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The author, Eric Larson, tells the true story of two different men and what goes on in Chicago circa 1893 at the Chicago World Fair.
The book, "The Devil In The White City" tells the story of H. H. Holmes and Daniel Burnham. The book has two plot lines. One plot line centers on Burnham, being a architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The other plot line focuses on H. H. Holmes, the serial killer who uses the fair to get his victims.
I found the book to be very informative but also difficult to read. I didn’t like the chapters about Burnham, I really only liked learning about Holmes, Holmes hotel that he built the same time the fair was being built, and the murders and victims.
In my opinion the main points the author makes are:
• Describing how Holmes would kill his victims
• Describing how Burnham is a highly respectable man with great pride
• Describing how everyone was so occupied with the fair, that they paid no attention to the killings that were happening just blocks from the fair grounds
I think that the author did achieve their purpose in writing the story. His purpose was to inform the readers of what happened at the 1893 World Fair. He included the process of how the fair was built, but he also gave us, the readers, insight on the twisted story of H. H. Holmes.
I personally found the writing difficult. His
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The book contained a lot of information about not only H. H. Holmes, but as well as Daniel Burnham. It went into detail about the construction of the fair and how Holmes killed his victims, he would seal them into a room without windows and let them suffocate, he would put them into a room and gas them, and once they were dead he would sometimes skin them and send them to schools to be used as examples of the skeleton. I think the weaknesses in the story would be how much detail the author went into on Burnham, I just didn’t like reading the chapters about
In the book, “The Devil in the White City,” Erik Larson tells the story of two formidable men and their activities during Chicago’s World Fair of 1893. Daniel Burnham is an architect and the fair’s brilliant director. The book takes the reader through the tremendous obstacles and tragedies that Burnham faces in an attempt to create a fair that will give America its fame. However, H.H Holmes is a young doctor, who uses the attraction of the great fair and his charms to lure dozens of young women to their inevitable and tragic deaths. Not only did Chicago’s World Fair of 1893 showcase Daniel Burnham’s success as an able director and H.H. Holmes cunning nature, it changed America as a whole, introduced some lasting inventions, and influenced many historical figures of both that time and our current time period.
In the late 1800’s America began to take on its own individual identity as a country. The Chicago World's Fair was a great influence for that notion. In Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City he tells a duel nonfictional storyline of one of the fair’s architects and a serial killer living just outside the fair. By using imagery, juxtaposition, and syntax Larson is able to enchant the reader and make the novel read like a fiction.
The World Fair of 1933 brought promise of new hope and pride for the representation of Chicago, America. As Daniel Burnham built and protected America’s image through the pristine face of the fair, underlying corruption and social pollution concealed themselves beneath Chicago’s newly artificial perfection. Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City meshes two vastly different stories within 19th century America and creates a symbolic narrative about the maturing of early Chicago.
To me, the challenging part of the book was reading a book on a topic that I do not know much about. I am starting to become familiar with the legal system, however I am nowhere near that of a lawyer. This is why I stumbled at times on some of the legal lingo that the book contained. In addition to that, I did find myself with a better understanding of our legal system. I felt like I was along for the ride on the whole legal process. Also, I would like to note that I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter on the autopsy because I thought it was very interesting how they performed those procedures in that time period. I loved the detail that the author went into when describing how it all took place.
I found several events interesting one being that many captives were captured more than once, talk about karma. Another being how attached the Indians where to their captives “the Indians would rather cut out their hearts than part with their adoptive captives.” And the last thing is how old Eunice and Stephen live to be. I found this story to be good. It wasn’t captivating. Over all I give this book 6 out of 10, due to the difficulty of understanding of the authors’ theme. and the lack of consistency throughout the book.
Erik Larson’s book Devil in the White City is full of magic and madness that has shaped the society of the late 19th century that is specific to in Chicago. The issues that have been handled through this time frame that are addressed in this book is that how Chicago was known to be the black city at first, and how the city hoped that hosting the World’s fair would increase their reputation. Secondly, the magic of a man named Daniel Burnham that did put the plans of the world fair in Chicago into life and the obstacles that he had overcame. Next, once the world fair was complete, it has made Chicago “The White city,” by its dazzling designs and attractions that made it memorable. Then, the madness of H.H. Holmes and how his evil deeds has seemed to undermine the world fair and the things that are going on within it with his murders and treachery that does grip Chicago once his evil deeds have been found out. Finally, the events that happened in the world fair that relate to the issues that occur in the late ninetieth century within the United States. The city of Chicago was in a desolate condition before it hosted the World Fair.
I just didn’t like it, probably because the book made me feel like I was doing something morally wrong by liking one of the killers instead of the family, and at the same time offended that the author made money out of this tragedy, and portrayed the killers better than the family. But, the book definitely made reflect, we don’t actually know the people we think we know, we don’t know who’s our neighbor, we don’t know who that person we helped is, that is actually what I can’t stop thinking about this book, it’s what I will remember the most for a very long time, when Dick and Perry planned on killing Mr. Bell after he gave them a ride, but they didn’t do it because Mr. Bell picked up another hitchhiker. We don’t even know what our family is capable of. Dicks parents never imagined their son would do something like that. We never know who’s standing next to
...ne of the strongest points of the novel is that it "teaches it lessons by implication, not by preaching; and literature is at it best when it is an imitation of life and not an excuse for instruction." The humor in the novel is also complimented, and it is this humor which contributes to the instructiveness of the novel. The review ends with the statement that the "story is capital reading."
It is all too often that literary critics read literature and then sift it into good and bad pieces, critiquing its value or mediocrity. However, it needs to be pointed out that this onerous task of "analyzing literature" for literary devices need not be the basis for placing value and worth on literature. Additionally, it is a great misunderstanding in society's education system that students need to learn what makes a good book solely by its use of literary devices. It's about time students read books for recreation and be able to express in their own words why the books are great or not so great. Most importantly, the lessons each book teaches students must be learned individually. People cannot be told what the book is trying to communicate, they must learn it for themselves. This is what makes books noteworthy, and this is why Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman is an extraordinary book. It is a book people can enjoy for entertainment motives rather than for its devices of sound, syntax, and omniscient point of view. Through the story of good versus evil, Estleman entertains the readers of The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count (the other title) to make a great novel.
Larson begins his novel “The Devil in the White City” by setting the stage, mentioning the events and people who made the fair so great. But simultaneously Larson hints at the evil lurking in the shadows. Although the reader is not fully aware of the dual nature of the human condition till Holmes’s big unveil. Larson describes Holmes as “a murderer that had moved among the beautiful things Burnham had created” (Larson 6). Chicagoans were startled by how such gruesome acts could go unnoticed for so long. The juxtaposition of...
“The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson was a mix between two stories that overall worked well together. The stories worked together to convey the true overall meaning of the theme good versus evil. Good and evil are seen everywhere throughout the novel, even in the most obvious of places such as the title. Good and evil, dark and light, they all stand for the same thing. White is normally found to be pure and good. By the author naming the book, The Devil in the White City, he is trying to tell the reader that the novel is about how even in truly pure places evil will follow. Although, good and evil is the main theme of this novel, I found that if you look deeply into the way he tells the story, he is also trying to tell his reader about other themes. These other themes that you can find all throughout the book are things such as pride and determination. These other themes were very prominent and played very well into the plot and the theme of the story.
They walk amongst us, silent and unseen until the ghastly moment of their horrid crime takes root. These are the killers, spawned from the Devil’s own seed, while others are nurtured in the squalid ruins of their environment. Devil In The White City, authored by Erik Larson, is a story that takes a close look at the World's Columbian Exposition, the world's fair that Chicago hosted in 1893 in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. The fair was tainted by deaths, a serial killer, and an assassination. The lead architect, Daniel Burnham, and the serial killer, Henry Howard Holmes, play pivotal roles in the events that unfolded before, during, and after the fair. Throughout this novel, we are informed of many possible
Like I’ve said before I really enjoyed reading this book and normally I don’t prefer book that are assigned. I enjoyed how Mr. Carnegie was very honest about life and how he approached different situations in life. I also l liked how he used his mistakes as a life lesson. I would defiantly recommend this book to other people and I would defiantly reread it.
For example, the way he tells the story is through John Watson’s memories/point of view, which very clearly shows the reader that kind of person Watson is, and gives us his back story in detail. However, it also keeps Holmes’ character in secret, and slowly reveals parts of his personality/backstory throughout the series. The novel also demonstrates Doyle’s intelligence through Holmes’ keen sense of deduction, as it uses Holmes’ ability to figure out a person’s backstory simply by looking at them to tell the reader Watson’s past. He also uses his background of scientific education to add a sense of realism and help better convey Holmes’ methods/intelligence. It also shows his creativity in the way the murder mystery in the book unfolds, with all of these different leads to who the killer may be changing with each murder that occurs. The ending where he finally reveals the killer is unexpected, and also shows how smart the killer himself is, giving Holmes a worthy adversary and ending in a one-on-one-battle of wits and logic. This novel easily exhibits Doyle’s intelligence and his ability to write an engaging
In conclusion the topics that have been stated are good examples of why a person should read this book. Death, Society, and murder can be hard topics to talk about. People may not think about the meaning behind a book. Some just read and know the plot but do they really know the meaning behind the story? Most likely the do not. People should read books that give them something to discuss with other people. By reading more interesting books a person will have more to talk about with people in general.