Immagine dell'autore.
12 opere 1,556 membri 54 recensioni 2 preferito

Sull'Autore

Tom Zoellner is the author of The National Road, Uranium, and Train and the coauthor of the New York Times bestselling An Ordinary Man. He teaches at Chapman University and Dartmouth College and is the politics editor for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Comprende il nome: Tom Zoellner

Fonte dell'immagine: Adam Traum

Opere di Tom Zoellner

Etichette

Informazioni generali

Data di nascita
alive
Sesso
male
Nazionalità
USA
Luogo di residenza
Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Arizona, USA
Attività lavorative
journalist
non-fiction writer
Agente
Brettne Bloom (the Book Group)

Utenti

Recensioni

Engaging and informative on a topic of crucial importance - a top notch book! Zoellner goes to visit mines, enrichment facilities, and waste dumps. This book is about the stuff, the material, uranium as mineral and metal. It's not about nuclear physics. Of course he touches on the nuclear physics, but ... well, I studied physics in school... electromagnetic forces want to tear the nucleus apart, it's the strong force that glues things together... but these little slip-ups are minor noise. I learned a tremendous amount here about where and how uranium has been discovered and dug up etc.… (altro)
 
Segnalato
kukulaj | 10 altre recensioni | Jul 31, 2023 |
This review originally appeared on my blog at www.gimmethatbook.com.

I picked up this book while on vacation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, during a visit to the Railroad Museum of PA. My father was a freight conductor for Penn Central/Conrail for 40 years, and I always loved spending time with him as we visited Waverly Yard in Newark, NJ where he worked. I took unsanctioned rides with him in the engine many times, and we were always given the best treatment when we visited other railroad yards or took touristy train trips out of state. All he had to do was show his union card and we were instant VIPs!

TRAIN is full of tiny bits of information that will make you stop and think. The creation of multiple railways was key to the growth of the United States. Fresh fruit, meat, equipment, and of course, passengers, were able to move effortlessly from one side of the country to another. People were frightened of trains initially, as they were behemoths, making otherworldly sights and sounds as the steam puffed out of their smokestacks, the boilers devoured their coal, and giant pistons pumped up and down, turning the wheels around and around.

When crowds gathered in 1825 to watch the debut of the world’s first real railroad – the Stockton & Darlington of northern Britain – the correspondent from the Morning Herald reported that multiple spectators “fled in affright” from the locomotive and others looked at the train with a “vacant stare” as if in a trance.

I loved this book for all its bits of trivia and history. One of my favorite snippets was the section in the chapter Bound for Glory that noted the multiple songs that have been written either with a train mentioned in the lyrics or having a beat that mimics the hypnotic “click-clack” one hears while on board. Artists such as Kenny Rogers, Berlin, Gladys Knight, Sheena Easton, and Soul Asylum all reference trains in their lyrics. And who can forget the Doobie Brothers classic “Long Train Running”?

Zoellner also goes into detail about how railroads have been running at a deficit for years, what happens when someone commits suicide by train, how Disneyland was created out of the animator’s obsession with trains, and the excruciating monotony during the ride on the Trans-Siberian railway.

The Trans-Siberian is 5,772 miles long and spans eight time zones. As you will find out, it is not the romantic journey that the name invokes. History and literature are cited in the chapter Blood on the Tracks, and it is quite a dark chapter.

The author’s writing style is both simple and grandiose at times, as rarely used words (such as echt or obsequious) pop up where a simpler synonym could be used. This is not a terrible thing. I absolutely love reading books that force me to look up definitions, thus expanding my vocabulary. It is a rare book that does this, as my vocabulary is quite comprehensive, and I thoroughly love adding words to my collection.

Zoellner’s love for trains shines through in every sentence and it’s quite heartwarming for a train lover like me. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this wonderful book during my vacation. The feelings invoked within me were poignant, as my father is no longer with me, and I miss him. TRAIN gave me the opportunity to revisit memories while learning new things about these magnificent machines that we both held very dear.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
kwskultety | 5 altre recensioni | Jul 4, 2023 |
I was drawn to this because The Heartless Stone is one of the best books I've ever read. I couldn't get into it, but I'll try it again later.
 
Segnalato
sashathewild | 10 altre recensioni | Jul 2, 2023 |
Extremely interesting account of the effect of uranium on man and history. Fascinating historical tidbits as well as scary doomsday thoughts.
 
Segnalato
kslade | 10 altre recensioni | Dec 8, 2022 |

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Statistiche

Opere
12
Utenti
1,556
Popolarità
#16,557
Voto
4.1
Recensioni
54
ISBN
73
Lingue
6
Preferito da
2

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