52 in 2011
Feb. 15th, 2011 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumineaux20. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
This book tells the parallel stories of the creation and running of the 1892 World's Fair in Chicago and the serial killer H.H. Holmes who preyed on women prior to and during that same fair. I've read the book both as written -- in chapters alternating between the Fair and the politics of Chicago of the day, then Holmes' schemes -- and topically, skipping chapters to read the Fair's story in its entirely and then re-read Holmes' chapters in entirety. I don't have a preference for how I re-read the book; it's largely a function of mood. By alternating their stories, Larson is deliberately juxtaposing the best parts of human nature and the worst. The early chapters setting up the personalities and politics involving the Fair are dull to me. On re-reads I generally skip over them. But once the process of the Fair starts going, Larson unleashes his poetic instincts and it's a fascinating read.
The tale of Holmes' schemes and killings is a gripping one. This was a man who looked at other people as toys and playthings, and thought nothing of stealing their money and their lives, all while maintaining a charming facade. He lied and manipulated as naturally as breathing. He would never have been nearly as successful today because, for better or worse, we understand the depths of evil far better. To the people of the 1890s, it never occurred to them that someone so charming and gentlemanly would default on loans, refuse to pay bills and, oh yes, kill other people as "experiments." Since I loves me some true crime I would have liked a lot more detail about the investigation that ultimately landed Holmes in jail - Larson glides over huge chunks of Holmes' later career after it ceases to intersect with the World's Fair.
As a side note for those fans of Caleb Carr's The Alienist, H.H. Holmes' fearsome reputation and impending execution provides part of the historical background for Carr's fictional serial killer hunt.
This book tells the parallel stories of the creation and running of the 1892 World's Fair in Chicago and the serial killer H.H. Holmes who preyed on women prior to and during that same fair. I've read the book both as written -- in chapters alternating between the Fair and the politics of Chicago of the day, then Holmes' schemes -- and topically, skipping chapters to read the Fair's story in its entirely and then re-read Holmes' chapters in entirety. I don't have a preference for how I re-read the book; it's largely a function of mood. By alternating their stories, Larson is deliberately juxtaposing the best parts of human nature and the worst. The early chapters setting up the personalities and politics involving the Fair are dull to me. On re-reads I generally skip over them. But once the process of the Fair starts going, Larson unleashes his poetic instincts and it's a fascinating read.
The tale of Holmes' schemes and killings is a gripping one. This was a man who looked at other people as toys and playthings, and thought nothing of stealing their money and their lives, all while maintaining a charming facade. He lied and manipulated as naturally as breathing. He would never have been nearly as successful today because, for better or worse, we understand the depths of evil far better. To the people of the 1890s, it never occurred to them that someone so charming and gentlemanly would default on loans, refuse to pay bills and, oh yes, kill other people as "experiments." Since I loves me some true crime I would have liked a lot more detail about the investigation that ultimately landed Holmes in jail - Larson glides over huge chunks of Holmes' later career after it ceases to intersect with the World's Fair.
As a side note for those fans of Caleb Carr's The Alienist, H.H. Holmes' fearsome reputation and impending execution provides part of the historical background for Carr's fictional serial killer hunt.
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Date: 2011-02-15 08:06 pm (UTC)His book on Marconi did not grab me nearly as well, although he did evoke a real sense of how fast the world shrunk when news could outrun a person...
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Date: 2011-02-16 03:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:59 pm (UTC)Incidentally, Leonardo DiCaprio has been cast to play Holmes in the movies adaptation. I am interested in seeing how that turns out.