Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Registered by BethanieKay of Melbourne, Florida USA on 2/25/2009
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
This one has been on my wish list for a while now ... found it at Half Price Books today. Yay!
From the back of the book:
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devastating personal tragedy.
Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.
From the back of the book:
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devastating personal tragedy.
Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.
In true Erik Larson fashion, this book is full of painstakingly researched facts and information. It's a historical account that reads more like a fictional story. I thought it was a bit dry at times, but mostly it was fascinating to read the story of this horrible hurricane ... told basically from the perspective of those who lived through it. It was eye-opening to learn about what really happens when a monster hurricane hits land.
This is the May selection for my book club, so will pass this along to my friend Danielle so she can also read it.
This is the May selection for my book club, so will pass this along to my friend Danielle so she can also read it.
Received back from Danielle... will now list as AVL
Loaned to Dana...
Received back from Dana.
AVL
AVL
I've got a few books that I'm sending to aetm down in Austin, so am tucking this in with them. Not sure if she'll be interested in reading this historical account of Hurricane Isaac hitting the Texas gulf coast in 1900 - but if not, she can leave it in her local OBCZ :)
Journal Entry 7 by BethanieKay at ~~~ ♥ ~~~ A Friend ~~~ ♥ ~~~, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Sunday, February 20, 2011
Released 13 yrs ago (2/21/2011 UTC) at ~~~ ♥ ~~~ A Friend ~~~ ♥ ~~~, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Book is on its way to aetm in Austin, TX. Happy Travels, little book!
I knew roughly of the story of Galveston, and this one is definitely too interesting looking to just let travel without reading... (and I think I know a place where it might travel to or be released in too, somewhere where a Fastnet storm destroyed many some years ago).
This book reminded me of Fastnet, Force 10 - just a storm close to the South coast of Ireland, where the storm caused dozens of people to die in a boat race 30 years ago. It's very close to my favorite spot of Ireland, Cape Clear, where one needs to go with a ferry, and where if the weather is really bad there is no way in or out. But there... people know the sea is stronger than the man. Houses are built on higher ground, making it more tsunami proof too than Kinsale (where a tsunami around a hundred years ago caused massive damage). If it's a bad weather, you stay out of the sea. And anything sea and adventure related works as a perfect read there, so I'm considering Cape Clear as a place to set this book on its next travels.
I did enjoy the book, and the style it was written. It seemed a bit slow first, but I think building the story was needed, as so many things were different back then. How the weather forecasts were made, how the communication between the weather stations happened, the weather forecast politics...
I liked some parts of Isaac (doing his job properly), but I hate his not admitting his incompetence and mistakes (for a man in any other profession except kind of responsible for the weather safety in a coastal city prone to tropical storm outcasts it would have been excusable not to recognize the coming storm). Like when he tries to cover his actions by telling how he warned thousands of people when he clearly did not. (If he would have warned those thousands of people in that morning, would more of them have survived? I think so, even if it seems unlikely they would have been able to get out of Galveston island). Or I guess I'd have liked Isaac more if simply would have admitted that he did not see the storm coming that strong, and NOT lied about things he didn't do.
Now, while writing this (not when reading the book), I suddenly remember my last days in Cork in 2009. It wasn't a tropical storm or a tsunami, but it was raining for a week, and downtown had in some (streets) areas over 10 feet of water, Cork having its worst floods in 800 years. On my last day of work, I was ready to catch the usual bus, on the South side of the river, but the traffic was cut, and I couldn't pass the river. The water was too high, and where I should have gone to catch the bus, the road was a river. After insane acrobatics to get to the other side of the city, having to cross the river, finally in the afternoon we made it. And then the flood caused the city's water to have to be cut. Brown water had mixed with the tap water in the water treatment plant, causing Cork to be out of water for 10 days (boy I'm glad we flew out of Dublin so at least I could get here fresh). - But the Cork experiences would make another interesting book, even if there weren't lives lost.
I did enjoy the book, and the style it was written. It seemed a bit slow first, but I think building the story was needed, as so many things were different back then. How the weather forecasts were made, how the communication between the weather stations happened, the weather forecast politics...
I liked some parts of Isaac (doing his job properly), but I hate his not admitting his incompetence and mistakes (for a man in any other profession except kind of responsible for the weather safety in a coastal city prone to tropical storm outcasts it would have been excusable not to recognize the coming storm). Like when he tries to cover his actions by telling how he warned thousands of people when he clearly did not. (If he would have warned those thousands of people in that morning, would more of them have survived? I think so, even if it seems unlikely they would have been able to get out of Galveston island). Or I guess I'd have liked Isaac more if simply would have admitted that he did not see the storm coming that strong, and NOT lied about things he didn't do.
Now, while writing this (not when reading the book), I suddenly remember my last days in Cork in 2009. It wasn't a tropical storm or a tsunami, but it was raining for a week, and downtown had in some (streets) areas over 10 feet of water, Cork having its worst floods in 800 years. On my last day of work, I was ready to catch the usual bus, on the South side of the river, but the traffic was cut, and I couldn't pass the river. The water was too high, and where I should have gone to catch the bus, the road was a river. After insane acrobatics to get to the other side of the city, having to cross the river, finally in the afternoon we made it. And then the flood caused the city's water to have to be cut. Brown water had mixed with the tap water in the water treatment plant, causing Cork to be out of water for 10 days (boy I'm glad we flew out of Dublin so at least I could get here fresh). - But the Cork experiences would make another interesting book, even if there weren't lives lost.
Journal Entry 10 by aetm at Ciaran Danny Mike's Pub in Cape Clear Island, Co. Cork Ireland on Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Released 12 yrs ago (5/10/2011 UTC) at Ciaran Danny Mike's Pub in Cape Clear Island, Co. Cork Ireland
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
A perfect place to release this book, in the pub in my favorite place for holidaying in Ireland, on the island of Cape Clear.
Safe journey little book - I hope you'll make many new friends on your travels!
"Don't ever apologize to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that's what they're there for. Use your library). Don't apologize to this author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend's copy. What's important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read... "
— Neil Gaiman
To the finder of this book:
Hello and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!)
Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!
Safe journey little book - I hope you'll make many new friends on your travels!
"Don't ever apologize to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that's what they're there for. Use your library). Don't apologize to this author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend's copy. What's important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read... "
— Neil Gaiman
To the finder of this book:
Hello and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!)
Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!
