Reviews

After Disasters by Viet Dinh

cseibs's review against another edition

2.0

Too episodic, the story needed to be more invested in one or two of the story lines instead of being spread so thinly across multiple narrators. It almost felt like Andy and Ted's story but then everyone else became distracting and out of place. It also felt a little too hero-complex-ish. There was no perspective of those living in the disaster, only those doing the "rescuing", which seemed like a big omission.

jbzar's review against another edition

2.0

I thought this book would offer a series of interesting portrayals of the trials and tribulations that people suffer dealing with the aftermath of disasters. What I didn't expect was for it to be a series of stories about the trials and tribulations of gay people who happen to be among those contending with the aftermath of disasters. The latter element didn't really come out until about half way in to the book but it dominated from there forward. And it strayed far away from anything having to do with natural or man-made disasters. That might work for some people but it didn't work for me. And I don't mind saying that because it is what it is.

manaledi's review against another edition

4.0

I put off reading this because I expected it to be depressing, just from the title alone. It's not, however, and there's a lot of depth and personal stories and philosophical/moral/ethical debates about aid and disaster relief (although they don't hit you over the head with it). Certain parts were iffy and choppy though, particularly near the end.

clarbineds's review against another edition

5.0

Well deserved awards for this book. It read like non-fiction.

emilyhathcock's review against another edition

3.0

I first saw this as part of my KindleFirst - but thought it sounded like a better fit for an audio book, and I'm glad I went that way. The narrator was superb. Misses for me included a rushed ending and several slow parts where the writing gets a bit too loose and the switches between timelines gets a bit rocky.

mazza57's review against another edition

1.0

This book was all over the place backwards and forward in time, mixing stories left right and centre. It was too difficult to keep a real hold on what was going on and ended up saying nothing of real value. I think the author was striving for credence and failed miserably

dhnewman's review against another edition

3.0

There's overlapping stories at work here that Dinh manages to pull together. The epilogue took a lot of the punch away for me, but before that there's a couple of chapters that are absolutely superb captures of grief and shock. One includes a litany of questions that is dizzying in its continual stream of emotional wallops. But getting there is a little uneven and disjointed. Rather than allowing each character the range and development they deserve, there is some lack of depth that doesn't quite work to build interest and rather frustrates. Taken as a series of individual stories, these would be lovely and make the moments of occlusion work. As a cohesive story, it takes itself a bit too seriously and doesn't build up quite the way it should.

jengiraffe5's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

heidirgreen's review against another edition

1.0

Couldn't get past the first few chapters - hard to follow with very little structure.

gnull's review against another edition

1.0

This was a Kindle First book. I gave it a good chance, read more than halfway. I kept waiting for a story to begin, a plot to develop, a notion that we were going somewhere, but it didn't happen by then so I allowed myself to give up.
After Disasters earned one star from me because it revealed a wealth of information about the inner workings of global relief. Very compelling in itself. The story line jumped back and forth in time, but was not too difficult to follow.
I thought it was going to be an adventure type book, but finally gave up when I realized it was becoming another vehicle for advancing the homosexual lifestyle as normal and healthy. If that doesn't bother you, and if plot structure isn't important to you, then you'll probably really enjoy the read.
I would very much like to know how it ends, but my reading time is limited.