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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Absolutely beautiful, painful book.
The description of the book gives most of the content warnings. Don’t pick it up unless you’re prepared to be absolutely wrecked. I could only read it in slow doses.
The book begins with Deraniyagala describing fleeing from the wave, the last moments with her family, and the shock and trauma as she tries to continue to live after the disaster.
Her writing is incredibly powerful. I cried a lot through the book.
I also found myself smiling and laughing some towards the end with her descriptions of her college years with her husband. I don’t know that I’d reread this, but I’m glad I read it.
The description of the book gives most of the content warnings. Don’t pick it up unless you’re prepared to be absolutely wrecked. I could only read it in slow doses.
The book begins with Deraniyagala describing fleeing from the wave, the last moments with her family, and the shock and trauma as she tries to continue to live after the disaster.
Her writing is incredibly powerful. I cried a lot through the book.
I also found myself smiling and laughing some towards the end with her descriptions of her college years with her husband. I don’t know that I’d reread this, but I’m glad I read it.
medium-paced
On December 26, 2004 an earthquake and tsunami hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Sonali and her family: Mother, Father, Husband and two young sons were staying in a hotel when the tsunami hit. She was the only survivor in her family. This memoir was raw and brutal. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I loved the detail, the minute by minute tale.
A woman miraculously survives the 2004 tsunami, but loses the people she loves the most: her young sons, her husband, her parents, and an old dear friend.. This book is about her crawl back to life from grief and trauma. It's heavy, but so very real. Others say its too depressing, but I think it's a miracle the author was able to reclaim a semblance of her life at all. A window into understanding what severe trauma can do to us,
I did not read reviews ahead of time so I didn't know what to expect, which is TBE only reason for the low review. It is well written and a very short book, but really just about the aftermath of losing her family and her grief over the next seven years. I only picked it up because of a book challenge listing topics from the 2000s and this was an event I was not very familiar with. I just finished Five Days at Memorial which was the exact opposite of this -- minute by minute recounting of everything that happened during Hurricane Katrina. Both were tough reads so I think I need something light next.
I loved this book. It was compelling and devastating, in a beautiful and horrific way. I really loved her writing and I devoured it reading it again and again. Sonali is approachable and I love the honest way she approaches the challenging topic of grief. I would recommend this book to almost anyone!
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Honest book about loss and grief - and about the value and importance of enjoying everyday life.
Personal narrative about how author dealt with the devastating loss of husband, two young sons and parents who died in the 2004 tsunami.
Takes you through authors journey in the years following the disaster. Story shows a slow healing - or learning to cope - via support from family, friends and therapist, being in splendor of nature and gradually dealing with homes where there are so many physical reminders of lost family members.
The author does a good job of showing the reality of a loss that is difficult to understand for outsider, and how she dealt with such a loss. She depicts her sons and husband well, conveying the loss to the reader in an intimate way.
What is kind of missing tho, is some type of acknowledgment of how huge a privilege it is to be able to take time off work for extended period, keep a house in London for years that you don’t live in and travel the world for vacations. Having a therapist to help, and not least an extended network of friends, family and neighbors that help and support you.
The tsunami in the Indian ocean killed over 200.000 people - most of the countries that were hit are poor and developing countries. Many of the stories told about victims and survivors are the rich westerners visiting on holiday. Which of course makes sense - these are the people with resources to tell the tale to a larger audience.
But I think it detracted from an otherwise powerful story that author does not acknowledge or discuss, that dealing with loss is both an inner process, but also depends on external support. And that support can make a huge difference in survival, dealing and moving on.
Personal narrative about how author dealt with the devastating loss of husband, two young sons and parents who died in the 2004 tsunami.
Takes you through authors journey in the years following the disaster. Story shows a slow healing - or learning to cope - via support from family, friends and therapist, being in splendor of nature and gradually dealing with homes where there are so many physical reminders of lost family members.
The author does a good job of showing the reality of a loss that is difficult to understand for outsider, and how she dealt with such a loss. She depicts her sons and husband well, conveying the loss to the reader in an intimate way.
What is kind of missing tho, is some type of acknowledgment of how huge a privilege it is to be able to take time off work for extended period, keep a house in London for years that you don’t live in and travel the world for vacations. Having a therapist to help, and not least an extended network of friends, family and neighbors that help and support you.
The tsunami in the Indian ocean killed over 200.000 people - most of the countries that were hit are poor and developing countries. Many of the stories told about victims and survivors are the rich westerners visiting on holiday. Which of course makes sense - these are the people with resources to tell the tale to a larger audience.
But I think it detracted from an otherwise powerful story that author does not acknowledge or discuss, that dealing with loss is both an inner process, but also depends on external support. And that support can make a huge difference in survival, dealing and moving on.