Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“This is the story of Isaac and his time in America, the last turning of the centuries, when the hubris of men led them to believe they could disregard even nature itself.”
Isaac’s Storm is about the deadly hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas in 1900. It recounts the days leading up to it and the aftermath. It adds in a bunch of accounts from people but focuses on Isaac Cline, who was the resident meteorologist in the city. The storm hit without warning and devastated the area. Thousands of people died and very few buildings were left standing. There are some chapters dealing with the science behind it as well. The author did a lot of research and it shows. The failure of people in charge is evident.
I could tell that this was one of Erik Larson’s first books as it was not as polished as his others. I found this story to be more bogged down in the minutiae of unimportant details which affected his ability to create an exciting story that really moves. He also spent a lot of time trying to explain the science behind weather including clouds, winds, and pressure. It numbed my mind a little and did not contribute to the overall book. His other books utilized historical information and events to create a compelling narrative. Now, I am not saying that this was unreadable and like it was trying to hike through molasses. I am merely stating that I felt I could tell that he shows growth in his writing ability in his later novels which I enjoyed. I also did not feel as much emotion when reading this as I thought I might have, especially with the loss of life and the struggles that people had to go through. I think it came across more straightforward information than people focused. This story was fascinating to me because I love storms. I grew up watching Twister and when I was younger, I wanted to be a storm chaser. I know this took place over 120 years ago, but I wish more detailed information existed to fully understand what happened. There were so many frustrating things that occurred that contributed to the overall devastation of the disaster. Men were playing politics and thought themselves infallible which had them do a lot of guessing or just plain lying. “No cyclone ever can move from Florida to Galveston.” It just shows the destructive power of nature and how it could be made worse by mans sense of infallibility. This book was decent and I liked it overall. A couple quotes that I enjoyed are “Time lost can never be recovered…and this should be written in flaming letters everywhere” and “If I owned Texas and hell…I’d rent out Texas and live in hell.”
Affiliate Link:
https://amzn.to/43VMQdB
View all my reviews
Tag: destruction
Interesting Boredom And Destroying The Written Word
The Vanished Library. A Wonder of the Ancient World by Luciano Canfora
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Vanished Library is about ancient libraries, specifically the one located in the famous city of Alexandria as well as one located in the tomb of Ramses II. It also talks about a contemporary, antagonistic library in Pergamum several times. There were many historical figures mentioned including Alexander the Great, Aristotle, and many of the members of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Tons of old writings were also referenced.
This book was not what I thought it was going to be. It touched on many other things and I thought the focus would be on the Library of Alexandria. Luciano Canfora brought in a bunch of additional information that seemed to have a peripheral association with the library. From what I notice, the first use of the phrase “library of Alexandria” was on page 74. The threads of connection were weak in my mind and I was hoping for a deeper focus on the actual place. Instead, we were exposed to other works that mention the library to try to deduce what happened to it. This is a deeply scholarly work. It read like a textbook and it was extremely dense. There were tons of names, places, and events that were divulged. As a result of this I, as a person who likes to google everything that interests me, spent a lot of time getting additional information on a lot of pieces. As a person who loves antiquity and history in general, there were moments of shock and dismay. It is still uncertain what actually happened to the library, but there is a legend that Caliph Omar ordered the destruction of its contents. In this book, there was a supposed letter that stated “proceed, then, and destroy them.” I was just apoplectic at the mention of the destruction of any written word, let alone any historical artifact. I get sad and it just hurts to imagine all that has been lost to history. I recently just finished the show Rome, years after starting, and I love how I could make connections between that and what I just read. There was mention of Caesar, Antony, and Cleopatra as well as battles that I could relate to the show. This is what intrigued me about the book, the history and how things correlate with each other. I ended up learning a ton, more than I ever thought I could ever want. I just wish it was presented in a more cohesive and direct manner.
View all my reviews