Hi, hello and glad you're enjoying the book! Floods are scary and I'd say most people have a very underestimating view of just how powerful water can be. Speaking of floods we're about to get like 4 straight days of rain thanks to Miss Debby so hopefully our creek doesn't flood again! I'm gonna go check it out this afternoon and see what it looks like Take care and have a good one!
You are right! And your area recently experienced flooding. I'm curious to know how many viewers are aware that waterjet is used for cutting, like lasers. In my next video I will include the force of the water and the speed. I finished it last night and it was worth the read. I hope you don't get flooding again. My brother is in SC and I asked him about it before it hit and he said he wasn't bothered by it. But I haven't talked to him since it has hit. If the river is flooded again, please do share. It's crazy how different it looks.
McCullough did a very good job of making the topic one of human interest vs a dry recital of death and destruction. Natural disasters (whether depicted in movies or books) aren't generally my favorite topic for consumption, but McCullough makes his book about the *people.* I find your description of the book having the feel of someone's grandfather telling a story to be very apt, possibly because of the way McCullough went about gathering his information (like you said: if you know, you know 🙃). I'm so glad that you and @Eldertalk chose to put on the readalong; I probably would have never sought out a book on this topic on my own. Slightly off-topic, but the Johnstown Flood makes me think of this: have you ever heard of the Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919? I was searching putting Stephen Puleo books on my Libby tbr, when I came upon his book on the topic called "Dark Tide". There apparently isn't a ton written on the topic, and my parents, who spent most of their courtship in that part of Boston, had never heard of the Molasses Flood. I intend on reading that book at some point, and am interested in seeing if Puleo tackles this topic in a simliar way to how McCullough approached the Johnstown Flood.
Yes! I'm in agreement about the book, the way McCullough wrote it and made it interesting and makes the reader care. It's not a book I was in a big hurry to pick up, but with the readalong it seemed easier to consume. And also YES! on the Boston Molasses flood. I know about that because of the Mythbusters show. My son liked their science and since we home educated a lot of it was educational in an interesting way, because they had to find what worked and what didn't work. They did a molasses swim experiment. Wow, that really surprises me that your parents lived in that area of Boston and hadn't heard about it. I'm going to look up the book Dark Tide now. Thank you for sharing.
People continue to place housing in areas where flooding is inevitable. I lived for a while in Worcester in the UK on the River Severn, the longest river in the UK, which frequently flooded and caused millions of pounds of damage. Enjoy the rest of the book.
Yikes! That's scary. I would not want to live near a river. You're right, there are many people who continue to live near a river known for flooding and my husband and I don't get it. "Oh no, my house is destroyed by the river." Ten years later, "Oh no, my house is destroyed by the river." Well, stop building your house by the river. "But I've always lived here." then stop complaining. 🤷♀️ It's similar to people in California who build their homes on sand or cliffs.
I read Al Roker's book on this subject. While it's really well researched, I found the writing difficult in places. Will give this one a try. Thanks for your review.
Hello~ Thank you for dropping in and leaving a comment. I wasn't aware that Al Roker wrote on this subject. I've read six books by David McCullough and I liked each one for different reasons. He makes a seemingly boring topic engaging and is able to make the reader, if not care, then at least interested. This has been my experience anyway. There's a readalong of David McCullough's books, starting in publication order. The Johnstown Flood being read in August/September. It's a really relaxed reading schedule. ~Erion
Good summary and thank you so much for making this video. I think you could post a link in the Voxer "McCullough Readalong" group. There is NO WAY I could read a 200 page book in a day, even if it were entertaining fiction. Well, maybe if it was a graphic novel. So, I'm impressed by your reading speed. I got placed in a speed reading class when I was in high school because I was so slow, but it didn't make any difference for me. Sad, right?
How do I get the link for the Voxer group to include in the description box? (Is it just the URL?) I'll also mention the voxer group in the next McCullough video. No, I don't think that's sad. I think speed reading is over-rated. I think the comprehension of what is read is more important, and then increasing the level of reading, but not the speed of the reading.
@@BookZealots I think if you just mention the name of the Voxer group people who use Voxer will be able to find it. I don't know of any links for Voxer.
I'm glad that I watched this because I had the flood represented in this book confused with the 1927 Mississippi River flood. So now that I understand which flood this book is about I feel like its a book that I would enjoy. Thanks.
Yay! I think the MS River floods quite often and so I understand the confusion. This flood was due to negligance of the maintenance of an earth dam. A series of bad decisions and putting a lot of people in danger. And McCullough was a great writer. I'm so glad to own his books.
@@BookZealots yes. Whole towns. I watched a documentary about it. Some people refused to leave. The water back up because of the dam and made lakes and reservoirs. Chickamauga dam which is where I was raised flooded parts of Soddy, old Harrison and Bakewell. Some towns flooded over were old butler and loyston. There were a lot of areas flooded and people lost their homes. There were pictures of the streets under the water of old Harrison.there were several dams built to Control flooding and to harness electric powers through the tva.
@@user-iz6cc6lz3j-Vickie That is insane. Were there lawsuits? I need to find this documentary. This reminds me of another issue in TN regarding . . . I think it was regarding a coal plant that did some unethical things and the town suffered for it. I'm not sure.
