24 years ago today, the ‘severe clear’ skies above New York were overwhelmed by ash and smoke, by ignorance and hate. Fall and Rise is a history of that day, one that was good enough to be favorably compared to The Only Plane in the Sky. While the books are alike in being comprehensive histories of the day, Fall and Rise is more of a conventional narrative while Only Plane was oral-history focused. The goal of the book, Zuckoff writes at the beginning, was to make the day come alive for those who had only experienced it as “history”, as ink on a page. To that end, I think it succeeds: though as someone who did experience that day, for whom it was profoundly disturbing and formative, it’s hard for me to say it definitely does. It brought the day back to life for me, though, and its ending — which shows how survivors used the day as motivation to do more good in the world while they could — allows it to be slightly inspirational as well.

Fall and Rise‘s history section unfolds in two parts. The first introduces us to various passengers and air crew: we learn about them as people — their hobbies, their off work responsibilities, their passions, their stresses — and follow them as they rouse themselves and begin heading to work that fateful Tuesday. There’s also a mercifully short section on the cretins who perpetuated it. We follow the passengers and crew all the way until their respective ends, at which point the second section begins. The ground section has a much larger selection of ‘characters’, drawn from WTC workers, first responders, etc. Zuckoff manages the frenzied timelines well, by occasionally doing a zoom-out to remind readers that while this is happening here, this and that are happening there. This helps readers stay abreast of so much action scattered across theaters. It’s also useful to the narrative itself, because things did not happen in a vacuum: while the passengers and crew of American 11 died before anyone knew what was going on, as the hour dragged on information from various sources finally began filtering up to authorities who could put the pieces together. This was what allowed the passengers of United 93 to learn what had happened elsewhere in the US, and resolve to take action, overwhelming their captors and ensuring that at least part of the devil’s work went unaccomplished. The final section is much smaller, but allows the reader to find hope in the darkness — as survivors, or family and friends of victims, share how they have used the tragedy as inspiration to spread goodness in the world.

This was quite a good read: while I still champion Only Plane in the Sky, I can see why someone would prefer this one given the meaningful last section. Its stories of people helping each other out of the towers, or out of the darkness of the burning Pentagon wedge, are inspiring. Remembering the shared horror of 9/11, followed by the unity and resolve of 9/12 is bittersweet this September 11, given the current state of partisan rancor.

Related:
Only Plane in the Sky
The Lives they Saved