Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami by Gretel Ehrlich

Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami Reviews

• 
  Chrissie

  Too episodic for my tastes. The author travels in Japan after the earthquake / tsunami / and nuclear power melt down in 2011. Each chapter is a short little episode, many quite varied in character. There are blog entries, scientific facts about the melt down, criticism of government policies and travel notes. The best parts are poetically written; they relate how particular individuals experienced the waves, the fear, the typhoon.
  
  Sumalee Montano, with her Japanese accent, gave a delightful rendering of the lines. Very good narration in fact.
  
  But the writing was too splotchy.
• 
  Judy

  I can't imagine trying to understand the Japanese earthquake/tsunami disaster of 3/11/11 without reading this book. The short, episodic chapters recount the author's visit to the area after the disaster and her encounters with survivors and their stories. She narrates her growing understanding of how the larger picture of radiation contamination and the ecological disaster continues to affect the people, the land and the future. It was a very sobering, personal look at an event I can't even begin to imagine facing.
  
  The theme of fear, and facing fear, is a strong line of thought throughout the book. I was struck by her emphasis on talking to the fishermen who survived the tsunami wave by running to their boats as soon as the earthquake happened, getting into their boats and rushing *into* the oncoming wave. By facing that wave, that fearsome wall of deadly water, their boats were carried over the crest and behind the wall of water that slammed into the coast, destroying everything familiar about their lives on land. I found it an apt metaphor on facing fear in life and how meeting fear head on is almost always the way through it.
  
  I was easily fascinated by many of the Japanese art, history and cultural references that the author included. Buddhist tradition and Shinto religious practice were incorporated into the narrative of disaster recovery and radiation exposure, and 17th-century haiku and other Japanese poetry became relevant to the present day survivors and historians. It is a rich source of further reading and research about Japan.
• 
  Kasey Jueds

  I've been a fan of Gretel Ehrlich for such a long time. Her deep sense of ethics. Her courage, both intellectual (she is unafraid to swerve away from straight narrative, from facts, and so all of her books are a--to me--magical blend of the reportorial, the descriptive, and the lyric) and physical (she spent months researching this particular book in Japan, where she was exposed to high levels of radiation, continuing earthquakes, a typhoon). Her tremendous and palpable passion for the natural world. Her very Buddhist desire to question and probe and explore. So I loved this book, which taught me more (intellectually and heartfully) about the tsunami and its aftermath than anything else I've read.
• 
  Becca

  I truly hated this book. Due to my unfortunate personality, I always have to finish books even when I hate them, so this took me forever to read. Although the writing was nice, this was entirely not Ehrlich's story to tell. It would be one thing if she acknowledged this fact, but instead she mentioned it only once and never brought it back to the reader's attention. She's almost co-opting someone else's trauma just to talk about herself. No thank you.
• 
  Joshua Buhs

  Doesn't quite cohere.
  
  In so many ways, this book is pitched at me. It is told in a fragmented, impressionistic style, with unexpected jumps. The author has a poetic voice. She starts from a single events and meditates on big questions.
  
  The subject is close to me. It is about the tsunami that hit northern Japan in 2011, the one that melted down the nuclear reactor that still leaks radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. I lived in northern Japan for three years, from 2003-2006.
  
  So, I really wanted to like it. But it just swerves out of that sweet spot. The book never quite comes together.
  
  The book is told after the events of that day in March. The author, an American from Wyoming with connections to Japan dating back to the late 1960s and an interest in Japanese Buddhism, goes to visit the afflicted region in June and September of that year.
  
  But her investigation seems not just random, but ad hoc to such an extreme that neither the day nor the after effects ever become really clear. Indeed, many of the various people she meets never seem fully limned.
  
  There are a couple of intense and interesting stories--stories she hunts down because of news reports, one about a fisherman, another about the last Geisha in one region. Even so, these always seem like stories.
  
  The language, rather than illuminating, feels affected. It distances and makes understanding difficult.
  
  No one expects a book to answer the question of Theodicy, but ruminations on such horrific events should lead to something. Instead, it feels as though Ehrlich asks (obvious) questions, but doesn't really do anything with them. There are hints about the fatalism inherent in Buddhism but this is at odds with the extreme emotions experienced by those who suffered and continue to suffer.
  
  Similarly, she plays around--linguistically--with the spreading radiation, trying to make the scientific language into something more pointed, but the repeated references to the radiation don't really add up to much; she never fully develops the comparison she tries to draw with those effected by the dropping of the atomic bombs in World War II, just leaving the suggestion dangling.
  
  I really wish I liked this more.
• 
  Emily C. C.

  Fascinating reportage, if a little more flowery than I necessarily needed. Still very beautiful and sad.
• 
  Linda Lipko

  This is a series of stories regarding some of those impacted by the March 2011 triple devastation in Japan. First the 9.0 earth quake, following by a 35-30 ft. tsunami, which then led to the devastation of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
  
  The author is a journalist who interviewed those who survived and lost family members, fishermen whose livelyhood was wiped out, never to be restored. In addition, the author focused on the spirituality of the nation and interviewed monks and those who had the gift of helping "ghosts" pass on to the new life.
  
  There were so many stories of devastation that after reading more and more tales, it grew to be depressing. Yet, how can a nation help but be depressed when so much occurred. There are many stories of those still seeking their loved ones whose bodies were smashed against the mountain or any structure that happened to be in the way.
  
  I was very bothered by the fact that those in charge of the nuclear power plant, did the same thing that happened at Chernobly in the Ukraine -- they lied and covered up the fact that there were many problems with the plant before the tsunami hit, including the fact that the ruptured pipes were reported two years before as being vastly unstable. It was all too easy for authorities to blame the earthquake and tsunami for all of the problems. When the reactor core overheated, nuclear debris floated out to ocean, and also contaminated many. Seven years later and still it is difficult to know how many will develop cancer as a result.
  
  There were 54 nuclear power plants in Japan at the time of the disaster. It is difficult to understand that a country experiencing daily earthquakes decided to build power plants, some, such as the Fukushima Daiichi plant, were close to epicenters.
  
  The writing style was difficult to follow. Like the areas she visited, there was simply too much to describe. I would have liked a more cohesive story.
• 
  Eric

  I was never quite sure of what might have been the author's organizing principle behind writing the book, although even as almost segmented parts it was a powerful agglomeration of those segments - I suppose mostly held together by the descriptions of destruction. One hears bits and pieces of the radiation damage and levels, but no tie-in to what that may have done, or is still doing to the fishing trade, for example. I suspect historians will view Ehrlich's work with favor should they ever dig deep into all of what happened. This is clearly a good place to start.
• 
  Michael

  Japan is the only country in the world to have felt the wrath of a nuclear weapon. Within the space of three days, it experienced this twice. Sixty-six years later, Japan suffered an earthquake and tsunami that, combined, was 8,000 times more powerful that the atomic bombs dropped in 1945. With the waters of the Pacific Ocean still soaking Japanese soil contaminated by radiation, Gretel Ehrlich writes of the people who survived.
  
  There's a romanticism we tend to associate with the Japanese. Perhaps it's because of their long history, borne of honor and battle. Ehrlich (described as "a passionate student of Japanese poetry, theater and art" in the blurb) dives into this headfirst, hauntingly describing the ravaged Sendai landscape and Japanese mentality, stripped bare by the triple punch of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
  
  Sometimes that poetry borders on the surreal, and maybe there's no better way to talk about the tsunami. Livelihoods literally washed away. Families literally torn apart. Ancestral homes literally broken into pieces.
  
  Sometimes, however, the dreamy nature of Ehrlich's observations is difficult to follow. Perhaps we become numb to the seemingly endless tales of loss, death and survival. Each is a good story, to be sure, but there's only so much we can take before one account of the earthquake and tsunami blends into another.
  
  But there's so much more to *Facing the Wave* than a simple list of interviews with people who watched everything they knew destroyed. There are stories of hope and frustration; stories of people who had to learn to start living again, stories of people who didn't want to live anymore. There are stories of people who were never found, and stories of people who will probably never stop looking.
  
  *Facing the Wave* isn't a point-by-point story of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake; but it's a fascinating and thought-provoking, if occasionally (and perhaps intentionally) unfocused, look at a uniquely Japanese series of reactions to what might be a uniquely Japanese disaster.
• 
  Sara

  What an exquisite book! This is the rare book that I will read over and over because there is so much content, and so much to absorb. You could read it for the information, the writing, the philosophy, etc.
  
  When I first picked it up I was a little afraid, and had some thoughts about whether "Disaster Lit" was a genre I really wanted to engage with. But, as a dedicated Japanophile, I always read anything about Japan, and though there have been some accounts of the tsunami, they have mostly been hastily and sloppily written. Ehrlich's book is the antidote to that. The writer both knows Japan and how to write. I had not read her books, and I'm not much of a nature reader, but this is simply lovely. It also includes a lot of information that I had not heard, or had not thought about in the wake of the tsunami. Highly recommended.
• 
  Laurie Neighbors

  Excellent observatonal reporting, but I was expecting more substantive reflection from Gretal Ehrlich. The account is largely oral history -- which is valuable, but still needs a more substantive scaffolding in order to feel coherent. The chapters that were solely reflective were the briefest, but also the ones I that satisfied the most.
• 
  Patricia

  Horrifying images from the news still haunt me, so I wasn't sure if I could read this. But as well as revisiting grief and loss with compassion, this is a hopeful and lyrical book about how to keep living.
• 
  Ariel

  The writing style was almost more poetic than anything else, but still did a good job of conveying the horror and sorrow of the tsunami and how it affected the people.
• 
  Leanne

  I’d really like to read more by this writer. She writes like a poet, each sentence each crafted to perfection. As others have stated it’s episodic, and it’s really either a collection of personal essays or a kind of memoir. I would say unfortunately it doesn’t work so well for this topic. Or to put it a different way when you have 20,000 deaths with three major disasters I think you have to tread carefully. First, there were possible inaccuracies throughout the book, related both to science and the author's less than ideal grasp of Japanese language and culture. I think it probably should’ve been checked by a nuclear scientist regarding meltdowns and shockwaves and an astronomer on the tilt of the earth. Her statements ranged from hyperbolic to wrong. I could not find at a glance experts acknowledged at the end--and that would have helped a lot. Likewise, she has studied Tibetan Buddhism but I’m not sure about the etymology of the term Bardo that she mentioned, maybe others will be able to track it down. I guess what I’m saying is her writing is stunning-- but I found her to be a very unreliable narrator.
  
  For those interested in learning about the triple disaster I recommend the following. The ghost of tsunami was the actual best book hands-down I have read on the disaster but that had a strong focus on that tsunami not the nuclear meltdown. Facing the Wave was a case where the book might’ve been written a little bit too soon, without enough research --and maybe even lacking a little bit and respect which is how I felt hearing her driving all around these disaster zones.
  
  The book was flawed and yet--what a writer!
• 
  awesomesue

  BThe book showed personal struggles of luck, hope, loss, hopelessness, sadness, determination, and return to day to day living. It teetered with stories of resilience and stories of lasting fear.
  
  The first hand accounts from various people help provide some insight of individual strength and the culture.
  
  Some stories include some frustrations in regards to some officials and general distrust. However many stories include the hope and unity that can be found when people selflessly help those around them. The gratitude felt from a neighbor sharing a fresh vegetable to those that received aid from outside their country, such as a simple quilt, left a feeling of appreciation for the basics all desire in life.
  
  I love the balance between the authors observations and the stories shared in the survivors own words.
• 
  Maria

  Ehrlich returned to Japan immediately after teh 2011 Tsunami and spent time in and around the disaster zone.
  
  Why I started this book:
  Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan’s Disaster Zone is one of my favorite books for understanding Japanese mindset and bureaucracy. So I was eager to read a new book about the 2011 Tsunami.
  
  Why I finished it: Fascinating to hear new stories of the same tragic event... as Ehrlich traveled around the disaster zone and interviewed and helped survivors and those helping the survivors. Also, I love the cover that is both a wave and a close up view of Honshu island's coast.
• 
  Cindy

  Powerful, overlapping vignettes of life (and death) in Japan following the earthquake and its subsequent tsunami and nuclear disaster. Stories of those who move away and those who stay to rebuild; those who search tirelessly for the dead and those who tire of the struggle and take their own lives. A new perspective on sharing local traditions from an affected town’s last Geisha. Some things I had forgotten (the contaminated baby formula deemed safe by the government) or never knew (the animals left to die, the wholesale slaughter of those that didn’t, and the animal rescue groups’ attempts to intervene).
• 
  Heathers

  Such a story of devastation & loss...immediate and gradual. The tsunami following the earthquake took so many lives and broke others. The take-away from the book was how so many live with both grief and happiness...woven together and cradled gently by loving yet scarred hands. The Buddhist concept of suffering was painted onto each page by those who lost everything but travelled miles to plant flowers on their former home sites, to cite one example. So many souls leaving their lands permanently for the first time in generations....It reminds us of the beauty in suffering as it offers us the glimpse of hope through embracing the will and determination to live.
• 
  marcia

  Without dramatic expressions of disaster, Gretel Ehrlich takes us to the sites of the tsunami and the personal accounts of those who experienced the quake and the wave.
  I learned many new things that I had never imagined could result from the disaster.
  Some stories were heartbreakingly sad and some were uplifting with happier endings but even those had unbelievable hardships.
  Intertwined were cultural aspects of the people. The ghosts for example. As she traveled more than once to Japan she explained the political influences and control of the government in the wake of the tragedy immediately after and long after.
• 
  Dayna

  This was not as immersive and enthralling as “This Cold Heaven”. I do still enjoy her writing but this didn’t leave me daydreaming about the place (Japan) as TCH did about ice & ocean & cold & Greenland. Perhaps it was the choppier cadence of this book that didn’t lead to my being mesmerized. Nonetheless, I did get a more in-depth idea of what the Japanese endured after the 3/11 quake, which was followed soon after by a typhoon. Not to mention the nuclear meltdown and the cold and snow immediately after. I also got a sense of the widespread belief in ghosts, and how they can attach to someone.
• 
  Lecy Beth

  Gretel Ehrlich visits to the Tohoku coast to document personal accounts after the great earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 and how it changed lives. The stories are tragic and heartbreaking but what is overwhelmingly apparent is how resilient the survivors are.
  
  The book is wonderful but the audiobook narrator's monotonous voice didn't convey the power of the events shared within, so perhaps stick with the physical/ebook if you should read.
• 
  Johnny

  I really enjoyed this book. After the shocking videos of the 3/11 Tsunami in Japan the author travelled the region and writes about the people. It was just as shocking and I really appreciated how she describes how people were dealing with such an awful, random event. I see/read the news about the latest catastrophe but this book lingers and actually tries to make connections with survivors after all news vans have left the scene.
• 
  Dawn

  ms ehrlichs books are such accessible works of art. she never minces words or hides from pain, but the result is always open, poetic even. i loved this book because i experienced more than the requsite horror and devastation -- i also experienced the japanese people and culture. the only piece i couldnt handle was the chapter on animals. but thats my failing not hers. big 5 stars. wish i could tell her in person.
• 
  Marley

  Didn't like this as much as I would have hoped. Maybe because it was village/town after town/village and it seems mired down by logistics when the stories should have been the focus instead of the writer's experiences. Because the author is relating stories, spun often with an almost displacement of emotions, I found it a little distant. Plus all the poetry got on my nerves.