The Big Wave

The Big Wave

Buck, P. S. (1948). The big wave. NY: Harper Trophy.

The Big Wave was an interesting book to read. The story took place on a mountain side in Japan on the edge of the ocean. The author described the setting to be very simple, but integral. One of the main characters lived higher up on the mountain, where his best friend the other main character lived closer to the beach. The small village was struck by a “big wave” a tsunami. The characters and their families deal with what is about to happen and what to do after the Big Wave has struck.

The author’s writing style was very unique for the culture. The way she described the sky, the ocean, the wave, and the volcano was done in such a great way to make the reader feel that they were really inside of this culture. She has the characters describe these elements as if they were people. They were made to be like their own characters within the book. The culture does this in their everyday life though, and I thought it was interesting.

Text to self:
“Where are the Gods at such a time?” Kino asked. “Will they not be mindful of us?”
“There are times when the gods leave man to take care of himself,” his father replied. “They test us, to see how able we are to save ourselves.”
Growing up I went through hurricane Hugo, tornadoes, and a flood. Often I would think “why is this happening to all these people?” Live goes on and it test you to see how you deal with life. After the tragedies, you always appreciate life even more. Sometimes it takes something bad to happen to see the good that we often ignore.