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kshng's review against another edition
3.0
This book is weird in the sense that it combines two very unrelated and unconnected topics together: the organisation of 1893 The Chicago World's Fair and the activities of the serial killer HH Holmes. It reads like two books combined into one, with chapters alternating from each book. While the two topics separately were interesting, their combination in this book reduced the enjoyment of the writing.
hayley_vm's review against another edition
2.0
Cons: This book was 5% about H.H. Holmes., 10% about the Chicago World’s Fair, and 85% about petty drama between the architects in the years spent creating the fair. Definitely not what you would expect from the title or the cover blurb. And not to make light of the fact that this guy did murder a bunch of people because he definitely did, but he was more conman than serial killer.
Pros: I learned some cool stuff about the first Ferris wheel.
Pros: I learned some cool stuff about the first Ferris wheel.
angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
2.0
Not at all what I expected. Reminds me of another one of his books I had loads of trouble getting through. It's broken into two parts which essentially alternate. One is an interesting story about a serial killer. The other is an utterly mind numbing story about the architecture of the World's Fair. So unfortunately a good 50-60% of the book is uninteresting.
codergrl's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the book. I liked learning about the fair, about the struggles, the successes, and the inspiration it generated. I liked learning about all the things we have today that originated at the fair. I also liked the stories about Herman Mudgett. What I really didn't like is the two stories together. Separately, they would have been 2 fantastic books. Together, they make an OK book that leaves you wondering why the author chose this route.
bookph1le's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
This book was often magnificent, especially when it was doing things like magically recreating the World's Fair. Some passages were so vivid I wanted to fall into the book and see the fair for myself. It's not exaggeration to say I found a good chunk of the book enthralling.
My critique, though, is that it is at times repetitive. Toward the end of the book, there is a great paragraph that exemplifies this as Burnham's age is mentioned and then mentioned again about three sentences later. This was definitely an editing boo boo and was a far more obvious example of what I found disappointing about the book, but it wasn't the only time I found myself jarred, thinking, "I just read about that..."
I also didn't think the stories of Holmes and Burnham necessarily matched up all that well. I get what Larson was doing with the juxtaposition, but so much of this book is devoted to fascinating descriptions of the fair and the various obstacles it faced that Holmes feels forgotten. Then there will be a very brief chapter about him, in which not much is revealed. This means that, at times, I was wondering what Holmes was up to as I hadn't heard about him for so long, and then at others I was annoyed that he was interrupting Burnham's tale.
Still, this is the second book I've read by Larson, and he does not disappoint. He has that rare ability to take factual, historical events and make them so vivid you feel as if you're experiencing them as you read. Plus, his books are page-turners, like a good novel, rather than the dull, colorless, flavorless history texts most of us were served as children shuttling through the U.S. education system. I'll definitely be coming back for more of Larson's take on our history.
This book was often magnificent, especially when it was doing things like magically recreating the World's Fair. Some passages were so vivid I wanted to fall into the book and see the fair for myself. It's not exaggeration to say I found a good chunk of the book enthralling.
My critique, though, is that it is at times repetitive. Toward the end of the book, there is a great paragraph that exemplifies this as Burnham's age is mentioned and then mentioned again about three sentences later. This was definitely an editing boo boo and was a far more obvious example of what I found disappointing about the book, but it wasn't the only time I found myself jarred, thinking, "I just read about that..."
I also didn't think the stories of Holmes and Burnham necessarily matched up all that well. I get what Larson was doing with the juxtaposition, but so much of this book is devoted to fascinating descriptions of the fair and the various obstacles it faced that Holmes feels forgotten. Then there will be a very brief chapter about him, in which not much is revealed. This means that, at times, I was wondering what Holmes was up to as I hadn't heard about him for so long, and then at others I was annoyed that he was interrupting Burnham's tale.
Still, this is the second book I've read by Larson, and he does not disappoint. He has that rare ability to take factual, historical events and make them so vivid you feel as if you're experiencing them as you read. Plus, his books are page-turners, like a good novel, rather than the dull, colorless, flavorless history texts most of us were served as children shuttling through the U.S. education system. I'll definitely be coming back for more of Larson's take on our history.
historybooksandtea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.75