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/606039.The_Pacific_Northwest) and Egan (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6452538-the-big-burn?ac=1&from_search=true). I liked learning more about the lives of the folks that perished, but I downright disliked the cold descriptions of their deaths and the factual way the deaths were presented - the facts are not known and we can only speculate, yet the author presented last moments as strict fact and that somehow managed to dehumanize these unlucky people.
As we rolled past the 43rd anniversary of this eruption, I read my first (extended) historical account of it in this book.
Largely, I thought this narrative was useful, informative, and gave insight that we don't hear often.
However, I didn't enjoy the actual writing. About a third of the book is a biography of the Weyerhausers, which is interesting, but feels unwarranted. Surely more of the text could have been used to help us readers get into the head of Governor Ray, who must have been quite a character.
In addition to that over extended or imbalanced attention, we get some tiny details about some of the people who perished that are completely unnecessary or do not propel their story forward.
I say, go ahead and read this. It is worth the few hours.
Wished it had spent more on the people, geology and less on the logging industry. Took 2 hours of audiobook to get to good part.
