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Reviews tagging 'Child death'
The Devil in the White City (Abridged): Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
85 reviews
sharonus's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, and Gore
Minor: Kidnapping and Grief
zakcebulski's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
4.25
Erik Larson does it again!
This book only goes to reaffirm my love for Erik Larson and his writing.
From my understanding outside of the world of true crime fandom, this is one of the most popular true crime involved books ever. I can absolutely see why.
What Larson does in this book is nothing short of an absolute achievement of research and storytelling. The amount of coherency he commands while weaving these two utterly complex stories is mind boggling, and a feat that few alive could do.
The book tells two stories, one of the World's Fair of 1893, and one of a man who has been called "America's First Urban Serial Killer"- H. H. Holmes.
The World's Fair section was the part that I knew the least about, going in to reading this book. I knew that it occurred and some of the displays that were unveiled at this fair... and that was it!
However, throughout this book Larson expertly crafts all of the work that went in to designing and constructing this Fair.
I fell in love with learning the intricacies of the architecture- as someone who knows cryptically little about architecture, I commend and appreciate Larson's writing, as he describes this foreign concept in an easily digestible way.
There is a sweeping feeling over grandeur which is captured expertly by Larson as he explains the vastness of the hurdles the Fair committee is trying to overcome.
I thought that this was amazingly well done. There were several scenes in which I felt like I was witnessing an impossible task come to fruition- this was absolutely fascinating to read through.
I will say, on the same coin, this portion of the book did at points drag to me. I was very interested in portions of it, but, for some reason I just felt the pacing slowed down a little bit.
The true crime parts of this book regarding Holmes were absolutely fascinating. It was amazing to see the true amount of forethought which Holmes exhibited, and, how he was truly a super-villain. He built a three story monument to death, depravity, and murder. This is absolutely, and I mean this, terrifying. He built this in an age of non-development by comparison. Imagining the damages he could have caused should he have had access to more modern technology is truly terrifying.
Holmes is one of those people who was born in the right time for what he wanted to do, which is ceaselessly unfortunate, as his wants revolved around manipulation, control and murder.
The amount of thought he put into his murders and his cons was is nearly inhuman- he was truly a man alone in his thoughts and actions.
I have to commend Larson's ability to seamlessly weave these two tales together. Each chapter (primarily) alternates between the World's Fair and the deeds of Holmes. I thought that this was a great way to convey the story, as it was not an oversaturation over either story. There was enough discussion about architecture before skipping over to serial murder and back again.
I never found myself becoming totally bored and glazed over while reading each chapter, and, in fact, I found that there was a great amount of benefit to the pacing specifically in the way this book was written.
I was recommended this book when the Last Podcast on the Left covered H. H. Holmes back in 2016 or so? And, I picked it up right away, but, I never got further than page 40. I am glad that I got through this book, as I feel that this book is one of the modern greats.
The illustrations of the time are exquisitely illustrated by Larson, and he puts the schema around the age so that we are able to visualize what is going on.
The sense of wonder of the World's Fair was done in an exceptional way to the point where it truly felt like it was a fairy tale.
I thought that the epilogue wherein all of the people who worked on the fair had their stories come to an end were so poignant. They had worked to create something absolutely amazing- something that defied the limits of human creation, and once it was done the bittersweet feeling of the end came to them all.
Also? Learning about all of the shit that was at the World's Fair? The Ferris Wheel and its 2,000 TWO FUCKING THOUSAND passengers? Annie Oakley and Bill Cody? Tesla? Edison? TR? Braille? This place was fucking amazing for human achievement.
I thought that this book was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone who has even a passing fancy in either true crime or history- I think that both sides of this book are well done to the point where even the most fervent fan of either will learn something new.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Dementia, Violence, Child death, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
aromarrie's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5
my first nonfiction read of the year and it has burned a hole into my memory for years to come
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Child death, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Classism, and Body horror
vampireph4ze's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
4.25
i do not read a lot of non-fiction books, but this one is definitely worth it ESPECIALLY if you enjoy learning about historical events and/or true crime. it can be slow and information packed at times, but it is definitely worth it. seeing how historical events overlapped and the interactions between famous figures gave me chills - especially with the actions of the murderer H. H. Holmes. you can't help but be drawn in and wonder how in the world one man got away with so many different crimes for so long. it is hard to get into, but i understand why it is revered. erik larson did a fantastic job adding in little details to make this story come to life and help us visualize the splendor of the white city. it truly transports you back to the 1890's and, even if it does seem to drone on and on at times, is worth every second.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, and Murder
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Torture
reddeddy's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Torture, Violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Child abuse, Gore, Child death, Death, Drug use, Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Animal death, Blood, Terminal illness, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Classism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
smkelly1997's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
3.5
I thought this book would revolve around H. H. Holmes much more than it did. Instead it was mostly about the creation, construction, and running of the fair.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Child abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Infidelity, Abandonment, Classism, Murder, Child death, Chronic illness, and Colonisation
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Dementia
librarymouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
The literary descriptions and firsthand accounts of the fair, and the effort and love put into it's design and creation made me wish I could have attended. The detailed descriptions of Holmes' murders and his disarmingly charming personality made me glad that I was born over a full century after 1893. I like greatly enjoyed The Devil in the White City, the second half was a far easier read than the first. I'm not sure if I've retained as much of the information about the fair's designers and the events that took place while it was open as I wanted to. While interesting, the section about the initial design process and the political lobbying that took place in order to get the fair to occur in Chicago read similarly to a textbook, in stark contrast with the narrative way the rest of the history was told. Overall, an informative and interesting read. I would use enjoyable to describe the writing, but not the content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gore, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicide, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Xenophobia
alyssajoy's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Another book for Sharon’s book club!
This story was crazy! It was definitely a slow burn, at times a little *too* slow which is why I docked a star. There were three different instances where Erik felt the need to list out a full menu for a dinner, and other times where he went into far too much detail about drama between fellow architects and engineers. I definitely wanted more of Holmes’ story and a little less of Burnham’s. But that might just be my own taste. Overall the juxtaposition was very interesting and of course the last several chapters and the epilogue were my favorite and I rushed through them. Really enjoyed learning about history in Chicago, especially since we love visiting there!
This story was crazy! It was definitely a slow burn, at times a little *too* slow which is why I docked a star. There were three different instances where Erik felt the need to list out a full menu for a dinner, and other times where he went into far too much detail about drama between fellow architects and engineers. I definitely wanted more of Holmes’ story and a little less of Burnham’s. But that might just be my own taste. Overall the juxtaposition was very interesting and of course the last several chapters and the epilogue were my favorite and I rushed through them. Really enjoyed learning about history in Chicago, especially since we love visiting there!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Child death
k_overt's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
The devil in the white city is like most classic literature, informative and uses big words. I had to read this book for an English class and it was one of the books that kept my attention. However at some points the plot was being dragged out unnecessarily for drama. If you want a book that describes historical events in serious detail, and goes into detail about people’s personal relationships of the time then this is the book for you. However, Sometimes it seems like Larson manipulates certain pieces of history to fit his context. For example he makes assumptions about how people ‘might’ have been feeling at the time or why they made the these decisions. This is bound to happen in a non fiction novel because they need to keep the reader engaged. If you want a book that is word for word historical facts, then this book is 80% for you. The beginning is slow because he has to introduce the characters and context so the reader can understand. However this also shows weakness in Larsons writing. One of the reasons I like an author is their ability to give information in a way that doesn’t cause the reader to become disinterested or confused. I don’t like the way Larson paces part one. However in a non fiction writing this form of writing can be seen as a strength. But for a reader like me I had a difficult time focusing on some parts that of the novel. Things that I liked was Larson ability to order events in a way that wasn’t confusing. The way the chapters are ordered based on what is happening is great, and when looking back it makes more sense. Overall the book is okay, and helps the reader learn about historical events in an entertaining way. I hope they make this book into a mini series so that they can truly understand not only the historical information, but also to transfer Larsons unique way of writing onto the big screen. I would recommend this book to someone interested in learning more about history. This book covers the worlds fair as well as the United states first known serial killer. In the past years many people have become interested in true crime and crime of passion. This book is a great for giving the audience a glimpse into the mind of a psychopath. However you might be feeling unsatisfied when the book ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Gore, Child death, and Death