Every little earthquake: an "After Disasters" review
I remember being terrified as I learned about natural disasters from The Weather Channel as a young kid. Watching tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes destroy houses and lives all in the blink of an eye was terrifying, and it probably didn't help that these events were accented by dramatic music and narration. I believed that every single time we'd have a severe thunderstorm warning, it would mean death was arriving at my doorstep. I know that isn't true anymore (and I'm always shocked when severe weather seems to fly over where I live and go to school; are we protected by a spirit?), but my heart still breaks when I hear the stories of those who were right in harm's way and got hit hard. It's also shocking to consider how many other disasters exist: those caused by terrorists like 9/11, and those personal that may not be considered as such, the severing of connections with other people and those within ourselves that we attempt as protection. They can shake us up and permanently change the way we handle and look at life, and although they will never have the width of damage that an actual disaster brings, they crush hearts and cause enough pain to warrant impact. I had never heard of After Disasters until I was introduced to it by my Asian American Lit professor for my final project, a website where I'm combining research and reviews of books about experiences from Asian American LGBT+ community members. The flap immediately caught my interest, and I figured it was going to be right up my alley. That ended up being true. Viet Dinh's debut novel is the kind of literary fiction that doesn't click for everyone, but I found myself gravitated to its slow, unwinding prose that delved so fully into its narrators that I felt like I got the chance to know their struggles and their pain. It's well-researched and full of details regarding India's history and the professions of the four main workers, and they surprisingly don't feel out of place among the push and pull of who to save, who to comfort, and who to help. Additionally, its frank discussion of being gay and its associated sexuality, how some may not be comfortable with it, and how others may disagree with that was appreciated because I hadn't read something like that until this book. Despite its slow pace and detail that could get in the way of a concrete plot, Dinh's ability to craft strong characters and paint a portrait of their pasts, their presents, and the eyes to their futures despite their tragedies made this a great read, one I'm going to remember for a long time.
The city of Bhuj, India is hit by a monstrous earthquake in the winter of 2001. Four men are called on the scene to help find survivors and offer aid to those who have nothing. Piotr and Ted are members of America's Disaster Assistance Response Team, in charge of providing food for areas severely impacted by the earthquake. Andy, a British firefighter, is part of a brigade in charge of digging through rubble and finding people trapped within its grip. Dev, an Indian doctor specializing in HIV treatment, is one of many medical personnel dealing with amputations, blood transfusions, and repairs on the bodies of those fortunate to make it out alive...for now. All four come from different backgrounds and express themselves in different ways. Ted is openly gay and anxious, still trying to recover from two failed relationships, the death of one of those former partners, and his work as a pharmaceutical salesman that was selling a drug that helped with HIV, something that same former partner was positive with. Piotr hides behinds his maps marked with route plans in highlighter, even though he's haunted by his wife's nightmares linked to the struggle of getting her out of war-torn Croatia. Andy is only out to one member of his squad in a time when homophobia is rampant, especially by a man named Reg within the group itself, and hiding that part of him and reeling from a death in the family isn't helping his sexual desires and intense drive to rescuing people any more than it hasn't already. And Dev has repressed his sexuality in favor of keeping his appearance aligned to what his culture and profession wants of him at the sake of his own happiness. All four men arrive in Bhuj ready to help out, but along the way, they begin to interact with each other in ways they don't expect. There will be kisses and touches shared, past connections reminisced on, and death. There will also be interactions with the civilians of Bhuj, those who have lost so much and are still losing. How much disaster can one heart take before it implodes? What will it take to create that effect? Dinh's characterization is my favorite part of this novel. What I love about literary fiction aside from its emphasis on figurative language is that it really takes its time exploring the individuals that populate its world. Piotr is the exception to this, and part of that is because Dinh writes him as the distant observer and tactician compared to everyone else's activity. Also, he happens to be the only straight character in this novel populated by three gay protagonists (one of which is very much trying to be as straight-acting as possible). However, Piotr is still very much a full character, trying to move past the anxieties plaguing his past but ultimately failing. He may not be as strong of a presence as those actively dealing with conflict, like Andy and Ted's desire to sacrifice whatever is possible to get the job done and Dev's shame in a life that could have been his if he was brave enough, but he was active even with his lingering in the past because it directly had an impact on his present behavior. Additionally, the jobs these men took up felt so real. I can tell Dinh spent a lot of time researching this to make sure the historical context was accurate and that what the aid workers were involved with made sense. Since I've never been involved with disaster aid, I liked learning about the protocol those in 2001 had to follow. It was also interesting to learn about historical landmarks of India and how the infrastructure of Bhuj accidentally worked against the town's survival in the earthquake. I couldn't help but wonder how Bhuj is doing now, if there are still lingering effects from this earthquake that occurred almost 18 years ago. The immediate impact is apparent, but what about residual impact? What does that look like? That complexity was matched in the relationships these men had as well. Watching their paths intersect was really cool, but to know that some of them had done so before was so unexpected that it had me so excited to uncover more information. Andy and Ted's intimacy that kept on toeing the line, Dev and Ted's differences somehow leading to them working, and Piotr and Ted's quiet work partnership were interesting to read and showed all the different kinds of relationships men are capable of having. Additionally, I loved how Dinh expressed sexuality, particularly with the gay characters. Whether subtly through Andy's naked trust-fall training or Ted noticing the chest hair poking out of Piotr's shirt, or the blunt force of Andy feeling Ted's arousal due to their proximity or Dev and Ted's explosive connection, it was frank and something I've never really read before. But it was greatly appreciated to have that desire on page, to see it in a novel that focused so much on how sometimes our greatest desires can bring us pain (particularly with Dev). They even had such wonderful backstories alongside this that had me absolutely floored. To see some of their lives end in tragedy was painful, but perhaps there's some hope left after it all. I will say that despite only being 265 pages, After Disasters can feel like it's dragging itself out at points. This is especially true with the historical aspects of the narrative. While it was intriguing to learn more about India, its landmarks, and its history, I did feel myself checking out a bit at parts because I really wanted to see the characters interact more. Even the writing assists in that negative, and there were points where I had to reread sentences multiple times to understand what was happening before I continued. However, this novel is still very strong, and I think I'm really starting to like adult literary fiction. Viet Dinh's exploration of the aid worker world, the lives of four different yet similar men, and the absolute tragedy of natural disasters and how they impact the way people see the world is worth the crawl there. I loved the characters, the exploration of their desire and pain, and what happens to those who are in pain that try to help more people in pain. It's good stuff.