Into the Forbidden Zone: A Trip Through Hell and High Water in Post-Earthquake Japan (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition]

William T. Vollmann (Author)

Book Description

Just weeks after multiple disasters struck Japan, National Book Award winner William T. Vollmann ventures into the nuclear hot zone, outfitted only with rubber kitchen gloves, a cloth facemask, and a capricious radiation detector. He emerges with a haunting report on daily life in a now-ravaged Japan -- a country he has known and loved for many years. And in the cities and towns hit hardest by the earthquake, tsunami, and radioactive contamination, Vollmann finds troubling omens of a future heading toward us all.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Do you think that nuclear power is wise or unwise? When you think about radiation, what comes to mind? How relevant is the nuclear accident to you? So, you approve of nuclear power? These are not questions asked around a water cooler in Anywhere, USA, a safe distance from the eastern coast of Japan, which is experiencing a nuclear disaster of Chernobyl-like proportions. These are questions William T. Vollmann asked a handful of people who were there--who were rocked by the 9-magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011; who managed to survive the tsunami that followed; and who are now dealing with what is probably the most fearsome element in this trifecta of catastrophes--the unknown. Armed with a dosimeter and an anti-nuclear agenda, Vollmann boldly goes where even the most hungry and seasoned journalist would fear to tread, “the forbidden zone.” The answers Vollmann gets may surprise you. Even more surprising, perhaps, is the kindness and enduring spirit of the people he encounters--people still abiding what had seemed like a remote horror that now, yet again, is all too real. --Erin Kodicek

Product Details

• File Size: 739 KB
• Print Length: 61 pages
• Publisher: Byliner; 1 edition (May 1, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004YXB5RG
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,623 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #21 in Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Solo Travel
  • #33 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > The World Stage
  • #44 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Travel > Asia > Japan

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Feels incomplete. May 5, 2011

By Jackie-the-Greyhound TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The focus of this work is more on the nuclear concerns, and the author describes the events of doing some basic radiation research, obtaining a monitoring device, and then traveling to Japan to see and experience the areas approaching the Fukushima Daiichi plant. He stops to interview people--focused more on the ones who suffered a modicum less, but suffered the effects nonetheless. He is assisted in his efforts by and interpreter and several drivers.

The conversations described are interesting, but stop short of being compelling. Mostly because they seem (for the most part) like either superficial interviews or else just snippets of a larger conversation. At the beginning he mentions briefly some of the reactions his interpreter has, but considering how close she is to the situation much more details about HER thoughts as she carries on the interpreting would have been interesting as well.

Unfortunately (and perhaps due to how close to the events this trip happened) though the author is very interested in the radiation aspects he does not get to tell the end of the story. He alludes to the Japanese government's methods of distributing information. He alludes to potential exposure risks at the time as well as in the future. He also keeps trying to compare the events of Fukushima to the results of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Though he appears to attempt to bring this into his interviews, not many of the people he actually interviews seem to see things that way. Also, while focusing on the radiation, he loses the overall sense of what is going on in the lives of the people he is describing.

I would love to read a follow up from him in about a year where he can re-interview people as well as give a more complete answer to the nuclear questions which would turn this from a 3 star read into a 5 star one. If he writes that one, I'll be buying it!

JTG

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Huh? May 31, 2011

By D. Harley

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had a hard time understanding where Vollman was coming from with this essay. After a while I started thinking, 'oh, it's actually a satire on the over-blown fears of nuclear radiation'; a reasonable conclusion after his asking the Nth tsunami victim about his fears over Fukushima, people who are looking for drowned family members in morgues, who are surrounded by homes laid waste in mud and debris. And and all the while Vollman's own radiation monitor is telling him he's not getting much more radiation than what had was getting back at home, and his biggest dose was probably on the flight over.

But no, it seems he's really serious.

It's a satire on _something_, one way or another.

But quite nicely written, and a view of the Japanese under crisis; most admirable, by the way.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Forbidden Zone Falls Short of Expectations May 9, 2011

By William Capodanno VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a disappointing Kindle single for me. I have read three other Kindle Singles and found them all to be top-notch. The subject matter and title immediately caught my attention and given my other Kindle Single experiences, I was ready for another great read.

The beginning was fairly engaging and Vollman's experience getting a dossimeter to measure radiation exposure when he got to Japan whet my appetite for the remainder of the story. However, I found the rest of the read rather disjointed and lacking real purpose or coherence. There were a range of interview snippets from various individuals once he got to Sendai and the earthquake zone, but nothing that grabbed me emotionally the way other great journalism on this tragedy has done. Furthermore, the question of nuclear power and particularly the fact that Japan had to suffer through this given the legacy and impact of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was never fully realized by Vollman.

In the end, this had far too many valleys over the course of the piece with just a few bright spots. At some point in the near future, someone will provide a more comprehensive historical account, similar to Douglas Brinkley's account of Hurrican Katrina. Until then, hold off on this as it does little to other existing and shorter form journalism pieces in places like the NYT, New Yorker, etc.

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