NPR – “It also tells stories that, while massive in scope in their own right, were drowned out by the enormity of the day. I had never fully appreciated how large the marine evacuation of lower Manhattan was, and how the water taxis, Coast Guard ships and private boats rivaled World War II’s Dunkirk evacuation in their sheer numbers. The same goes for the effort to land every airplane in the United States on short notice, and what it was like for passengers in non-hijacked planes to learn about the attacks midflight, or to suddenly find themselves stranded in Newfoundland.”
I picked this book up from the library the other day. I heard of it somewhere as being a good book. I stood there debating with myself about reading it. I was positive it would be worth reading. I also knew it would be hard to read. I took it off the shelf and took a look at the cover. I felt goosebumps. They started slowly and gradually consumed me. I stood there for about 15 seconds and took in the feeling. I describe it as the 9/11 feeling. It is that feeling I get when I don’t want to think about the specifics of 9/11 and then give in and reflect.
The first two chapters have been good. The trivial details of the day that people remember set the tone for the calm before the attack. The memories of the last time seeing a loved one and what was said are sentences that are simple statements. They are statements that make me put the book down and look at the cover again. The physical book seems to take on a meaning of it’s own.
The Blaney Philosophy 