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Reviews tagging 'Death'
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
111 reviews
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
The Devil in the White City was 10 hours of audio at 1.5 speed. I previously read it in physical format years ago and I must say I liked the audio format much better.
Bullet point review:
- I forgot how much the book discusses architecture; this got tedious at times.
- I loved the rich detail about the Chicago worlds fair and the way the book splices the fair, its history, and HH Holmes’ evil deeds together.
- I still found it a great form of true crime/ nonfiction that reads like fiction.
TW for some really graphic descriptions of a slaughterhouse, gas chambers, suicide, murder of women and children and dead body discovery.
If you can get past the graphic parts and like historical fiction, I’d definitely recommend this one!
Bullet point review:
- I forgot how much the book discusses architecture; this got tedious at times.
- I loved the rich detail about the Chicago worlds fair and the way the book splices the fair, its history, and HH Holmes’ evil deeds together.
- I still found it a great form of true crime/ nonfiction that reads like fiction.
TW for some really graphic descriptions of a slaughterhouse, gas chambers, suicide, murder of women and children and dead body discovery.
If you can get past the graphic parts and like historical fiction, I’d definitely recommend this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
An incredible journey where you truly care for the victories and failures of all of the characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Being mostly a fiction reader, I wasn't sure if I'd really enjoy this book, but both the story of H. H. Holmes and the building of the Chicago World's Fair were deeply engaging, and left me wanting to learn more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Murder
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
I love to read true stories written like fiction, and this book is a brilliant example of that. Erik Larson's writing is perfect for this genre. His depiction of Holmes' murder is thorough but not graphic. I am always on the fence of stories about serial killers, out of fear they will be too gruesome. But "The Devil in the White City" has the perfect balance of perfectly clear and somewhat suspenseful narration.
When it comes to the overall story, I think this book tried to do too much. I always thought that these murders had occurred in the fair, but the correlation between the events is almost non-existent. That's why I believe the story around the fair was too long. Although some facts were very interesting and I felt it was quite enjoyable, I don't think it was particularly necessary.
But I highly, highly recommend it, specially if, like me, you enjoy true crime stories and murder mysteries.
When it comes to the overall story, I think this book tried to do too much. I always thought that these murders had occurred in the fair, but the correlation between the events is almost non-existent. That's why I believe the story around the fair was too long. Although some facts were very interesting and I felt it was quite enjoyable, I don't think it was particularly necessary.
But I highly, highly recommend it, specially if, like me, you enjoy true crime stories and murder mysteries.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Torture, Murder
Minor: Suicide
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I expected to like this more. The writing is excellent, but I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of detail included about the construction of the World’s Fair. There were far too many names for me to keep track of, especially when it felt like every single one of them referred to someone who was white with blue eyes. I really liked the audiobook narrator‘s voice, but sadly I think this is one time where my comprehension would have benefited from reading the print version instead. I found Holmes’ story to be far more gripping, despite or perhaps because of its macabre descriptions (a couple of scenes are borderline graphic). Overall, this should be a good fit for history buffs and true crime devotees.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Addiction, Abortion
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Murder
dark
informative
slow-paced
As much as I'm interested in both history and true crime, I wanted to be more in love with this book than I was. I found myself confused by which people were which, and found some of the chapters to feel quite monotonous. The last third or so of the book was by far the most compelling to me. That being said, I would definitely both recommend this book and would like to read more Erik Larson moving forward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death
Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Erik Larson is one of the most talented popular historians of our age, and he has one tremendous strength and one glaring flaw. His strength is the breathtaking beauty he injects into every line he can, and his settings are often so realistic that he puts you in the past, whether you want to be or not. But his one glaring weakness is his tendency to get lost in the mundane, filling half of his books with things he himself might find interesting - like architecture or naval engineering - while coming up just short of making these things palatable for the average reader.
Still, White City is one book I'll happily give four stars, since it does such a fantastic job of sweeping you away to Gilded Age Chicago. It immerses you, familiarizes you with lovely details of daily life, introduces you to key players and average people alike, then leaving you to marvel at the unspeakable lost beauty of the World's Fair. He does the best that a twenty-first century author possibly can at conjuring a bit of that long-forgotten enchantment and romance, and I found myself putting the book down and dreaming a bit about what it would have been like at night. He gave me a glimpse of one of those spellbound moments long ago, and put me next to long-gone people when they were still drawing breath - or holding it, like I was. The fact that I had to wade through chapters of engineering and architectural details to get there felt a bit like Burnham must have - building this enchanting vision out of plain old steel and glass and finally getting to see it, just for a little while. Maybe that was the point; I'm not sure. If it was, I'd rather have had just a little more adventure getting there.
The sections about H.H. Holmes were more interesting, if horrifically disturbing. Most people enjoying this book have probably been true crime fans, hoping for a glimpse into the depraved mind of an early serial killer. Maybe they weren't quite as disturbed as I was, or didn't feel quite the same sympathy for his unfortunate victims. It speaks to Larson's talent as an author that he made those young women as real as anyone else, forcing you to care for them like any other living person. So those chapters were exceptionally well-written, if difficult to endure.
Larson has improved his craft since White City, like all authors do, and his later work shows more talent at making the mundane more interesting, blending it better with the substance of the overall book. Anyway, I did love this book and I'd happily recommend it to anyone who wanted to journey back in time to the Gilded Age, to see what life was like in the 1890s. Larson is second to none at transporting his readers back in time.
Still, White City is one book I'll happily give four stars, since it does such a fantastic job of sweeping you away to Gilded Age Chicago. It immerses you, familiarizes you with lovely details of daily life, introduces you to key players and average people alike, then leaving you to marvel at the unspeakable lost beauty of the World's Fair. He does the best that a twenty-first century author possibly can at conjuring a bit of that long-forgotten enchantment and romance, and I found myself putting the book down and dreaming a bit about what it would have been like at night. He gave me a glimpse of one of those spellbound moments long ago, and put me next to long-gone people when they were still drawing breath - or holding it, like I was. The fact that I had to wade through chapters of engineering and architectural details to get there felt a bit like Burnham must have - building this enchanting vision out of plain old steel and glass and finally getting to see it, just for a little while. Maybe that was the point; I'm not sure. If it was, I'd rather have had just a little more adventure getting there.
The sections about H.H. Holmes were more interesting, if horrifically disturbing. Most people enjoying this book have probably been true crime fans, hoping for a glimpse into the depraved mind of an early serial killer. Maybe they weren't quite as disturbed as I was, or didn't feel quite the same sympathy for his unfortunate victims. It speaks to Larson's talent as an author that he made those young women as real as anyone else, forcing you to care for them like any other living person. So those chapters were exceptionally well-written, if difficult to endure.
Larson has improved his craft since White City, like all authors do, and his later work shows more talent at making the mundane more interesting, blending it better with the substance of the overall book. Anyway, I did love this book and I'd happily recommend it to anyone who wanted to journey back in time to the Gilded Age, to see what life was like in the 1890s. Larson is second to none at transporting his readers back in time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Terminal illness, Pregnancy