Thunderstruck

I spent the New Year's holiday weekend engrossed by Erik Larson's Thunderstruck. It renewed my delight in historical nonfiction, persisted in its tediousness at times, and told the story of an awful murder in the wake of Jack the Ripper's assault.

Thunderstruck intertwines the history of the invention of wireless communication with a story of murder most foul in Edwardian London. Set at the turn of the twentieth century, the prime players include an obsessive and scientifically haphazard Italian in his pursuit of trans-Atlantic wireless communication, a bodacious and outrageous babe who manhandles her husband to a tipping point, a mild-mannered and timid doctor with the capacity to astonish, and his lover: Ethel.

If one can find their way through technical descriptions of discovering something the inventor simply has a hunch is there, the story of the relationship that leads to murder is quite compelling. It was clear to me that the book was written by a gentleman due to its focus on the detail of methods and technologies used. A female writer might have spent more time on exploring the characters in the various relationships, but the lack of sensationalism is refreshing. The distilled view is direct, complete, and quite gripping.

Thunderstruck would be a very frustrating read for someone looking for just a good story. A good story it certainly is, but there is some effort involved. A "beach read" this is not. It would suit the fancy of those interested in the pursuit of progress and the development of communication. They would find themselves engrossed in the weird and very gruesome deception of Dr Crippen.

The Devil in the White City

This week, I will be attending two different book club events.  For one club, I read The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  Three sets of stories are melded together in this piece of non-fiction.  It is the tale of a murderer, a serial killer, and the building of the Chicago World's Fair in the early 1890s.  


Before reading this book, I did not know much about World Fairs.  Now, I know a bit about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and a smidgen about the Paris World's Fair of 1889, to which the Chicago team used as their standard to surpass.  It was nicknamed the White City based on its appearance from the white exterior architecture of the buildings.  While the Chicago Fair was being designed and built to honor the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus "discovering" America, H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer was on the loose in Chicago.  





While reading this work of non-fiction, I started to take notes on familiar items and names that were started or associated with the Chicago World's Fair.   I've included a few that stuck out for me in the following list.  


Structures and inventions of note:

• Light bulbs.  The war of DC vs AC light bulbs was intense at this point, and Westinghouse won the lighting contract for the Fair with their AC bulbs, at a bid of $399,000.  As the author states, "The exposition went with Westinghouse, and helped change the history of electricity"
• Ferris wheel.  This was the Chicago Fair's answer to rival the Eiffel Tower of the Paris World Fair.  
• Exhibits of new inventions:  "The first moving pictures on Edison's Kinetoscope...the first zipper; the first all electric kitchen...Aunt Jemima's...Juicy Fruit, and caramel coated popcorn called Cracker Jack..."
• Midway.  The idea of Midway really took off with the Chicago Worlds's Fair, and carries on to this day.  One of the exhibits at the Midway was the California Ostrich farm which "offered omelets made from ostrich eggs, though in fact the eggs came from domestic chickens."  Shredded wheat was introduced as a cereal item that is still carried in grocery stores.  
• Museum of Science and Industry.  The Fair's Place of Fine Arts, transformed into a permanent structure, now houses the Museum of Science and Industry. 

Names of note:

• Frank Lloyd Wright.  He was a junior architect with Louis Sullivan's firm, and was fired for using his free time to design houses for clients of his own.    
• Elias Disney helped build the White City.  According to the author, Elias's son Walt may have been influenced by the White City in his creation of the Magic Kingdom.  

My review:
Genre: Non-fiction, history, true crime


Who I would recommend this to? Anyone with an interest in U.S. history that likes a detailed look into a set of events in a specific time frame should enjoy this book.  Even though it involves a serial killer, I did not find it too off-putting and enjoyed the majority of the book. 
If you're more of a fan of movies based on books, it is rumored that Leonardo DiCaprio will play Holmes in a 2012/2013 movie release.


Would I read other books by this author?  Erik Larson has other books available, and I may consider reading In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin when the waiting list isn't so long at the library.