Book Disappointment

Don't worry, this is NOT a post about that completely over-hyped "Million Little Pieces" story. Didn't read it, wasn't planning to, don't care.

No, this post is about Simon Winchester's latest book, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906.

His last book, Krakatoa, is one of my absolute favorites. It as actually the book that made me think "hey, I kinda like non-fiction" and got me started on looking for a wide variety of new reading material. Krakatoa is about the volcanic eruption in Indonesia in the 180o's, but it's about so much more than that. Winchester is a geologist by training, and the book starts out with an explanation of the forces at work in the Earth that cause continential drift, the shifting of the plates, and the creation of volcanoes. It may sound like a dry SAT reading comprehension section, but he makes it very interesting and understandable. And, it's only a small part of the book.

Winchester goes on to explain the whole history of Indonesia and Dutch exploration and colonization. He talks about how the development of the colony led to the creation of cities, and how their geographical location made a difference in the impact of the volcano among different groups of people. There is a chapter or so on the history of the telegraph system, and how because Krakatoa occurred soon after the completion of the trans-Pacific telegraph lines, it really became the first global event. People in Japan, New York, and London all learned about the eruption within hours. The book also explores theories about how the eruption and its destruction of the infrastructure led to the creation of Indonesia's current fundamentalist society. This was all fascinating stuff - learning about history and technology through the story of a volcanic eruption.

And that book talked about the volcano, of course. He gave almost a minute-by-minute of what happens when a volcano erups - explodes - and the impact it ahs on the oceans, on the land, and on the wildlife and plant life for thousands of miles. Winchester talks about the cycle of a volcanic land, and how flora and fauna gradually start to come back after an eruption and this delicate but hearty ecosystem develops. It may sound dry, but I promise, it was really interesting and written in a very compelling way.

So, cut to the new book. I was hoping it would be written in the same way. Sure, I expectd some discussion of plate tectonics and the geological causes of earthquakes, but I was hoping to learn about the history of California and a snapshot of San Franciso at the start of the last century. I was hoping it would cover the kinds of change that resulted from the earthquake - cultural, technological, economic, even religious. I would even be interested in learning about the current state of earthquake preparedness in the US.

Well, I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book, and I've had to take a break. I'm pretty disappointed. An overwhelming majority of the book has been focused on geogology, on the science of plate tectonics and the nature of the San Andreas Fault. There's been just a little bit about the California Gold Rush and some history of other places in the US that have suffered devastating earthquakes, but it has not balanced out all of the ancient geology he talks about. Most of his discussion of current issues still focuses on the science of geology and new theories about continental drift.

I'm not totally giving up on the book yet - I'm still hoping that the final chapters of the book will cover more wide-ranging topics, looking at the story of the earthquake from different angles. I really want to like this book, since I loved Krakatoa so much. If any of this sounds interesting, I do strongly recommend it. I'll let you know how the new one turns out.

Any new books you have to recommend?