Customer Reviews

A World Turned Over : A Killer Tornado and the Lives It Changed Forever

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I would like to make two comments about this book. Most important, it is powerful, beautiful, and interesting, and is a great example of literary reporting, as well as memoir.
My second comment is to express my anger at the amazingly ill-informed and inaccurate comments made by "a reader from Arlington, Virginia," who saw fit to give the lowest rating possible to a book that, by all appearances, he or she has not even read. The comment that it is "poorly researched" could not be further from the truth, and his condescending suggestion that the author should have made use of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History makes him look like a fool, since that institution was cited as a source of information, as was the Eudora Welty Library. The reviewer is right that the town of "Byram" is not spelled correctly, though his argument is rather deflated in light of the fact that he cannot correctly spell the word "rectified" himself. There are many Jackson natives that would take issue with his assertion that there is not a single live oak tree in Jackson. One of the most amazingly ignorant "criticisms" is that "there were very few eyewitness interviews in the book"-----There were more than twenty. Even more outrageous is the claim that there is "very little on the impact the event had upon the community of South Jackson." (sic)
In reality, this impact is the subject of the ENTIRE BOOK.
It's unfortunate that this person's careless reading was translated into a review. Listen instead to The New York Times, which praised A World Turned Over and called it "lush" and "evocative."

First of all, I am shocked and disappointed to see the error-ridden and ill-thought review of this book from Mr. Rubendall. I wonder if it is even possible that he read the book, and if he did, how he did not "get it." Actually he is right on one count, which is that if you are hoping to read the cliche-filled, formulaic, "straightforward" examples of "disaster books" with which he is so enamored, this book is not for you. If, however, you are interested in a book that powerfully, lyrically, and with great compassion describes a tragedy that has been ongoing in the minds and lives of a group of small-town Americans for more than thirty years, A World Turned Over will not disappoint. It is in the same league as John Hersey's Hiroshima. Highly recommended.

The least discussed facet of grieving in our culture--that you don't get over it, that it doesn't go away, that you carry it to your grave, that those we have lost actually are still with us, is illuminated in this book with shining humanity, truth-drenched prose and rich description. Lorian Hemingway has dug way way way below the surface to pull out deep truths about people, tragedy, loss, renewal and survival and managed to avoid the triumphant ending other authors seem never to have been able to resist. A gripping read which will haunt you long after you've finished it.

I found this book to be fascinating as well as compelling. As a survivor of a terrible tornado that hit Wichita Falls, Texas in 1979, I could relate with the author's quest to find out how the Jackson, Mississippi tornado had impacted the lives of the survivors there. Lorian Hemingway has done a terrific job of presenting a painful subject with grace and compassion.

The least discussed facet of grieving in our culture--that you don't get over it, that it doesn't go away, that you carry it to your grave, that those we have lost actually are still with us, is illuminated in this book with shining humanity, truth-drenched prose and rich description. Lorian Hemingway has dug way way way below the surface to pull out deep truths about people, tragedy, loss, renewal and survival and managed to avoid the triumphant ending other authors seem never to have been able to resist. A gripping read which will haunt you long after you've finished it.

what a great book!!
it can honestly fall under the heading of a nature, factual, small town/people and a suspenseful book.

i loved the way this book bulit up from a small town story to the actual tornado part. you got to know some of the real life people and then the disaster hits. the accounts and lines used to describe the sounds of the tornado were great- "sounded like many frieght trains" and "like a heartbeat".

i learned a lot from this book, but i also "saw" the story unfold in my head like an old black and white movie. (i think i saw it in black and white because of those great "wizard of oz"
refernces)

the writing here and the words used were really what made this a great read. when i first glanced at this book i knew quickly it was something i would buy. what i didnt realize until i got home was the famous last name. at that point i seperated the two.
this hemingway stands on her own! i will go back and get her earlier works.
something though, makes me want to go take another peak at "old man and the sea".

Lorian Hemingway's "A World Turned Over" is beautifully, lushly written. In a dreamer's evocative prose, she tells the story of the severe tornado that struck Jackson, Mississippi, in the spring of 1966, destroying the Candlestick Shopping Center. Hemingway, a girl of 10 at the time, had moved away shortly before the storm came.

More than thirty years later, she returned to there to claim her own memories, and to record the recollections of people whose lives had been forever changed, some by the loss of a family member, some by witnessing sites that burned upon their souls. When they see the sky taking on that peculiar yellow tinge, when they hear the sirens, their bodies respond with pounding hearts, shallow breathing, goosebumps. They react not only to the sight and sounds, but to their own memories.

Suffused with that sense of place which other southern writers also express so well, with the scents, sounds, sights of that region called "home", Hemingway's book will transport you to the Jackson she knew as a child, and to that March afternoon when the familiar world was turned upside down.

This book deserves a wide readership! Highly recommended!

Lorian has done an excellent job of counting the events of the day and how they affected all involved. I was 5 years old and lived on the other side of Jackson when this happened, but I still can remember that day. She has done an excellent job of capturing what it was like in the Candlestick Park area before and after the storm. I know some storm survivors who told stories like she captured. A great story for someone who has an interest in tornadoes, history, or human nature.

The least discussed facet of grieving in our culture--that you don't get over it, that it doesn't go away, that you carry it to your grave, that those we have lost actually are still with us, is illuminated in this book with shining humanity, truth-drenched prose and rich description. Lorian Hemingway has dug way way way below the surface to pull out deep truths about people, tragedy, loss, renewal and survival and managed to avoid the triumphant ending other authors seem never to have been able to resist. A gripping read which will haunt you long after you've finished it.

Hemingway has produced an incredible account of not only what it's like to be in the center of a horrific storm but also what life was like in south Jackson in the 1960s. She makes you feel as if you were there and knew all the principal characters who were living their regular lives when the weather changed everything. Her personal connection to the story is evident throughout her honest, unflinching look at that day in 1966. After reading the book, I have a new respect for and understanding of tornadoes and their effect on their victims. I look forward to reading it a second time to soak it all in again.