What do you think?
Rate this book
Storm
A violent storm sweeps through California, taking on a life of her own. Making her way from the Pacific Coast, she gains momentum as she approaches the Sierra and transforms into a blizzard of great strength, covering mountain ranges and roads with twenty feet of snow. Originally published in 1941, _Storm_ is a rare combination of fiction and science by a master storyteller, drawing upon a deep knowledge of geography, meteorology, and human nature. "In _Storm_ we are…far from freeways, from megapopulation, from sprawl, from beach TV, from stress, from road rage. And we are in touch with a much deeper reality. Of land and water and weather, of humans huddled together on the planet in a dark universe."—Ernest Callenbach, in the foreword
303 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
96 people are currently reading
1785 people want to read
About the author
George R. Stewart
74 books207 followersGeorge Rippey Stewart was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his only science fiction novel Earth Abides (1949), a post-apocalyptic novel, for which he won the first International Fantasy Award in 1951. It was dramatized on radio's Escape and inspired Stephen King's
The Stand
.
His 1941 novel Storm , featuring as its protagonist a Pacific storm called Maria, prompted the National Weather Service to use personal names to designate storms and inspired Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe to write the song "They Call the Wind Maria" for their 1951 musical "Paint Your Wagon." Storm was dramatized as "A Storm Called Maria" on a 1959 episode of ABC's Disneyland. Two other novels, Ordeal by Hunger (1936) and Fire (1948) also evoked environmental catastrophes.
Stewart was a founding member of the American Name Society in 1956-57, and he once served as an expert witness in a murder trial as a specialist in family names. His best-known academic work is Names on the Land A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (1945; reprinted, New York Review Books, 2008). He wrote three other books on place-names, A Concise Dictionary of American Place-Names (1970), Names on the Globe (1975), and American Given Names (1979). His scholarly works on the poetic meter of ballads (published under the name George R. Stewart, Jr.), beginning with his 1922 Ph.D. dissertation at Columbia, remain important in their field.
His 1959 book Pickett's Charge is a detailed history of the final attack at Gettysburg.
His 1941 novel Storm , featuring as its protagonist a Pacific storm called Maria, prompted the National Weather Service to use personal names to designate storms and inspired Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe to write the song "They Call the Wind Maria" for their 1951 musical "Paint Your Wagon." Storm was dramatized as "A Storm Called Maria" on a 1959 episode of ABC's Disneyland. Two other novels, Ordeal by Hunger (1936) and Fire (1948) also evoked environmental catastrophes.
Stewart was a founding member of the American Name Society in 1956-57, and he once served as an expert witness in a murder trial as a specialist in family names. His best-known academic work is Names on the Land A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (1945; reprinted, New York Review Books, 2008). He wrote three other books on place-names, A Concise Dictionary of American Place-Names (1970), Names on the Globe (1975), and American Given Names (1979). His scholarly works on the poetic meter of ballads (published under the name George R. Stewart, Jr.), beginning with his 1922 Ph.D. dissertation at Columbia, remain important in their field.
His 1959 book Pickett's Charge is a detailed history of the final attack at Gettysburg.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
September 20, 2021
A remarkable achievement this novel is, where the eponymous Storm is a character, as is an isobar and old polar air. A big boar - Blue Boy - plugs a hole in a cameo role. There are people, too, some named, some merely titled, some introduced only, it seemed, so they could be disposed of. It is the story of a massive storm, mid-20th Century, told from multiple points of view. There are twelve days (chapters) to the storm, and they build to a crescendo in the eleventh day.
As reading a Cormac McCarthy novel will not teach you Spanish, this novel will not make you a weatherman. So I won't try and explain cold fronts and high pressure to you. But I have to share some beautiful writing:
-- As a crab moves on the ocean-bottom, but is of the water, so man rests his feet upon the earth--but lives in the air. Man thinks of the crab as a water-animal; illogically and curiously, he calls himself a creature of the land.
-- Weather-wise after their kind, men say, frogs from the puddles croak before rain, and the mountain goats move to the sheltered face of the peak before the blizzard strikes. Such also may have been the wisdom of man's ancestors before man was. In nerve-endings now decadent, they felt the moisture in the air; in the liquids of their joints they sensed the falling pressure.
The ages passed; brow and chin moved forward; man walked two-legged upon the earth. Hunter lying in wait, seed-gatherer wandering afield--they came to know vaguely the warnings of wind and cloud. . . .
But language, which always said too much or too little, was also a great corrupter of knowledge. He who handled words most cunningly was seldom the wisest, but the catchiest proverbs, not the truest, survived. (So even yet those who speak English say:
Rain before seven,
Clear before eleven.
But those who speak other languages do not say this particular foolishness, not because they are wiser, but because in their speech the two numerals fail to rhyme.)
Yes there is humor within, as:
Sister Mary Rose was plump and youngish; she taught the class and was obviously trying to be progressive. Sister Mary Dolores was thin and oldish; she apparently came along to chaperone Sister Mary Rose, and her attitude seemed to be that if God had wanted us to know about the weather he would have informed St. Thomas Aquinas.
I'm sure the science in this book, first written in 1941, may be dated now, as are some of the sentiments. He could write: It was funny; sometimes a woman had a better sense about such things than a man did. Imagine that. Too, a porter spoke his single line in dialect. And there was a hard cynicism here, where the author could imagine the headline - "Sixteen dead by storm" - and then think, well, Perhaps the world was better off because of those deaths.
This book was written before climate change became an issue. I suppose all sides to that debate could find support here for their views. I could say, stop that, it's just about the weather. But then:
"I've seen a lot of them--storms and men. Each one is different. There are the big bluffers, and the sneaks, and the honest dependable ones. Some of them will sulk for days, and some will stab you in the back, and some walk out on you between night and morning, and some do exactly what you expect of them."
As reading a Cormac McCarthy novel will not teach you Spanish, this novel will not make you a weatherman. So I won't try and explain cold fronts and high pressure to you. But I have to share some beautiful writing:
-- As a crab moves on the ocean-bottom, but is of the water, so man rests his feet upon the earth--but lives in the air. Man thinks of the crab as a water-animal; illogically and curiously, he calls himself a creature of the land.
-- Weather-wise after their kind, men say, frogs from the puddles croak before rain, and the mountain goats move to the sheltered face of the peak before the blizzard strikes. Such also may have been the wisdom of man's ancestors before man was. In nerve-endings now decadent, they felt the moisture in the air; in the liquids of their joints they sensed the falling pressure.
The ages passed; brow and chin moved forward; man walked two-legged upon the earth. Hunter lying in wait, seed-gatherer wandering afield--they came to know vaguely the warnings of wind and cloud. . . .
But language, which always said too much or too little, was also a great corrupter of knowledge. He who handled words most cunningly was seldom the wisest, but the catchiest proverbs, not the truest, survived. (So even yet those who speak English say:
Rain before seven,
Clear before eleven.
But those who speak other languages do not say this particular foolishness, not because they are wiser, but because in their speech the two numerals fail to rhyme.)
Yes there is humor within, as:
Sister Mary Rose was plump and youngish; she taught the class and was obviously trying to be progressive. Sister Mary Dolores was thin and oldish; she apparently came along to chaperone Sister Mary Rose, and her attitude seemed to be that if God had wanted us to know about the weather he would have informed St. Thomas Aquinas.
I'm sure the science in this book, first written in 1941, may be dated now, as are some of the sentiments. He could write: It was funny; sometimes a woman had a better sense about such things than a man did. Imagine that. Too, a porter spoke his single line in dialect. And there was a hard cynicism here, where the author could imagine the headline - "Sixteen dead by storm" - and then think, well, Perhaps the world was better off because of those deaths.
This book was written before climate change became an issue. I suppose all sides to that debate could find support here for their views. I could say, stop that, it's just about the weather. But then:
"I've seen a lot of them--storms and men. Each one is different. There are the big bluffers, and the sneaks, and the honest dependable ones. Some of them will sulk for days, and some will stab you in the back, and some walk out on you between night and morning, and some do exactly what you expect of them."
September 23, 2021
As described in the introduction, this is one of those rare novels that truly has a non-human protagonist. That is not to say it is lacking in human experiences and emotions. Stewart shows us the impact of the storm as different officials fight to keep the Bay Area open and the civilians safe. We also learn quite a bit about weather patterns through the chapters involving the Weather Bureau. To top it all off, Steward waxes philosophical quite often, and I found myself marking up many passages. Engaging, informative, well written and intellectual. Yeah, it's excellent.
July 8, 2012
One of my favorite books of all time. This book is directly responsible for my interest in meteorology. I've read it at least 10 times in my life, and it never gets old. Particularly interesting is the sub-plot conflict between the old meteorologist's use of intuition and direct observation versus the young meteorologist's use of tools, math, and newfangled theories, which of course would nowadays be considered obsolete as well. Many different stories combine to create one giant narrative of a couple weeks in the life of a Pacific storm.
Read
January 4, 2024wow this book landed firmly and unequivocally in the badlands of "I wanted to like it" territory, and died there. I did not like it. Being human, I think humans are the center of all things. Or at least: I think humans should be at the center of novels. George R. Stewart wrote this book in part to prove me wrong, and to convince me that a novel could just as well be about a storm, personified, but I was not persuaded.
August 8, 2025
Storm was an American novel I had high hopes for, and on some levels it impressed me greatly. In the 1940s, George R Stewart crafted a visionary story of a Californian storm dubbed "Maria" and her impact on the lives and work of everyday people and animals, from electrical engineers to children and—a wild boar? A dash of whimsy and philosophical asides poses gentle questions about how our lives and the environment around us are delicately (and mysteriously) connected. We are particularly drawn into the travails of the JM (Junior Meteorologist) and other mid-century men at their work, evoking the pride and ambitions of FDR-era infrastructure projects and conservation efforts.
Unfortunately, Stewart's penchant for lengthy technical descriptions, with no accompanying diagrams, confused even this STEM graduate and storm enthusiast. Though I have enjoyed similar elements in works such as Moby-Dick, Shackleton's South, and Seven Pillars of Wisdom, I found myself struggling to stay committed to 360 pages of detailed explanations of meteorology, road crew activity, and more. It was difficult at times to visualize the work Stewart was so passionate about, and were it not for my West Coast background, I'd also have struggled to understand his varying and vast geographical references to sometimes obscure US regions or cities (Pocatello!). Overall, I found Storm to be a remarkable novel but far too much of a good thing—a short story or novella would have suited me much better.
Unfortunately, Stewart's penchant for lengthy technical descriptions, with no accompanying diagrams, confused even this STEM graduate and storm enthusiast. Though I have enjoyed similar elements in works such as Moby-Dick, Shackleton's South, and Seven Pillars of Wisdom, I found myself struggling to stay committed to 360 pages of detailed explanations of meteorology, road crew activity, and more. It was difficult at times to visualize the work Stewart was so passionate about, and were it not for my West Coast background, I'd also have struggled to understand his varying and vast geographical references to sometimes obscure US regions or cities (Pocatello!). Overall, I found Storm to be a remarkable novel but far too much of a good thing—a short story or novella would have suited me much better.
October 12, 2024
Sometimes a book can be so influential that it can lead to changes in weather tracking. Published in 1941, this book was a bestseller, as it described a mega-storm that descended upon the state of California. It’s a work of fiction, but the details and the descriptions make it read as more of a non-fiction narrative. Previously, storms were never named, but the titular “storm” of the title, Maria, not only led to weather bureaus naming storms in alphabetical order but also became a hit song (They Call The Wind Maria). Although the book is almost 85 years old, it could be describing the current climate crisis of storms which now hit the golden state of California on a regular basis.
Man is of the air, and the air must rule him.
The book starts easily, describing a typical day in the land of California. The characters are almost all associated with the agencies which must prepare the citizens for a catastrophe. The telephone company, which must battle downed lines. The electric utility company, which must prevent blackouts from lasting too long. The road team, which must clear highways of storm debris while keeping agitated and impatient drivers from becoming dangers to the roads. The Weather Bureau, which must anticipate where every potential storm might hit and how much damage might take place. The airline flight coordinators must make sure each plane is up-to-date on recorded wind speeds and potential icing in order for flights to be cleared to their next destination.
It also describes how one little, tiny mistake can wreak havoc. For example, a lineman casually ascends a pole, as he has done countless times before, to correct an outage. But his mind is clouded with the memory of a new girlfriend, so that when he accidentally falls and is covered by layers of snow while lying incapacitated on the ground, the outcome will not portend well for himself or for others. A driver who wants to get a delivery done too quickly, takes on a slippery turn and becomes the roadblock for a major lifeline. A young couple returning from a trip will go missing. Trees will fall, winds will destroy, flooding will overwhelm, and injuries will not be overcome. A storm that started as a “baby” off the coast of Japan will bring the West Coast to a halt and will then spin off into an East Coast storm that will take on New York.
When I was younger, I never thought much about rain or winds. That was because I grew up in drought in three different countries and was more worried about water rationing than potential disasters. Then El Niño hit California in the 1980s and suddenly the concept of tracking and understanding weather changed everything overnight. The massive damage inflicted by rain and wind meant one needed to know what might be coming soon, which would affect the ability to return home from work or from school. The way that George R. Stewart has written this opus is so intricate that for the first time, I finally understood how everything comes together at the birth of a weather system. A chapter, for instance, may be devoted to the way a meteorologist thinks. In the 1940s, the Weather Bureau did not have satellites in orbit to forewarn of storms, so they had to use mathematics and historical weather patterns to predict Mother Nature’s potential furies. There were no computers or cellphones to overcome a dependence upon aging lines of strung wire built next to dangerous trees. By describing every single facet of how each governmental team handles the mega-storm, the reader becomes completely involved with the inner workings of the human factor of average Joes just doing their daily jobs. So, this isn’t one of those emotional novels where romantic tripe or fictional bullying takes center stage over the massive storm. No, the mega-storm is just too big for that.
One interesting factoid I learned from this book is that a weather front was a term developed after World War One. Because that war was such a mind-blowing killer of everything, the Weather Bureaus started referring to potential storms with the memory of the Eastern Front and the Western Front still vivid. Weather as combat became the new ideal and has held firm ever since, especially with the current global climate crisis.
This book was hard to put down, mainly because if it was written today it would probably exaggerate the deaths and injuries and overall damages. But Stewart holds the line, knowing his storm is massive and deadly but not enough to wipe out an entire state. He also notes how the storm ends a statewide drought (as El Niño always does) while also preventing a locust plague from taking place. I also like how each chapter represents each day of the storm, so the reader can understand the process and the heightening danger. A winning read, albeit a worrying read.
Book Season = Winter (winds ask no emperor’s leave)
Man is of the air, and the air must rule him.
The book starts easily, describing a typical day in the land of California. The characters are almost all associated with the agencies which must prepare the citizens for a catastrophe. The telephone company, which must battle downed lines. The electric utility company, which must prevent blackouts from lasting too long. The road team, which must clear highways of storm debris while keeping agitated and impatient drivers from becoming dangers to the roads. The Weather Bureau, which must anticipate where every potential storm might hit and how much damage might take place. The airline flight coordinators must make sure each plane is up-to-date on recorded wind speeds and potential icing in order for flights to be cleared to their next destination.
It also describes how one little, tiny mistake can wreak havoc. For example, a lineman casually ascends a pole, as he has done countless times before, to correct an outage. But his mind is clouded with the memory of a new girlfriend, so that when he accidentally falls and is covered by layers of snow while lying incapacitated on the ground, the outcome will not portend well for himself or for others. A driver who wants to get a delivery done too quickly, takes on a slippery turn and becomes the roadblock for a major lifeline. A young couple returning from a trip will go missing. Trees will fall, winds will destroy, flooding will overwhelm, and injuries will not be overcome. A storm that started as a “baby” off the coast of Japan will bring the West Coast to a halt and will then spin off into an East Coast storm that will take on New York.
When I was younger, I never thought much about rain or winds. That was because I grew up in drought in three different countries and was more worried about water rationing than potential disasters. Then El Niño hit California in the 1980s and suddenly the concept of tracking and understanding weather changed everything overnight. The massive damage inflicted by rain and wind meant one needed to know what might be coming soon, which would affect the ability to return home from work or from school. The way that George R. Stewart has written this opus is so intricate that for the first time, I finally understood how everything comes together at the birth of a weather system. A chapter, for instance, may be devoted to the way a meteorologist thinks. In the 1940s, the Weather Bureau did not have satellites in orbit to forewarn of storms, so they had to use mathematics and historical weather patterns to predict Mother Nature’s potential furies. There were no computers or cellphones to overcome a dependence upon aging lines of strung wire built next to dangerous trees. By describing every single facet of how each governmental team handles the mega-storm, the reader becomes completely involved with the inner workings of the human factor of average Joes just doing their daily jobs. So, this isn’t one of those emotional novels where romantic tripe or fictional bullying takes center stage over the massive storm. No, the mega-storm is just too big for that.
One interesting factoid I learned from this book is that a weather front was a term developed after World War One. Because that war was such a mind-blowing killer of everything, the Weather Bureaus started referring to potential storms with the memory of the Eastern Front and the Western Front still vivid. Weather as combat became the new ideal and has held firm ever since, especially with the current global climate crisis.
This book was hard to put down, mainly because if it was written today it would probably exaggerate the deaths and injuries and overall damages. But Stewart holds the line, knowing his storm is massive and deadly but not enough to wipe out an entire state. He also notes how the storm ends a statewide drought (as El Niño always does) while also preventing a locust plague from taking place. I also like how each chapter represents each day of the storm, so the reader can understand the process and the heightening danger. A winning read, albeit a worrying read.
Book Season = Winter (winds ask no emperor’s leave)
June 12, 2025
I read
Earth Abides
a bit before this and enjoyed it so much I wanted to read more by Stewart. Storm was an excellent book. I don't know that I'd ever thought about reading a novel about a storm and the many people and things it touches, but I found this fascinating. I'm pretty sure this qualifies as climate fiction and think maybe it also works as speculative fiction.
According to the Forward, this book was the first instance of a meteorologist naming a storm and apparently real-life meteorologists picked the idea up and still do so today. Pretty neat. There were so many things I enjoyed about this, but I really liked that the seemingly mundane were made into sublime relevance. A 2x4 fallen from a truck and lying off to the side of the road appears fairly early on and you just know that is going to somehow come back around in a pivotal way. A farmer, with a pile of bills and a drought addled field acts on his despair mere hours before the storm that would alleviate his suffering arrives. The fate of a young couple travelling from San Francisco to Nevada winds through the story with tension as much as the travails of a man in charge of keeping the Pass clear and travellers safe and moving, as snow takes hold. To say nothing of the chief of air traffic control at an airport, weighing every incoming and outgoing plane with the weather reports or for that matter, the linesmen tasked with keeping the phone lines open as the storm takes its toll (a job that doesn't even exist in that form any longer). I almost forgot about the General in charge of the damn above a town and his stresses! Seriously, it was all riveting, and there's more than I've mentioned.
I love to read old novels because they are sometimes very good at showing how some things have changed but others have not. It was interesting to read the complaints and demands of people whether it was people not wanting to take official advice: "No, I don't need chains on my car to make it over the Pass! They're just saying that because they're in cahoots with the mechanics to get me to spend money." or the "I'm a very important business man and pay plenty in taxes" guys demanding things. Then there were the laments of those in official positions about the underfunding of resources and having to be almost miracle workers, and even when they pull it off, getting no credit for a job well done. Alas, through time, people are people.
Stewart is a fascinating writer, and I have his other book entitled Fire and will definitely read that. Highly recommended.
According to the Forward, this book was the first instance of a meteorologist naming a storm and apparently real-life meteorologists picked the idea up and still do so today. Pretty neat. There were so many things I enjoyed about this, but I really liked that the seemingly mundane were made into sublime relevance. A 2x4 fallen from a truck and lying off to the side of the road appears fairly early on and you just know that is going to somehow come back around in a pivotal way. A farmer, with a pile of bills and a drought addled field acts on his despair mere hours before the storm that would alleviate his suffering arrives. The fate of a young couple travelling from San Francisco to Nevada winds through the story with tension as much as the travails of a man in charge of keeping the Pass clear and travellers safe and moving, as snow takes hold. To say nothing of the chief of air traffic control at an airport, weighing every incoming and outgoing plane with the weather reports or for that matter, the linesmen tasked with keeping the phone lines open as the storm takes its toll (a job that doesn't even exist in that form any longer). I almost forgot about the General in charge of the damn above a town and his stresses! Seriously, it was all riveting, and there's more than I've mentioned.
I love to read old novels because they are sometimes very good at showing how some things have changed but others have not. It was interesting to read the complaints and demands of people whether it was people not wanting to take official advice: "No, I don't need chains on my car to make it over the Pass! They're just saying that because they're in cahoots with the mechanics to get me to spend money." or the "I'm a very important business man and pay plenty in taxes" guys demanding things. Then there were the laments of those in official positions about the underfunding of resources and having to be almost miracle workers, and even when they pull it off, getting no credit for a job well done. Alas, through time, people are people.
Stewart is a fascinating writer, and I have his other book entitled Fire and will definitely read that. Highly recommended.
December 21, 2017
If the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” and The Weather Channel got married and then jumped together through a time warp back to the 1940s, this book would be their child.
It is easy to see why Storm became a runaway best-seller when it was first published back in 1941: equal parts hard science and disaster-movie plot laced with touches of poetry and philosophy, it is difficult to put down. The state of weather forecasting in the book, cutting edge for when it was published, takes nothing away from the reader’s interest for being more than seventy-five years out of date.
Although the author goes relatively light on the characterizations of the people in the story—one really gets the feeling that Irwin Allen (producer of “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Towering Inferno”) must have kept a copy of Storm next to his bedside—the main character throughout is the weather, in particular the storm of the book’s title, which the Junior Meteorologist who discovers it, or J.M. as he is called after we meet him, names Maria in the opening pages. (The J.M. has a habit of calling storms after women he has known; this became the reason why the National Weather Service for many years gave female-only names to hurricanes in real life.)
Maria is a living, breathing creature, same as we are; but she is by nature very destructive and has no conscience about what she does, where she does it, or to whom over the twelve-day course of her life. All the humans can do is observe and get out of her way as much as possible. And of course she is indiscriminate about her targets; various animals have to cope with her, just as all the people do.
George Stewart was not only a good writer, he was also prescient: the book is way ahead of the time in which it was written in a couple of ways. Not only does Maria grow physically huge, foreshadowing the increasingly large storms the world has seen in recent years, but weather events on opposite sides of the globe are shown to be intimately connected, a concept that was not on the average person’s radar in the early 1940s. In the age of global warming, Storm remains timely and worth a read.
It is easy to see why Storm became a runaway best-seller when it was first published back in 1941: equal parts hard science and disaster-movie plot laced with touches of poetry and philosophy, it is difficult to put down. The state of weather forecasting in the book, cutting edge for when it was published, takes nothing away from the reader’s interest for being more than seventy-five years out of date.
Although the author goes relatively light on the characterizations of the people in the story—one really gets the feeling that Irwin Allen (producer of “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Towering Inferno”) must have kept a copy of Storm next to his bedside—the main character throughout is the weather, in particular the storm of the book’s title, which the Junior Meteorologist who discovers it, or J.M. as he is called after we meet him, names Maria in the opening pages. (The J.M. has a habit of calling storms after women he has known; this became the reason why the National Weather Service for many years gave female-only names to hurricanes in real life.)
Maria is a living, breathing creature, same as we are; but she is by nature very destructive and has no conscience about what she does, where she does it, or to whom over the twelve-day course of her life. All the humans can do is observe and get out of her way as much as possible. And of course she is indiscriminate about her targets; various animals have to cope with her, just as all the people do.
George Stewart was not only a good writer, he was also prescient: the book is way ahead of the time in which it was written in a couple of ways. Not only does Maria grow physically huge, foreshadowing the increasingly large storms the world has seen in recent years, but weather events on opposite sides of the globe are shown to be intimately connected, a concept that was not on the average person’s radar in the early 1940s. In the age of global warming, Storm remains timely and worth a read.
October 16, 2021
This novel is too windy. Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that. What I really think is this is a novel without much heart. It's an interesting novel and worth reading. Still, its great flaw is that it lacks human connection and passion. It's about a storm system which sweeps out of the Pacific to batter California with rain and wind before, ultimately, breaking against the Sierra Nevadas and overpowering them with enormous amounts of snow. The book is heavy with descriptions of atmospheric waves and pressure cells and other properties of weather. Much of the action involves such elements as isobars and wind speed indicators. The storm has a name, Maria. There are human characters, but their interactions are not so much with each other as with the storm. And most of them are representative, without names and identified by titles or job description. There's a Junior Meteorologist, for instance, and a truck driver and a Chief Service Officer. There are animal characters, too: a coyote and a wild boar known as Blue Boy. The characters serve to register manifestations of the storm. The real protagonist is Maria, though Stewart doesn't develop her in this way. Partly because the novel lacks human intimacy and partly because so much of its action involves science and the dispassionate processes of weather, it all seems to me to be too impersonal. Without individual human values and motives rubbing against each other there's no conflict except with the storm and no moral critique. The result is an emptiness in which the wind swirls.
August 9, 2019
Very unique to experience “weather” as the driving narrative and primary character of a novel. Marvelous overview of the early development of the National Weather Service and the tools used in tracking and forecasting. Completely fascinating.
George Stewart was a brilliant historian and observer of the world- most particularly HIS world, his place in it, that he chose to know and love so intimately. His ability to weave a lifetime of passionate collecting of information into a story, in which the people are mostly nameless but the geography, the weather, the culture and the climate become the main characters with whom he deposits all of this well loved knowledge: so subtle. And unpretentiously brilliant.
George Stewart was a brilliant historian and observer of the world- most particularly HIS world, his place in it, that he chose to know and love so intimately. His ability to weave a lifetime of passionate collecting of information into a story, in which the people are mostly nameless but the geography, the weather, the culture and the climate become the main characters with whom he deposits all of this well loved knowledge: so subtle. And unpretentiously brilliant.
April 15, 2024
Storm is an interesting novel about the awe inspiring life cycles of huge weather systems and how humanity is basically nature's little bitch. This is also the book that inspired the National Weather Service to start giving large storms names, which is pretty damn neat. The problem, for me, was that after about 100 pages, it got tedious pretty fucking fast. I think this concept would have been better as a short story or novella. As it is, the shit goes on for way too long and I started skimming to finish it. It's good, but about twice as long as it probably should be.
September 20, 2022
I was thoroughly bored by this book. While I love storms this just wasn't working for me. 2.5 ⭐.
Want to read
October 13, 2017I was looking into the history of naming hurricanes, and stumbled on this. The New York Times reviewed it as “phenomenal”, although I think the author was having a bit of pun, since a storm is a meteorological phenomena. Still, it was a very positive review. You can look at the original review from November 20th, 1941, (which was just about two weeks before Pearl Harbor).
Here
is an even more enthusiastic amateur review. Oddly, the tradition is to name tropical storms and hurricanes, not extratropical storms, such as the one in this book.
Of special note: an unnamed junior meteorologist names the titular mega storm "Maria". In a 1947 reprint, the author wrote a forward explaining that "The soft Spanish pronunciation is fine for some heroines, but our Maria here is too big for any man to embrace and much too boisterous." So the name was to be pronounced with a "rye" in the middle, not as in the traditional Spanish pronunciation. So when Storm more-or-less inspired the musical and movie Paint Your Wagon, it included the song They Call the Wind Maria, pronounced as the author of Storm intended. And to wrap up the special note, this is the origin of Mariah Carey’s name (also quite big and boisterous?).
Note to self: One reprinted edition has an introduction by Wallace Stegner, a later one has an introduction by Ernest Callenbach. Well, duh: all towering San Francisco Bay Area literary elites. Still, how to choose?
Of special note: an unnamed junior meteorologist names the titular mega storm "Maria". In a 1947 reprint, the author wrote a forward explaining that "The soft Spanish pronunciation is fine for some heroines, but our Maria here is too big for any man to embrace and much too boisterous." So the name was to be pronounced with a "rye" in the middle, not as in the traditional Spanish pronunciation. So when Storm more-or-less inspired the musical and movie Paint Your Wagon, it included the song They Call the Wind Maria, pronounced as the author of Storm intended. And to wrap up the special note, this is the origin of Mariah Carey’s name (also quite big and boisterous?).
Note to self: One reprinted edition has an introduction by Wallace Stegner, a later one has an introduction by Ernest Callenbach. Well, duh: all towering San Francisco Bay Area literary elites. Still, how to choose?
May 22, 2022
You can't take the title any more literally, since the main character of this novel is an actual storm. It sounds like a neat idea and works well for a while, but in the end the very theme is its undoing.
While interesting as a subject for a novel, the concept of a storm's formation and evolution as the main character focus does get a little tedious and repetitive simply because there isn't much for it to do. Stewart refracts the storm's progress outward by including a patchwork of humans and situations in the path of the storm, which largely play out pretty predictably. There are a lot of meteorologists, road workers and power linemen. They go through their usual motions and any potential drama is diluted by the humdrum everydayness of their reactions.
That's not to say this is a terrible novel. Stewart has a fine style, and wrote some great science fiction works. He works better with the actual storm itself, since the human characters are little more than faceless, passive participants in a great play of nature, and there are lots of good little bits here and there. It loses its steam though under the weight of its own uniqueness.
While interesting as a subject for a novel, the concept of a storm's formation and evolution as the main character focus does get a little tedious and repetitive simply because there isn't much for it to do. Stewart refracts the storm's progress outward by including a patchwork of humans and situations in the path of the storm, which largely play out pretty predictably. There are a lot of meteorologists, road workers and power linemen. They go through their usual motions and any potential drama is diluted by the humdrum everydayness of their reactions.
That's not to say this is a terrible novel. Stewart has a fine style, and wrote some great science fiction works. He works better with the actual storm itself, since the human characters are little more than faceless, passive participants in a great play of nature, and there are lots of good little bits here and there. It loses its steam though under the weight of its own uniqueness.
June 27, 2014
Storm is similar to Fire, yet different – it’s pacing is more leisurely, its characters more developed, and the storm itself has less personality than the blaze in Fire does. The reader (and the characters) are farther from it, not only in distance but also in immediacy. So, overall, the story that develops is in itself less directly intense, yet more broadly and thoroughly positioned. It is interesting to contrast the two books; perhaps they were written with in mind how each subject would directly impact an individual standing out in it.
Readers of Stewart will recognize his characteristic style, one he carried forward into Fire and Earth Abides, and which introduces a world facet and follows with action or consequences pertaining to it. If this method works for you, this book will too. It’s an enjoyable volume, and an interesting snapshot of a slice of the culture of the time.
Readers of Stewart will recognize his characteristic style, one he carried forward into Fire and Earth Abides, and which introduces a world facet and follows with action or consequences pertaining to it. If this method works for you, this book will too. It’s an enjoyable volume, and an interesting snapshot of a slice of the culture of the time.
January 28, 2024
This was a great read and I’m pretty pleased with myself for stumbling upon this while browsing the local library. Storm is known as the first “eco-novel,” which is a form of fiction that attempts to establish the presence of the environment as if it were one of the characters. The language of the book was scientific but still prosey and beautiful. I found myself really captured by how the author painted the surrounding world. I will definitely be reading more George R. Stewart.
Also, Blue Boy’s story line was everything to me…I love wild boars. Not enough novels let you read from the perspective of a wild boar. I’ll be riding the high of being in a wild boar’s head for WEEKS!
Also, Blue Boy’s story line was everything to me…I love wild boars. Not enough novels let you read from the perspective of a wild boar. I’ll be riding the high of being in a wild boar’s head for WEEKS!
August 14, 2021
Architectural perhaps most aptly describes the feat of engineering George Stewart seems to’ve pulled off with this chronicle of human industriousness at prevailing against a nature’s torment. Refreshing in its clinical observing, this novel, standing apart a space from social affairs, is wonderfully knowledgeable and perhaps a needed prescription against human insularity and its reckless conceit. O what folly, to think humanity at some privileged remove from nature’s domain— for what could hardly be more natural than nature, grown a brain, casting back its intellect and wonder in curious delight upon itself?
August 11, 2021
This 1941 eco-novel is pretty obviously the progenitor of novels such as Richard Powers’ magnificent “The Overstory“, and like that book it does a great job of showing the interconnectedness of everything.
However, it’s also the progenitor of the 1970s batch of disaster movies (such as Towering Inferno and Airport and Earthquake) where characters are introduced, quickly sketched, and just as quickly dispatched. This introduces a strong whiff of melodrama which dates the book.
3.25 stars, rounded down.
However, it’s also the progenitor of the 1970s batch of disaster movies (such as Towering Inferno and Airport and Earthquake) where characters are introduced, quickly sketched, and just as quickly dispatched. This introduces a strong whiff of melodrama which dates the book.
3.25 stars, rounded down.
December 6, 2025
This book! It is fiction and yet so filled with non-fictional information that I find it difficult to call it fiction. I found it to be in turns difficult, fascinating, informative, and moving. The first few chapters were harder going for me than the last half of the book by far.
In a nutshell, the story shows the interrelation of all of life on this planet. There are tiny, seemingly inconsequential events that have a larger than expected impact on other events. It was fascinating to read. I also have a new awareness of and appreciation for some workers.
The negative reviews I looked at mostly mention a lack of heart and no character/s to connect to. And I understand that criticism, but didn't have that difficulty. The protagonist is the weather, a storm without anthropomorphizing, and the human characters are secondary and only exist in how they relate to the storm. There is no character development, unless you count the progress of the storm. The humans are mostly referred to by their work titles. Strangely, the few who ARE named were the hardest for me to keep track of and remember, as they are mentioned and then left for a big chunk of time. And, yet, with all that, I wept over some of these humans.
The book is dated, with some statements reflecting the social norms of the time and all of the advances now in all things mechanical and in weather forecasting that have been made because of computers, but the writing is so solid as to not be effected much.
One of the quotes I loved:
'As a crab moves on the ocean-bottom, but is of the water, so man rests his feet upon the earth - but lives in the air. Man thinks of the crab as a water-animal; illogically and curiously, he calls himself a creature of the land.'
There is death in this story, a few dated ideas about women and race, and one short sentence written in a derogatory dialect. There is also a suicide briefly written.
In a nutshell, the story shows the interrelation of all of life on this planet. There are tiny, seemingly inconsequential events that have a larger than expected impact on other events. It was fascinating to read. I also have a new awareness of and appreciation for some workers.
The negative reviews I looked at mostly mention a lack of heart and no character/s to connect to. And I understand that criticism, but didn't have that difficulty. The protagonist is the weather, a storm without anthropomorphizing, and the human characters are secondary and only exist in how they relate to the storm. There is no character development, unless you count the progress of the storm. The humans are mostly referred to by their work titles. Strangely, the few who ARE named were the hardest for me to keep track of and remember, as they are mentioned and then left for a big chunk of time. And, yet, with all that, I wept over some of these humans.
The book is dated, with some statements reflecting the social norms of the time and all of the advances now in all things mechanical and in weather forecasting that have been made because of computers, but the writing is so solid as to not be effected much.
One of the quotes I loved:
'As a crab moves on the ocean-bottom, but is of the water, so man rests his feet upon the earth - but lives in the air. Man thinks of the crab as a water-animal; illogically and curiously, he calls himself a creature of the land.'
There is death in this story, a few dated ideas about women and race, and one short sentence written in a derogatory dialect. There is also a suicide briefly written.
December 10, 2020
I love this book. At 79 years since publication, it still feels fresh and as a longtime student of meteorology and a native Californian I find this book to be a gem - a keeper. Beyond first hand experience of storms that flooded creeks, drains and streets, caused waves to batter the pilings under a childhood home, and coincidently dropped the loads of snow in the mountains 4 hours away where I first learned to ski, my first introduction to storm meteorology was a Disney documentary in the late 50’s or very early 60’s. Perhaps it was called, “They call the Winds Maria,” as that was the song theme. Coming full circle I find in the foreword by Ernest Callenbach that this is the book (and the storm’s name) that influenced that production.
I’m not a literary critic but note that beyond descriptions of the anatomy of a storm, this book is about love: love of the processes of nature and love and appreciation of real people possessed of curiosity, talent, and passion for knowledge and service. It is people such as these on which the book’s characters were modeled. I place George R. Stewart’s works with those of two other highly favored authors: Farley Mowat and Norman Maclean and eagerly look forward to Stewart’s book, Fire.
I’m not a literary critic but note that beyond descriptions of the anatomy of a storm, this book is about love: love of the processes of nature and love and appreciation of real people possessed of curiosity, talent, and passion for knowledge and service. It is people such as these on which the book’s characters were modeled. I place George R. Stewart’s works with those of two other highly favored authors: Farley Mowat and Norman Maclean and eagerly look forward to Stewart’s book, Fire.
March 17, 2020
I love this ponderous book. Read the top reviews here to understand what a big influence it has had on our world. One thing I did not see mentioned in other views is how fast organizations and physical structures were set up to deal with automobile and train travel after they became major modes of long distance transportation. The development of levees and weird on the Sacramento River and how information was conveyed from the river to the man in command was amazing and sophisticated. Off to read Stewart’s Earth Abides while self-isolating from covid-19.
December 30, 2021
it’s what a meteorology textbook, weather forecast and nature documentary would read like if put together as a 279 page novel. boring as hell, middling reflections on humanity’s rapport with nature, godawful midcentury americana.
January 31, 2022
I liked the *idea* of this book more than the actual book.
Interesting historical document of how technology like phone lines worked earlier in the 20th century if you’re into that kind of thing.
Interesting historical document of how technology like phone lines worked earlier in the 20th century if you’re into that kind of thing.
March 16, 2022
I chose this book to complete a 2022 prompt: read a book with weather in the title/on cover. It was also the August 2021 NYRB selection. This is a fascinating read. The ”storm” is the main character being identified by a junior meteorologist who names the powerful storm “Maria.” Written in 1941 - pre-technology - it’s interesting to read how weather maps are created and information is shared (no cellphones here - enjoyed too how phone calls were done and the reference to long distance charges no longer an issue in this age of cellphones). The author blends in how winds, air and water work together and how the world is in constant motion creating our weather (this is not a climate book but in reading you sense that climate is an affect by conditions made by man - 1942 is a far different time). The author blends people who are affected by the “storm” (snow in Northern California and rain in Southern California where the story is set - the telephone man working in the high mountains to restore electricity during an intense snow storm, people caught in the storm, state government officials, and the meteorologists). But woven through it all is how weather starts and moves across the world showing how interconnected we are. In this time of nationalist fervor, the story of how weather is formed and that it is outside the country you live and affects the country you live in. Weather is global; we can’t escape it! So trying to pretend we can ignore others elsewhere in the world denies that we live in a larger world than just our country because we are always affected by that larger world. “No man is an island” to quote John Donne.
January 10, 2023
This book hung over me like a cloud; a grey and hostile menace looming above with thunderful threats of 'READ ME BITCH!'. Suffice to say, didn't really want to abide this odious overlord, so am skipping away leaving it behind with two stars for company.
To use the word 'Storm' for a title would be a bold choice for any author: 'Storm' suggests strength and hints at an unruly nature which needs explain itself to no one, however, this book achieves just the opposite. I went into this novel expecting a snapshot of a town suffering extreme weather events, with richly written characters fighting to protect their families, homes and all the other ~things~ we mere mortals hold close to us: I saw a raging and wild tornado ripping through the centre of a weakened city, leaving the reader on the edge of their seat while the characters on the brink of oblivion. But, erm, no, that didn't happen. Instead I was confronted with a textbook account of weather patterns, whispy civil service workers and an overdose of landscape lyricism from a jargon loving author. The eponymous tempest was instead a rainstorm, Maria, who blessed our town with rain/snow and the world with another baby storm, Little Maria! With a good book, one should look forward to reading any new plotline, not causing them to think 'oh no, not more of this', which, I did. So I stopped reading with 100 pages to go, the same way as I am going to stop writing this review because I'm getting bored. This didactic crap stick deserves no more of my attention
To use the word 'Storm' for a title would be a bold choice for any author: 'Storm' suggests strength and hints at an unruly nature which needs explain itself to no one, however, this book achieves just the opposite. I went into this novel expecting a snapshot of a town suffering extreme weather events, with richly written characters fighting to protect their families, homes and all the other ~things~ we mere mortals hold close to us: I saw a raging and wild tornado ripping through the centre of a weakened city, leaving the reader on the edge of their seat while the characters on the brink of oblivion. But, erm, no, that didn't happen. Instead I was confronted with a textbook account of weather patterns, whispy civil service workers and an overdose of landscape lyricism from a jargon loving author. The eponymous tempest was instead a rainstorm, Maria, who blessed our town with rain/snow and the world with another baby storm, Little Maria! With a good book, one should look forward to reading any new plotline, not causing them to think 'oh no, not more of this', which, I did. So I stopped reading with 100 pages to go, the same way as I am going to stop writing this review because I'm getting bored. This didactic crap stick deserves no more of my attention
November 29, 2021
The original eco-novel, published in 1941, this tracks a storm from its formation off the coast of Japan as it barrels across the Pacific and rages along the California coast for several days, before eventually moving inland and dying.
Stewart toggles back and forth between meteorologists, airport traffic controllers, utility workers, and a host of other people affected (some fatally) by this storm. I also really enjoyed how minor things, like the burrowing of a chipmunk or a stray shot from a kid's BB gun, had "butterfly effect" ramifications in the days of rain and snow that followed. Stewart was a really smart dude, and while his dialogue is stiff as a board, this was a wild ride of a book, a really fun read that propels the action along at a great clip.
Fun fact, this book prompted the National Weather Service to start naming storms, which is why we do it today. :)
Stewart toggles back and forth between meteorologists, airport traffic controllers, utility workers, and a host of other people affected (some fatally) by this storm. I also really enjoyed how minor things, like the burrowing of a chipmunk or a stray shot from a kid's BB gun, had "butterfly effect" ramifications in the days of rain and snow that followed. Stewart was a really smart dude, and while his dialogue is stiff as a board, this was a wild ride of a book, a really fun read that propels the action along at a great clip.
Fun fact, this book prompted the National Weather Service to start naming storms, which is why we do it today. :)
June 27, 2025
In Storm George Stewart describes the lifetime of a storm, from its creation over the Pacific Ocean to its fading out and final front over the United States twel days later. The junior meteorologist (who earns 2000 USD, which Stewart points out) names the storm Maria and we get to follow the course of Maria from a tiny isobar to a big time storm that has a huge impact on the life of everybody in its path.
I thoroughly enjoyed following Maria and all the side stories, from the train crews to airplane pilots and to people working on the electricity network. So many neat aspects that show how people react (as in the flooded underpass) and have to make decisions impacting their fellow citizens.
The edition I loaned from Uppsala Stadsbibliotek was a very early edition and contained the weather maps from the different days, which I really appreciated. Sadly, I had to return it and buy a "boring" copy, which did not include the maps. Nevertheless, it was a really interesting story that showed how small things might have big impact.
4.5/5
I thoroughly enjoyed following Maria and all the side stories, from the train crews to airplane pilots and to people working on the electricity network. So many neat aspects that show how people react (as in the flooded underpass) and have to make decisions impacting their fellow citizens.
The edition I loaned from Uppsala Stadsbibliotek was a very early edition and contained the weather maps from the different days, which I really appreciated. Sadly, I had to return it and buy a "boring" copy, which did not include the maps. Nevertheless, it was a really interesting story that showed how small things might have big impact.
4.5/5
March 21, 2022
If your favorite part of any storm is watching the isobars and storm tracks on The Weather Channel, then this is the book for you. It’s got plenty—more than I could appreciate—of meteorological detail, all swirled up with poetic and prayer-like description of the winds, the mountains, the rivers and the earth. A bit much! But also a bit more than you’ll ever find in any other book of fiction.
And it’s also a strong celebration of human efficiency, incapacity, and care. I don’t think I’ve ever read a fiction book that effaces the individual as much as this one does, and yet makes heroism and tragedy out of so many nearly-faceless people. Not to mention a hog. Very American feeling—almost like Steinbeck.
And it’s also a strong celebration of human efficiency, incapacity, and care. I don’t think I’ve ever read a fiction book that effaces the individual as much as this one does, and yet makes heroism and tragedy out of so many nearly-faceless people. Not to mention a hog. Very American feeling—almost like Steinbeck.
January 21, 2024
Best thing to say about this book is that it's an interesting read. A unique genre that I've never known about, combining ecology with anthropology.
Just because it's unique, doesn't mean it has its flaws. A lot of the characters and story segments were pointless and could've been cut, while others were vital and pivotal to the fates of hundreds, if not thousands. I guess that's the way nature works, but it's not my cup of tea.
I can't say I was invested in any character, with the only one with a semblance of some personality being the Junior Meteorologist.
Read if you're a weather nerd, or interested in something different.
Just because it's unique, doesn't mean it has its flaws. A lot of the characters and story segments were pointless and could've been cut, while others were vital and pivotal to the fates of hundreds, if not thousands. I guess that's the way nature works, but it's not my cup of tea.
I can't say I was invested in any character, with the only one with a semblance of some personality being the Junior Meteorologist.
Read if you're a weather nerd, or interested in something different.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews