52+ in 2011
Aug. 25th, 2011 05:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumineauxI'm way behind on posting reviews for things I've read:
The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison and the Trial that Ushered in the Twentieth Century by Harold Schecther
This book is a delightful blending of crime and cultural history, focusing on the life and trial of Roland Molineux, a spoiled playboy who may or may not have poisoned two people in the 1890s. His unlikely weapon? Sending patent medicine laced with cyanide of mercury to his victims in the mail. Schechter deftly dances around the ultimate question of Molineux's guilt: he sure looks guilty but the evidence just isn't there to convict. Alongside the compelling character of Molineaux himself Schechter also gives us a portrait of his equally memorable girlfriend and later wife, Blanche. Blanche -- with her glass eye, overwrought memoirs and over-inflated ambitions -- seems almost too over-the-top to be real, and yet she was. Rivalry for Blanche's dubious affections was the arguable motive for one of the murders. Professional jealousy was argued to be the other. All of the players in this drama are vivid, petty, and utterly human.
The cultural history aspects of the book focus primarily on the rise of the tabloid press and the full-fledged media frenzy surrounding Molineux's alleged crime and trial. A dozen other themes float through the narrative as well -- the sheer incomprehensibility to the 21st century mind of taking a patent medicine that some unknown person mailed to you, the social expectations imposed on each gender, the power of personality and celebrity to work both good and evil.
The book is thoroughly researched, engagingly written and well worth the several hours of my life that I spent reading it. It's not often I close a book these days with the thought, "That was a damn good read."
A Curtain Falls by Stephanie Pintoff
Secret of the White Rose by Stephanie Pintoff
Two sequels to In The Shadow of Gotham by the same author, featuring Detective Simon Ziele and criminologist Alistair Sinclair. These books have a lot of the feel of The Alienist, being based in New York City in the same general time frame. But I think of these books more as "The Alienist Lite." The crimes are nowhere near as grim and troubling, and the writing lacks Caleb Carr's sense of urgency and depth. On the other hand, unlike Dr. Kriezler, Sinclair often thwarts the investigations due to his reticence and failure to communicate and the relationship between Ziele and his colleague is tense and complicated. The mysteries are solidly constructed, without obvious suspects. The period detail is well-presented.
The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison and the Trial that Ushered in the Twentieth Century by Harold Schecther
This book is a delightful blending of crime and cultural history, focusing on the life and trial of Roland Molineux, a spoiled playboy who may or may not have poisoned two people in the 1890s. His unlikely weapon? Sending patent medicine laced with cyanide of mercury to his victims in the mail. Schechter deftly dances around the ultimate question of Molineux's guilt: he sure looks guilty but the evidence just isn't there to convict. Alongside the compelling character of Molineaux himself Schechter also gives us a portrait of his equally memorable girlfriend and later wife, Blanche. Blanche -- with her glass eye, overwrought memoirs and over-inflated ambitions -- seems almost too over-the-top to be real, and yet she was. Rivalry for Blanche's dubious affections was the arguable motive for one of the murders. Professional jealousy was argued to be the other. All of the players in this drama are vivid, petty, and utterly human.
The cultural history aspects of the book focus primarily on the rise of the tabloid press and the full-fledged media frenzy surrounding Molineux's alleged crime and trial. A dozen other themes float through the narrative as well -- the sheer incomprehensibility to the 21st century mind of taking a patent medicine that some unknown person mailed to you, the social expectations imposed on each gender, the power of personality and celebrity to work both good and evil.
The book is thoroughly researched, engagingly written and well worth the several hours of my life that I spent reading it. It's not often I close a book these days with the thought, "That was a damn good read."
A Curtain Falls by Stephanie Pintoff
Secret of the White Rose by Stephanie Pintoff
Two sequels to In The Shadow of Gotham by the same author, featuring Detective Simon Ziele and criminologist Alistair Sinclair. These books have a lot of the feel of The Alienist, being based in New York City in the same general time frame. But I think of these books more as "The Alienist Lite." The crimes are nowhere near as grim and troubling, and the writing lacks Caleb Carr's sense of urgency and depth. On the other hand, unlike Dr. Kriezler, Sinclair often thwarts the investigations due to his reticence and failure to communicate and the relationship between Ziele and his colleague is tense and complicated. The mysteries are solidly constructed, without obvious suspects. The period detail is well-presented.
