The Devil in the White City... Continued.

Erik Larson's novel The Devil in the White City includes many instances of hinting towards a point without directly saying it. Even the title is somewhat mysterious, and does not openly describe the topic of the book, unless one has the background knowledge and can infer this to a point. As I have said before, the language that Larson uses in this book pertains to the time period in which the story takes place: the 1890's, and the diction appeals to knowledgable, educated, and informed readers. Larson uses well developed sentences and thoughts in his writing and samples of this can be pulled from any part of the novel. "Cities began to see it as a prize to be coveted, mainly for the stature it would confer, stature being a powerful lure in this age when pride of place ranked second only to pride of blood." (Part 1, Page 16). High level words and phrases in this single quote include: coveted, stature, confer, lure, pride of place, and pride of blood. If one did not have neither vast vocabulary knowledge nor a dictionary and a lot of patience handy, they would most likely struggle with this writing style. 

The story begins with a character named Daniel Burnham in 1912, on a ship called the Olympic. We soon learn that this man was the head architect of the World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago. The book opens with the implied fact that Burnham's co-architect has been in an accident, and is likely dead. The author does not state that death is in the air, but as readers we can make that assumption. This sets the stage for many events to come. The novel then quickly leaps back to the world, pre-World's Fair. The book leads us through the selection of the city of Chicago for the fair, and the choice of architects as Burnham and his creative architectural partner, who dies long before the project is completed. 

The book soon reveals that it has a double storyline: one which follows Burnham while the other follows a man by the name of H. H. Holmes, who is a medical doctor and runs a pharmacy. There is a hint of foreshadowing in one of the first introductions to this character because when Chicago is described as a city where people sometimes simply disappear, the thoughtful reader may link this to H. H. Holmes, the oddball of a main character. As the story moves forward, the readers begin to learn more and more about Holmes. Apparently, one of his friends accidentally died as a child, while he was there. It is clues like this that make Holmes a less and less likable character, and more and more likely to become an antagonist. When we learn about the design of his new house, his sick mind is truly revealed. "A wooden chute that would descend from a secret location on the second floor all the way to the basement, a walk- in vault with airtight seams and asbestos-coated iron walls; a gas jet embedded in one wall that could be controlled from his closet; large basement with hidden chambers and a subbasement for the permanent storage of sensitive material." (66)

The book drags on throughout the design, construction, and events of the Chicago World's Fair. It flips constantly between the lives of Burnham and Holmes. Although the life of Holmes tends to be more interesting to the twisted mind, that of Burnham represents a more public and typical side of the world and the events of the time. Burnham deals with issues such as picky architects and design flaws, while the many murders of Holmes become revealed over time. Holmes was a true psychopath who made intricate plans involving ways to fraud his own and other peoples insurance, steal money from people he had sweet-talked, and murder innocent women, children, and even men. As the killer wrote in a journal, "'I was born with the devil in me, I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing." (Part 1, Page 109).

In time, the fair ends. H. H. Holmes leaves Chicago with a new girl on his arm, and is eventually arrested for his crimes of fraud, which leads to the discoveries of many of his cruel murders and sentenced to death. Burnham lives on for the next twenty years, although many deaths surround both of the men. All of the architects of the fair have died in one way or another, with Burnham and his friend who was in an accident coming last. After the death of H. H. Holmes, a significant number of people who were involved with his prosecution were seriously injured or died soon after. The end of the novel flashes forwards once again to 1912, with Daniel Burnham aboard the Olympic. Larson makes use of a full-circle ending here, when we find out that Burnham's last architect friend has perished. 

The clear subject of this book was the event of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, shown through two very different lenses. It followed two very different men, both basing their careers upon the occasion thing in contrasting ways. It seems to have been written for the mature, educated individual who appreciates history, good writing, and a catchy story. The Devil in the White City displays a style of fiction, although it is not. The author writes in such a way that I had a hard time believing that these were real events in history, not just interesting ones from a creative mind.  The novel sends out the message that evil is looming, on both the sides of the protagonist and antagonist, and shocks us in showing how two people can take advantage of one event, in one time period, in one city, and never even cross paths. 

On a scale of 1 to incredible, I think that this book deserves the best. Five gold stars!