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9.36k reviews for:
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Erik Larson
3.87 AVERAGE
9.36k reviews for:
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Erik Larson
3.87 AVERAGE
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
the only thing that drove me crazy about this was the initial switching back and forth between storylines. i understand it stylistically and it definitely ramped up the pace toward the end though.
recommended for anyone who loves true crime and architecture.
recommended for anyone who loves true crime and architecture.
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Frustrating. I was more interested in the history of the Chicago World's Fair here, but the bits about Holmes really reminded me why I tend to avoid true crime in general. The tenuous connections made to tie the two subjects together, on top of armchair psychology speculation on Holmes' psyche, the stop and go pacing of each chapter... annoying, meandering, pointless. But I read the whole thing so the jokes on me. Wasted my own damn time!!!!
dark
informative
slow-paced
Not what I expected? I read this book because of the ongoing DiCaprio/Scorsese project which is being touted as about H. H. Holmes. The title of the book also implies that he is the subject of the book. While he is discussed throughout the book, I would say perhaps 1/3 of the book is about Holmes, while the other 2/3 are about the building of the 1893 World's Fair. I thought perhaps the detail going into the building of the fair would transfer over and we'd get more detail about the intricacies of Holmes' "murder castle", but alas, not so much. The book was quite interesting, if not confusing if you are simply looking for a gritty true crime read. While not inherently bad, I just expected something quite different.
I've heard this lauded as one of the great nonfiction narratives of our times, and Erik Larson as a standout writer. He definitely uses his gifts of narrative to make it sound like a story. People sigh and make facial expressions more than I would assume we could truly know from historical records. As my first Larson, I don't think it was the strongest way for me to start because in the end, I am not all that interested in the architects of Chicago.
It reminds me of this anecdote:
It reminds me of this anecdote:
In 1944 a children's book club sent a volume about penguins to a 10-year-old girl, enclosing a card seeking her opinion.
She wrote, "This book gives me more information about penguins than I care to have."
American diplomat Hugh Gibson called it the finest piece of literary criticism he had ever read.
Ultimately, this book gives me more information about Chicago's World Fair than I care to have and that means maybe I shouldn't have listened to an entire long book about the Chicago World Fair. Sure, there's a bit of the serial-killing H.H. Holmes murder-hotel in the mix, but I don't love true crime either and in fact, there's so little substantive information to work with and you could tell that Larson would rather have been writing about building colour debates. May we meet again, Mr. Larson, on more mutually agreeable ground.
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced