A Paradise Built in Hell
By Rebecca Solnit
Reviewed by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it HSO Contributor
Solnit sets out to prove a seemingly impossible thesis: that within disasters can be found elements of joy and freedom, elements that come about because of the disaster. "Disasters are, most basically, terrible, tragic, grievous, and no matter what the positive side effects and possibilities they produce, they are not to be desired... Horrible in itself, disaster is sometimes a back door into paradise, the paradise at least in which we are who we hope to be, do the work we desire, and are each our sister's and brother's keeper." Her exploration and investigation into the nature of disaster and our reaction to it is, for the most part, interesting and informative, and her conclusions, which sometimes stray further afield than they should, are intriguing. For the most part, she proves her point. Not an easy task.
Solnit concentrates on five major disasters: the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco; the Halifax explosion in 1917; the 1985 Mexico City earthquake; the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks and Hurricane Katrina. Other disasters mined for material are the London Blitz, earthquakes in Chile and Argentina, Chernobyl, a Nicaraguan earthquake and a volcano eruption in Iceland.
Solnit first became aware of what would become her primary thesis when she was in Halifax, Nova Scotia in October 2003, soon after a hurricane hit that city. She was being shown around the disaster site by a man who had survived the hurricane. "He spoke of the few days when everything was disrupted, and he lit up with happiness as he did so." The man went on to say, "There was no electricity, all the stores were closed, no one had access to media. The consequence was that everyone poured out into the street to bear witness. Not quite a street party, but everyone out at once -- it was a sense of happiness to see everybody even though we didn't know each other." She began to accumulate other such stories: a group of strangers trapped in a diner for days in a terrible fog who became lifelong friends and her own experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area, Loma Prieta earthquake, among them. Making these connections, she set to work looking for solid evidence of this unusual phenomena: the joy of disasters.
Three thousand people died in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. In the immediate aftermath, those who survived began helping those who were now homeless. Huge street kitchens were organized, feeding thousands. Local businesses donated anything that would be of use: food, utensils, cooking gear. But after days of this almost anarchic freedom, control of the situation was wrested back into the hands of higher officials. The army was called in to 'restore order,' sometimes using brutal methods. Solnit found this to be a consistent pattern. In general, the ordinary civilian is the first to react, to help rescue the trapped, come to the aid of the injured and then tend to the needs of survivors. After a few days, the authorities move in a take control, even when things are going well. In the case of San Francisco, the results were devastating. The firemen and soldiers who attempted to stop the fires that sprung up after the quake (many of which were being successfully fought by citizens) were not only ineffective but by employing dangerous strategies caused far larger fires, adding hundreds, probably thousands, of new deaths and loss of much of the city.
This reaction by civic authorities -- to take over what citizens were already effectively doing, and in many cases then doing a worse job -- was consistent in nearly all the disasters the author researched. Other findings were equally troubling.
The media often see society disintegrating into chaos after a disaster, even when it isn't happening. (Think Katrina.) In reality, people almost always ban together and peacefully co-operate. In another review on these pages, The True Golden Hour, the authors also found this to be true.
During WWII, authorities predicted the results of intense civilian bombing would be, "a mass outbreak of hysterical neuroses among the civilian population." This was certainly not the case with the London Blitz, or even in Germany whose civilians were also subjected to horrific bombings, "People in the heavily bombed cities had significantly higher morale than people in the lightly bombed cities."
The Terrorist attacks of 9/11 were further proof of Solnit's conclusions concerning the power of the individual and volunteer groups in a disaster. After the towers came down and people needed to be evacuated, a spontaneous armada of civilian boats, along with the Coast Guard, evacuated more than three hundred thousand people, a number far larger than those who were saved at Dunkirk during the Second World War. She goes on to write about the countless numbers of regular citizens who banded together to supply aid to victims of the disaster in the immediate aftermath and then to the men and women who worked Ground Zero as the cleanup of the site commenced.
The most detailed investigation focuses on the tragedy of Katrina. Solnit's reconstruction of that event is riveting and her uncompromising portrayal of Mayor Ray Nagin and Chief of Police Eddie Compass is particularly damning. In another book reviewed here, Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, some of the same points are made, but Solnit backs up her assertions with far more solid evidence.
The book has a few problems: Solnit attempts to expand her thesis into areas of social change and celebration, an attempt that doesn't really work, but on the whole she's done an excellent job proving her many points.
The HSO takeaway: Most disaster professionals now recognize that citizen response team programs are extremely valuable to managers who are part of city and regional governments and that those programs and that training should be encouraged and supported. Solnit's thoughtful, well written and sometimes controversial study will help convince those who have not yet accepted this view and add much needed research to bolster the positions of those who have already learned this important lesson.
Note: The review copy of his book will be sent to the first person who leaves a comment about the review to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This offer extends to the other books that have already been reviewed here.
Allen Appel is a book and media reviewer who lives and works in Washington, DC. He specializes in reviewing thriller fiction and homeland security and terrorism issues. See his literary book blog at The Thriller Guy.
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