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A review by bookph1le
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
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.