So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the...
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Our book club read The Worst Hard Time and it touched me deeply. I don't always remember our books in detail-we read so many - but this was real life. And it was a situation created by people, not nature. We read it as a sort of companion to Grapes of Wrath - those who left and those who stayed. But The Worst Hard Time isn't fiction and I can hardly grasp the tenacity of those who stayed, of animals and people dying with lungs and stomachs filled with dust, of dirt houses with grubs and bugs in the walls, of dust that floated to Washington DC. The hardship of just living. The impact on the wildlife and in turn, the impact of the wildlife on people. The kindness of people. It's a book I remember and think everyone should read.
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A most readable, fascinating, nonfiction account of the deadliest avalanche in American history. You know the ending, of course, when you start the book; but Krist leads you up to and through the avalanche with such familiarity you feel like you know the people well, and my heart ached for them all. I love to read memoirs, true travel adventures and historical fiction, but I'm not an "academic" and sometimes historical accounts are too dry to keep me interested. No so The White Cascade. My grandmother came to the northwest from Poland in 1910 and I couldn't help but wonder how close her trip from New York to Washington took her to this deadly train trip. It's one of my gift books for several Washington friends this year.
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LM has commented on (2) products.
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
LM, January 8, 2010
Our book club read The Worst Hard Time and it touched me deeply. I don't always remember our books in detail-we read so many - but this was real life. And it was a situation created by people, not nature. We read it as a sort of companion to Grapes of Wrath - those who left and those who stayed. But The Worst Hard Time isn't fiction and I can hardly grasp the tenacity of those who stayed, of animals and people dying with lungs and stomachs filled with dust, of dirt houses with grubs and bugs in the walls, of dust that floated to Washington DC. The hardship of just living. The impact on the wildlife and in turn, the impact of the wildlife on people. The kindness of people. It's a book I remember and think everyone should read.(2 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche by Gary Krist
LM, November 18, 2009
A most readable, fascinating, nonfiction account of the deadliest avalanche in American history. You know the ending, of course, when you start the book; but Krist leads you up to and through the avalanche with such familiarity you feel like you know the people well, and my heart ached for them all. I love to read memoirs, true travel adventures and historical fiction, but I'm not an "academic" and sometimes historical accounts are too dry to keep me interested. No so The White Cascade. My grandmother came to the northwest from Poland in 1910 and I couldn't help but wonder how close her trip from New York to Washington took her to this deadly train trip. It's one of my gift books for several Washington friends this year.