The Devil in the White City- Murder, Magic, and Madness At The Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
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Web ID: 14388820The Intersection of Murder and Architecture
Read this as prep for a trip to Chicago, and because I’ve been wanting to read something by Erik Larson, and was not disappointed. I surprised myself by being more intrigued by the HH Holmes chapters than the Daniel Burnham chapters, but Larson writes with such zeal that even painting a building white is as compelling as a malevolent serial killer. (Not really, but it's closer than you'd think!)
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Draws you in while teaching bits of history
The author has a great way of drawing you into the story about the building of the World's Fair in Chicago while also talking about the doctor. I enjoyed his ability to speak in first person, and depict the setting so eloquently. The only downside is I wish he talked more about the doctor. The book leads you in to read about America's first serial killer, but only about 30% actually spoke about him.
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Evil Amidst Beauty
I read “The Devil In The White City” in preparation for a book club meeting. I found two intertwined stories, one of The White City, the 1893 Chicago Worlds’ Fair and the other of the Devil, serial killer H. H. Holmes. I found the story of the building and operation of the Fair and the saga of its principal architect, Daniel Hudson Burnham, to be interesting. Striving to better Paris’ 1893 Exposition Universelle, Chicago and Burnham had standards against which their efforts were measured. Enjoying history as I do, the Fair’s tale was fascinating. To the contrary, the H. H. Holmes story was depressing and disgusting. He charmed those he deceived, defrauded and murdered. He purchased items and disappeared before payment, misrepresented his occupational credentials and, ultimately turned to a sordid tale of murder that put detectives on his trail. The book club discussion followed largely followed my impressions, interest in the fair, disgust with the murders. We compared the gullibility of those who fatally who entrusted themselves and their children to Holmes with contemporary scam victims. The discussion ultimately reached the realization of the presence of evil amidst the beauty of the fair. I will leave it at that to maintain the suspense. In my opinion, “The Devil In the White City would be a better book if it has limited itself to the White City and exorcised the Devil.
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Interesting Read
I had heard about this book for awhile but am not one who is in to murder mysteries and yet I did still enjoy this book. I learned a lot of the Chicago World's Fair and Larson gives a lot of inside information on the struggle to pull it off and its cultural impact at the time and later. Based on the book....the struggle was real! So many pitfalls, missed opportunities, behind the scenes showmanship and ego and a lot of financial challenges. This story is overlaid with that of one of the most disturbing individuals I've ever read about who is easily one of the most notorious and sick murderers to ever have been on US soil. His story was interesting because of the lengths he would go through to try to cover up his misdeeds and it illustrated human nature at its very worst. Overall, an informative and interesting read!
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A Classic
Truly a classic read
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The Devil is In The Drying Cement
What claims to be a novell account of America's first serial killer in the backdrop of the Chicago World Fair is nothing more than the dry ramblings of the architects arguing over paint samples. The initial synopsis combines two dissimilar topics, the Chicago World Fair architecture, and the H.H. Holmes murder hotel, and weaves an intricate tapestry that blends into a singular image. Combining two vastly different topics was the initial interest that drove me to pick up the book after watching it gather dust for many years on my shelves. However, my interest began to dwindle when the focus was on the dry ramblings of the architectural planning going into the Chicago World Fair rather than the devious minds of H.H. Holmes. Within the first 23% of the book, the balance of the two topics was off-kilter and ultimately led to the toppling of my interest and a DNF. Perhaps reading further would have restored the balance. However, the reader should have a strong interest in both topics. It is important to note that Erik Larson is a well-known author, especially for his ability to weave tales into historical accounts. As someone more interested in true crime rather than historical accounts, the book grew dry before the two worlds could collide. Therefore, the loss of interest in the book comes from the reader’s lack of interest in the material rather than a fault in the author’s writing. If this book is on your TBR or sounds interesting, note that Larson provides well-researched accounts of both topics that read more like a novel than a historical text. However, I would recommend having an interest in architecture and true crime to see the balance in both subjects. Without it, the topic of architecture becomes dry and crumbling like the cement they debate over in one of the chapters.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Chicago Fair Gone Wrong
This creative non-fiction book, "The Devil in White City," starts out with a brief history of the City of Chicago. Add to that Chicago being the host the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 following their fabulous presention of that event in Paris. Winning the competiion, Chicago, the "second city" assembled the best of American architects led by Daniel Burnham. The book captures the grandeur of the times and serves as a historical reference for Architectural Masters of America. The crime story appeals to the age old good versus evil narrative and does a good job of displaying the sinister mind and behaviors of Holmes. Enjoyable read.
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Review
I have been reading this book since January 2022 and I am writing this to express my thoughts. Overall, this book is a solid piece by Erik Larson. In the book, you explore the lives of Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes, two characters who both live different lives. Burnham is a famous architect, while Holmes is a conman and serial killer who defrauded many insurance companies and killed many people, his victims being mostly women. As I read the story, I have been very thrilled looking through the stories about Holmes’ victims and what Holmes causes to them. I also was very excited with the chapters about the construction of the world’s fair as I was wanting to see what the final picture of the fair could be. However, this book does not come without one major issue. The issue with this story has filler to meet the length of the book. While filler is not necessarily a bad thing for a book, it does take some of the excitement and thriller out of the story. A reader could be thrilled in seeing what Holmes does to Julia and Cuckoldry, but then get back to Burnham and the crew still attempting to build the fair. As a result, the reader becomes bored and starts to skip through the story to get to Holmes. Despite this issue, the book still holds strong as Burnham and the crew are eventually finished and although the fair at first wasn’t successful, it eventually became successful for Chicago. It also holds strong with the end of the book, the investigation and conviction of H. H. Holmes. As a result, I really like this book and I heavily recommend it to any reader who is interested in mystery or crime.
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