Simon Winchester

[StillILearn]

I understand he's working on a new book about the San Francisco earthquake/fire.

Has anybody here read any of his books?

 

[funes]

I read his book The Professor & The Madman. It was OK, but I thought it was a little on the "fluffy" side for non-fiction. Actually, with all due respect to Mr. Winchester, it read like a very interesting magazine article that had been fleshed out to book length with filler.
I would like to try his book Krakatoa, but am waiting to find it used/remaindered because of the above reaction.

 

[StillILearn]

"A Crack at the Edge of the World" will be available during the first week of October. I have pre-orderd it.

 

[Ronny]

I read and liked the Professor and the Madman, I thought it was a very good look at what it took to put the dictionary together. I had never once even thought of how much work that had to of taken. The personal stories of the creators made it all the more interesting.

 

[funes]

I did find, and read, Winchester's Krakatoa. It was a rather strange experience. Somehow, he managed to write a 400 page book about one of the biggest natural disasters in history in such a way that the actual eruption was anti-climactic. There was a great deal of repetition. The end result was that the book seemed more like a series of lectures bound together and not edited.
All in all, a very mediocre book.

 

[StillILearn]

I did find, and read, Winchester's Krakatoa. It was a rather strange experience. Somehow, he managed to write a 400 page book about one of the biggest natural disasters in history in such a way that the actual eruption was anti-climactic. There was a great deal of repetition. The end result was that the book seemed more like a series of lectures bound together and not edited.
All in all, a very mediocre book.

Well, I can't say that you haven't given him a chance.

As for me, these have all been fascinating subjects that he's chosen to write about, and I enjoy his 'voice'. I'm reading Outposts at present -- not my favorite -- but still interesting to me as it is giving me the opportunity to (briefly and vicariously) range from Antarctica to the Mediterranean. Winchester's dry sense of humor appeals to me, too.

Do you like John McPhee's writing?

(I seem to be incapable of staying on subject -- even my own subject, but I do see a connection of sorts between the two men...)

 

[StillILearn]

I read and liked the Professor and the Madman, I thought it was a very good look at what it took to put the dictionary together. I had never once even thought of how much work that had to of taken. The personal stories of the creators made it all the more interesting.

Here's a link, Ronny, that will give you a peek at some of the other subjects he's tackled. The Professor and the Madman was the first book I read by Winchester, too, and from now on I'll always feel a special affection for the the good old OED.

As a lifelong Californian, I can't wait to see what he does for the San Francisco earthquake/fire.

http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=176

 

[StillILearn]

Somehow, he managed to write a 400 page book about one of the biggest natural disasters in history in such a way that the actual eruption was anti-climactic.

I found this quote by Winchester interesting. Maybe what appeals to me is what appeals to him: we're both trying to figure out how to keep these 'unexpected' catastrophes from sneaking up on us humans?

"I find the science behind major natural events almost more interesting than the way in which those same events wreak their effects on human society. The nature of catastrophe is, after all, reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins, destroys, wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event -- not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics -- then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light."

 

[Ronny]

Here's a link, Ronny, that will give you a peek at some of the other subjects he's tackled. The Professor and the Madman was the first book I read by Winchester, too, and from now on I'll always feel a special affection for the the good old OED.

As a lifelong Californian, I can't wait to see what he does for the San Francisco earthquake/fire.

http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=176

Thanks for the link, I will read more by him, I liked his style of writing and it looks like he's got some interesting subjects. I would like to see what he writes about the quake too, since I have an interest in quakes after a ride/exhibit at Disney

 

[StillILearn]

SF vs NO

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/opinion/08winchester.html?th&emc=th

 

[Ronny]

Great article, thanks. I wonder why they were so much more decisive than we seem now.

 

[funes]

I found this quote by Winchester interesting. Maybe what appeals to me is what appeals to him: we're both trying to figure out how to keep these 'unexpected' catastrophes from sneaking up on us humans?

"I find the science behind major natural events almost more interesting than the way in which those same events wreak their effects on human society. The nature of catastrophe is, after all, reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins, destroys, wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event -- not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics -- then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light."

I think that that is fine, but I think, in Krakatoa, at least, he bludgeons his reader over the head with it. For instance, he must have mentioned the Wallace line four or five times, and in each instance gave an exhaustive list of the various types of flora and fauna to be found on either side. The book, by my own guess, could safely have been 150 pages shorter without leaving out any facts.
I didn't get the feeling of "Maximalist" history as much as the feeling of disorganization.

 

[StillILearn]

funes, I'm remembering now that I never actually finished Krakatoa. We had a family -- well, somebody in my family had a, well -- let me put it this way, life was quite eruptive enough for me at the time, so I never finished reading Krakatoa. My guess is that I only got about half way through it.

When I do get around to polishing off Krakatoa, I wil get back to you and let you know if I agree with your take on the book or not...

 

[funes]

I should add that I have noticed the same phenomenon with other non-fiction writers - that is, that their books read like magazine articles which they have stretched, by way of repetition and unnecessary verbiage, to book length. It's just that Krakatoa was the most recent example.