May 03, 2011 Hello Quakebook
Put together in a hurry by dozens of pro and amateur writers, translators, and editors shepherded by an unnamed Brit in Kanto, 2:46: Aftershocks (known by its hashtag, quakebook) doesn’t promise an Underground-style meditation on the Great Tohoku Disaster but an aggregation of international gut responses, with 100% of sales revenue going to disaster relief in Japan.
The electronic edition has been available for a couple of weeks now. Here are some of the popular highlights so far:
“The news was becoming less objective and more sensationalistic. I started to rely more on Facebook and Twitter than any media source. The foreign press sickened me. They were playing up stories of fleeing foreigners that drew attention away from the suffering in Fukushima and further north.”
(Highlighted by 6 Kindle users)“The traffic lights in my town went out and a few of the locals took it upon themselves to go out and keep things safe by directing the traffic. A simple gesture. A small gesture. A gesture that wouldn’t have crossed my mind.”
(Highlighted by 5 Kindle users)“To support Japan, what I would say is this: Simply do what you do every day, but do it better. Go to school or to work but with passion and energy. Engage your neighbors or community but with more sympathy and compassion than you ever have. Let these historic moments move you, inspire you and invigorate you for as long as the feeling lasts because, believe me, that initial adrenaline and humanitarian solidarity will wear off. Ride it as long as you can. Let it make you be a better person, and let it wake you up from the complacency in your life.”
(Highlighted by 11 Kindle users)
And my favorite:
“I’ve lived for many years. Night has always turned to day and rain has never failed to cease.”
(Highlighted by 7 Kindle users)
… plus the rest of that paragraph:
“Conditions have greatly improved during this week, and will get even better next week. This is a manifestation of the fighting spirit of someone born in the first decade of the Showa period. We need to stay strong.”