Scan barcode
wlyn's review against another edition
5.0
This was extremely hard hitting while sensitive to details. A brilliantly written novel - wow
notmignon's review against another edition
2.0
I don't know how to feel about this book. I wanted to like it. The complexities of the rescue workers lives and feelings and reasons for wanting to help people were intriguing. The straight and gay relationships were complex and intriguing. The actual rescues were great. But the book just jumped around so much I couldn't really follow where I was in the story. I would get really in to it for 5 mins and then it would jump again. There was a new story almost every 3 paragraphs.
bwluvs2read's review against another edition
3.0
This book has all the elements of a great story but for some reason they don't quite fit together. I had a difficult time relating to the characters and following Dinh's somewhat disconnected method of storytelling. I think these stories that Dinh is trying to weave together do have something to say about the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of horrific disaster, but it's hard to follow this meaning throughout the story.
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.
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.
mslaura's review against another edition
4.0
Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 3.5
Plot: 4
Characters: 3.5
Emotional impact: 4
Overall rating: 3.75
Writing: 3.5
Plot: 4
Characters: 3.5
Emotional impact: 4
Overall rating: 3.75
ethelkleppinger's review against another edition
2.0
I read this as a Kindle First pick, and it's not my usual type of read (as a disclaimer here). Also a disclaimer: It explores male sexuality and that seemed to bother a lot of the Amazon reviewers.
I think the author bit off more than he could chew. It screamed "I am trying to be a Serious Literary Story!" but it was more meandering and confusing than anything else to me.
The book explores the lives of four men who respond to the 2001 earthquake in India. Their lives become intertwined. That said, it's more of a story about how the men feel about each other and their families; it's all character development with a little bit of plot. The story also jumps ALL over the place in terms of time. Flash back! Flash forward! Flash back! all on the same page.
I found parts of it wildly compelling, such as the descriptions of actual rescues or attempted rescues and the intricacies of politics in post-disaster areas. Other parts were boring and hard to follow (basically all of Piotr's story). One of the main characters had a much smaller part than the other three, and I didn't understand why he was in the book at all. I didn't relate to or care about the characters, either, as they were so utterly detached. It's amazing how much characterization happened and yet it was not interesting.
I wanted to like this book, but I did not.
I think the author bit off more than he could chew. It screamed "I am trying to be a Serious Literary Story!" but it was more meandering and confusing than anything else to me.
The book explores the lives of four men who respond to the 2001 earthquake in India. Their lives become intertwined. That said, it's more of a story about how the men feel about each other and their families; it's all character development with a little bit of plot. The story also jumps ALL over the place in terms of time. Flash back! Flash forward! Flash back! all on the same page.
I found parts of it wildly compelling, such as the descriptions of actual rescues or attempted rescues and the intricacies of politics in post-disaster areas. Other parts were boring and hard to follow (basically all of Piotr's story). One of the main characters had a much smaller part than the other three, and I didn't understand why he was in the book at all. I didn't relate to or care about the characters, either, as they were so utterly detached. It's amazing how much characterization happened and yet it was not interesting.
I wanted to like this book, but I did not.
sshabein's review against another edition
5.0
Best book I've read this year so far. Full of all the best, hard stuff: love, lust, loneliness and longing. Get your mitts on this book.
8little_paws's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting setting, for sure, but maybe it was too many characters, or too many POV changes, that kept this book from really locking in for me. It follows a number of different aid workers in India after a catastrophic earthquake, and also flashes back to a prior time when two of the characters first met.