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In the second half of Isaac’s Storm by Larson, you see a huge difference from the descriptive nature that was mostly passive and only slightly tuned to show hubris of the era. In these chapters full blame is soon assigned and death takes the full frontal assault on our imagination. I liked to compare this to Cronon’s writings comparing it to nature. As he was describing in the late part of the third chapter when the train is being swallowed in the wake, it dawned on me. This if compared entirely to nature alone, is simply a rise in water, strong wind, and a lot of rain. The rise in water was very funny to me, because everyone was freaking out about their lawn being covered, the train being swallowed and the buildings collapsing. Of course with good reason. It is sad to think of the death and destruction, but weird to think that without the city there, the island just slowly disappears, and then returns after a few days. Cora’s death in this novel was even more disheartening while I was reading, I have a soft spot for children though, and that was very uplifting. I was hoping it wouldn’t mention other children’s death though, and that was not the case. Larson probably did this to show the raw power of nature and shatter the audacity of the gilded age, and the death and destruction was the only way to do it justice. Like rhruska says “Larson does not shy away from the seemingly gruesome reality of the situation.” Although social norms are shown, I feel like the emphasis was aimed directly towards technology and new age (for the time) ideas were being crushed and destroyed. Many of the buildings he describes are newer constructions, and specifically positioned in text to prove that the new tech was the reason for death, such as the collapse of Isaac’s house. Their shelter, now turned into a weapon of nature.
