Avalanche!

by Joseph Wechsberg

Relates the circumstances of a deadly avalanche in Blons, Austria, in 1954.

Genres: Nonfiction

253 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[C.S. Boag · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just doesn't work. A pity considering the effort that went into it. The book deals with two avalanches that hit the Austrian Alps township of Blons on January 11, 1954. A lot if people died. A lot of research went into this book.
An avalanche has momentum. This book doesn't. Time and again the narrative is so a useless bit of information can be inserted. The tense shifts between present and past. We toggle backwards and forwards in time. It is horribly confusing.
So there's information on how avalanches are formed; different avalanches; what can happen in an avalanche; etcetera. So much information, in fact that the story is lost.
What would it have been in the hands of a real writer! "There was no dawn in Blons in January. Eugene looked out into darkness..." That is one way it could have started- and then take from there, building up momentum that carries the reader along with it.
As it is, the reader finds himself begging for a huge rush of snow to put him out of his misery. 1/5

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this an interesting read on the devastating effects of the 1954 avalanche on the small community of Blons in the Austrian Alps. The books also relates the warning systems and search and rescue techniques of the day.