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mb1520's review against another edition
5.0
At first I was skeptical of this book. I’m not a huge history buff and decided to read it purely to learn more about H. H. Holmes. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to handle reading every other chapter about architects who built building over 100 years ago. Boy was I wrong.
I loved this book. I enjoyed reading about H. H. Holmes and trying to understand his psyche (which I anticipated), but I also thoroughly enjoyed reading about the World’s Fair. I looked forward to seeing what would happen next at the fair, between the planning, building, and “out-Eiffeling Eiffel”. What I enjoyed even more was trying to figure out how everything was connected. Larson does a fabulous job of weaving bits and pieces together and foreshadowing (which kept me reading more). I couldn’t put it down.
After reading this book, I want to learn more about the World’s Fair and, honestly, history in general. This book may have just turned me into a history buff.
I loved this book. I enjoyed reading about H. H. Holmes and trying to understand his psyche (which I anticipated), but I also thoroughly enjoyed reading about the World’s Fair. I looked forward to seeing what would happen next at the fair, between the planning, building, and “out-Eiffeling Eiffel”. What I enjoyed even more was trying to figure out how everything was connected. Larson does a fabulous job of weaving bits and pieces together and foreshadowing (which kept me reading more). I couldn’t put it down.
After reading this book, I want to learn more about the World’s Fair and, honestly, history in general. This book may have just turned me into a history buff.
wittyraven24's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
aurorakretsch's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This book was pretty disappointing honestly. I kinda felt like he was making connections where there weren’t a ton just to make the book about more than one thing. I honestly think this should have been two separate books. One about the World Fair and one about HH Holmes because it’s not like he exclusively killed at the World Fair, he was just in Chicago and happened to go to it and capitalize on it financially.
sunbreak's review against another edition
4.0
I like any book that has trivia about pabst! I enjoyed this book a great deal, it could only have been improved by including more social history.
ctirpak's review against another edition
dark
informative
fast-paced
3.75
Very good narrative nonfic. I was much more interested in the architecture and planning of the fair, most of the Holmes story was not my thing.
midwifereading's review against another edition
3.0
"The juxtaposition of pride and unfathomed evil struck me as offering powerful insights into the nature of men and their ambitions." -pg. 393 (Notes & Sources)
Equally fascinating and well written, The Devil In the White City is quite an experience. I picked this up with the idea that my husband and I could buddy read it. My interest in "how it's made," and his current interest in true crime made it a good choice.
The disturbing and depraved nature of the murders, the gaps in policing that allowed the disappearance of so many to go uninvestigated, and the great distraction of the construction of the World's Fair all combined for the perfect storm. How many other criminals got away with murder during that flurry of activity and national economic collapse?
Throw in an assassination, labor strikes, crazy weather and crazier architects, and you have a story that feels made up. Stranger than fiction, indeed.
Equally fascinating and well written, The Devil In the White City is quite an experience. I picked this up with the idea that my husband and I could buddy read it. My interest in "how it's made," and his current interest in true crime made it a good choice.
The disturbing and depraved nature of the murders, the gaps in policing that allowed the disappearance of so many to go uninvestigated, and the great distraction of the construction of the World's Fair all combined for the perfect storm. How many other criminals got away with murder during that flurry of activity and national economic collapse?
Throw in an assassination, labor strikes, crazy weather and crazier architects, and you have a story that feels made up. Stranger than fiction, indeed.
lennymckenny's review against another edition
1.0
Ok I only got about 20% through this book but I couldn’t finish. A coworker who was 50% done said she still wasn’t enthralled, so I quit early. Why? This book is so boring. Even the bits about the serial killer. It’s meandering and covers inane details. As an example, Larson writes, “Earlier, a heat wave had brutalized the city, killing seventeen people (including a man named Christ).” Who tf is/was Christ? Why did that need to be mentioned? It’s like the author felt the need to record every detail from every primary source he found. Not my cup of tea, especially as I’ve moved away from reading about dusty old white men written by dusty old white men. I’m sure my dad would enjoy it though lmaooo