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Austin A

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Montezuma's Ferrari (The Last Open Road)

by Burt S. Levy (Goodreads Author)

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May 14, 2013 11:27AM

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The Devil in the White City

by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)

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Austin A said: " The book The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson is one of the better books that I have read. This book is like no other due to the fact that fact that the author has two stories within the overall story of the Chicago’s World Fair. However the fo The book The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson is one of the better books that I have read. This book is like no other due to the fact that fact that the author has two stories within the overall story of the Chicago’s World Fair. However the format the author uses, jumping from one part to another sporadically, is definitely comparable to the book The Wettest County In The World by Matt Bondurant. In that book, the author, Matt Bondurant jumps from different times of the story, often times the shifts were in years, but the different stories fit together and made sense later on. The only difference between the story jumping in the The Devil In The White City is that Larson jumps stories to keep them both up to date with each other, not letting one fall behind the other.

The way Larson keeps up to date on both John Burnham and H.H.Holmes, really helps to see how the time of the fair changed Chicago, from both direct involvement and a citizen in the Chicago area. The “Big Picture” that I see present in the novel is that when you lose an important friend/team member, you will never be able to pick up the work that they left behind, despite everything that you do. Especially after the death of John Root, Burnham is a perfect example of this theory. John Burnham was involved with the building and designing of the Fair since day one, Larson goes to every extent to show how the Fair’s strict and tight deadlines have conflicted with and taken a toll on Burnham, especially after the death of his partner John Root. “...as Burnham talked with her [Root’s Wife] a relative also entered the room. She told them Root was dead.”(107) Upon the death of Mr. Root, Burnham did his best to try to pick up where Root had left off. It was a far stretch for one man, but he made a skilled attempt at it. “There is no man in the profession of architects who has the genius and ability to take up the Exposition work where Mr. Root left off.”(198) The agony and struggles that Burnham went through with the absence of John Root were tremendous, and the writing style of Erik Larson enhances this much more.

Due to the fact that there are two stories within this book, I feel that the Dr. Holmes story has a different theme in it. I feel that the theme is that people are not always what they seem to be on the outside, the true person is hidden at a different depth. Dr. Holmes is a prime example. He appears to be a nice, wealthy and reputable guy, but his true identity is a serial killer named Dr. Mudgett. The way Larson shows how Holmes was tricking everyone he met about his real identity, makes the story that much more interesting. The suspicions that people had about the disappearances were changed when they saw who Holmes was on the outside. An identity swap is a prime example of this. Dr. Mudgett changed his name before he moved to Chicago to H.H.Holmes. Holmes found that the Fair brought him new victims and money through his fraudulent World’s Fair Hotel. But the repetitive disappearances of women who were last seen in Holmes building, start raising eyebrows to some people. At the same time many don’t even make the connection that the rich and charming Dr. Holmes would even think of committing such crimes. “No one could imagine Dr. Mudgett causing harm to anyone...” (42) The stories fit perfectly into the plot, the ever constant disappearances in and near the Holmes building, dwarfed and almost forgotten by citizens, because of the latest news of the Chicago’s World Fair.

This book is a historical non-fiction, these are real stories from the time of the Chicago’s World Fair, and the fact that this really did happen, in my mind, is amazing and unique all on its own. I have read other books like this, and I plan to read more of this type. The only thing that I don’t like about this genre is that the author can’t get creative with his work, it is basically a historical rendering based solely off of facts, memoirs and documents.

Based on the themes in this book, I know without a doubt that these types of people are ever present in today’s society. I have seen, and know first hand how people are not as they seem, and the whole team is hurt without one of its members. These can be the ugly truths sometimes, but it is something that many people have endured at one point or another in their life. All things considered, this is a great book, and because of the exceptional writing and formatting technique, I give it 4 stars. ...more "

Apr 04, 2013 06:30PM · see review