The Devil in the White City
Ratings496
Average rating4
Larson is great at building suspense, even if his method is a bit cheesy sometimes!
The only problem I had with this book is that there were so many characters that I couldn't remember all their names. I could usually suss out who was an architect and who wasn't, though.
I'm pretty sure I hated this book. But then I also found some things interesting, so maybe “hate” is a strong word. I think what bothers me the most about this book is that it won best nonfiction horror and best fact crime awards and it is not really a crime book and it's definitely not a horror book. It's a long, long, long book describing in excruciating detail how the Chicago World's Fair was built from the ground up with a side note about a maniac that was killing people. I read a graphic novel about HH Holmes that was more informative than this entire book was. He would go off on these tangents about the mayor or some builder or how shredded wheat was predicted to fail as a product for pages and pages and pages. Then Holmes would kill someone and that took up a few paragraphs then back to the fair. I feel like this was a bait and switch book! Even the epilogue was long winded and hardly about Holmes!!
A nice back and forth between the coming glory and the coming evil during one of Chicago's most exciting times. If you enjoy American history and seeing how the good and bad people have to live together and progress no matter what time they are from, this book will keep you engaged.
I read this book in anticipation of discussion on the relatively new podcast - No Dumb Questions which has been awesome. They recently covered Ready Player One (in depth, and did a great job, making some fantastic points) and The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is the next book they plan to cover. I listened to the unabridged Audible version and have to say I rather enjoyed it.
The book has 2 predominant storylines: The first deals with the 1893 World's Fair which was held in Chicago (at the time, The World's Columbian Exposition was considered the pre-eminent exposition in the world and was a huge deal, much more so than in the past 50 years). It was also a source of national and city pride where architecture and inventions took the main stage. There were many firsts at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair - the first Ferris Wheel, the first large-scale use of AC electricity, the first moving walkway, electric boats, the largest building in the world. The book covers much of the history of the fair and the intrigue involved in it.
The second storyline deals with America's first serial killer H.H. Holmes (born Herman Mudgett) who was trained as a physician, but operated a “pharmacy” and owned a rather large building near the World's Fair. The sensational murders of Jack the Ripper in London occurred just before the killing spree of Holmes and there is even some speculation (not in the book) that they are one in the same person. The in depth account of Holmes' history and various crimes, as well as his investigation is interspaced throughout the book and is interesting in it's own right as so many of the things he did were unheard of at the time.
While all of the events in the book occur simultaneously, the storylines don't really intertwine otherwise. No shared characters on both storylines. Probably because so many books/movies/shows have a similar setup, but then ultimately bring the characters together to integrate the storyline, it ended up feeling a bit disjointed when they didn't integrate. Also, though there were portions of the book which were “faster” in pace, there were also other sections where it plodded quite a bit. (Hence the 4 stars)
For all that, I still found the book worthwhile and quite interesting, mostly from a historical perspective. Definitely worth the read.
I recommend it. If you're interested in how the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition came to be, this is the book for you. If you're more interested in H.H. Holmes, there are a wealth of other books to choose from. I think if I'd read this cold I'd have enjoyed it much more, but as it happens, I heard about it from several unconnected people who raved, and thought I should give it a shot. It started out extremely well-written and riveting, but eventually the story became lost in the details, to the point where it felt like it was dragging on because the author couldn't kill his darlings. It also felt like the Holmes story was writtten completely separately, like the author knew his book about the world fair needed something to grab the reader and maintain their attention. It worked on me, but it was frustrating to have the majority of the nearly 400 pages spent on the minutiae of getting the World Fair up and running when there was such rich material to work with on the Holmes side of things. Then again it's a matter of setting expectations - I was ready for a lot more of the devil than what ended up in the book.
This book was good but I wanted a lot more of the devil, especially given the title. We get a lot of The White City and disproportionate amount of information concerning H. H. Holmes. I understand Larson's challenge in discovering accurate information is the origin of the lacking details.
In spite of this, I enjoyed the book. Considering the research and information Larson obtained, and its age, makes this work impressive. The organization of that information, and the resulting narrative, was interesting and informative in tandem.
Loved this book. Think the title was a smidge misleading but overall felt it was very informative and inspired me to learn more about the world's fair.
Dear god, this book dragged on. Very well-written, well-researched...just overkill on all the machinations of the 1893 Chicago World Fair. I was expecting more about the serial killer than the Fair, and it was opposite. Though the first 3 parts the chapters (for the most part alternating between the Fair and the nefarious doings of Holmes) on the Fair were much longer than the others. Very informative (I had no idea of the beginnings of Farris wheels or Juicy Fruit), but if you're expecting true crime, this isn't quite it.
Wow! So interesting and disturbing at the same time. This is the first Larson book I have read and I really enjoyed his style.
Very compelling. Larson weaves together two main plots very well; the subplots, less so. Still, he creates the impression of Chicago 1893 as a time of turbulence, both positive and negative.
The story of the World's Columbian Exposition (the 1893 Chicago World's Fair) and the events surrounding it are fascinating. It is these events and the shocking details surrounding H.H. Holmes that likely lead so many people to love this book. It is the sort of story many novelist would have loved to have devised themselves. Unfortunately, while the story is interesting, too much of The Devil in the White City rests on speculation, and this left me uncomfortable.
Again we approach that line of defining fiction and non-fiction. Does it matter if a work of non-fiction takes liberties? Probably not. But the issue is that when a storyteller purports to tell the truth, one expects the truth. All further additions are distracting. Personally, I enjoy these narrative non-fictions that add color and flavor to the traditional textbook story. I'm okay with some flair. Where I become uncomfortable is when the author adds thoughts and actions to “characters” he couldn't possibly know, especially in regards to their final moments. The actions and last thoughts of Holmes' victims are cemented forever by Larson's speculations. The lack of distinction between truth and fiction was troubling. In the conclusion Larson labels some of these speculations and tries to provide rationale for their inclusion, but it changed nothing for me.
Were Larson's inventions style or lack of material? It could've been either, but I do think there is a certain lack of solid material for the book. It felt as though the author was grasping at any threads he could build his book from. Had Larson stuck with what he knew from historical records, I get the feeling that the sections on Holmes in particular would've been thin. And without Holmes, this book wouldn't be the success it has become.
In the end, I credit Larson for uncovering a brilliant story and knowing how to make it interesting for the masses. Even removing the serial killer aspect of the story, The Devil in the White City is captivating; in truth, I'd say I found other aspects of the Fair much more interesting, in particular the Ferris wheel and the landscape architecture of Olmsted.
Probably closer to a 2.5. It's overly long, repetitive (Holmes had piercing blue eyes and a daring touch; Olmstead whined, etc.), and the Holmes stuff feels tacked on to spice up the rest of the book. I wish Larson had written more about the lasting effects of the fair rather than just devoting a few pages to it in the epilogue.
Bailed halfway through. The serial killer story was fascinating, and the building of the fair was interesting, but so detailed, that it was too much for me.
As I read the chapters about the World's Fair I felt great suspense: would they complete it on time? would it be spectacular enough to shut the mouths of those East Coast snobs? would the fair escape tragedy?
Reading the chapters about the serial killer H.H. Holmes was also suspenseful in a more immediate way: would he kill this person too? how would he be found out?
The alternation between the obvious and immediate suspense of the murderer and the subtle suspense of trying to overcome great odds made a nice contrast, and probably even heightened the suspense of both narratives. I had a hard time reading this book at night (due to the Holmes chapters), and found that 4pm to 7pm was the best time to read and not ruin my day or give me nightmares.
In all, a really terrific book.
If there were 3.5 stars, that is what I would give it. I enjoyed this book, but more about the history of the world's fair than the sensational murders (which surprised me). Good read though and I would recommend.
It was an excellent read! The two riveting parallel stories capture the spirit of the times.
I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book, it alternates between the World's Fair and the exploits of serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes and the author tells the story in an entertaining way and packs it with interesting bits of information about the Fair's creation and also the effect it had on society at the time, add in chilling details about America's first serial killer and you have cracking good read!! The combining of the two is an ingenious idea that works amazingly well...hats off to the author!!
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.
Gives an interesting description of Chicago and how that city was built up during the World's Fair. It is fun to visit Chicago now with that history in mind.