The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America chronicles the building of the “White City” of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893, also called the Chicago World’s Fair. The Exposition was held to commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America. Over 27 million people attended the Exposition which covered 600 acres and included almost 200 new buildings, all in a neo-Classical style and painted white. Hence, the name, the “White City.” Parallel to the story of the Fair, Larsen details the life of H. H. Holmes a serial killer operating at the same time.

First and foremost, this is a history book. The bulk of the story revolves around the Exposition, also called the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, and takes you from the decision to hold the Fair at Chicago to its conclusion. The main character in this part of the story is Daniel Burnham, the architect who is responsible for overseeing its development. At stake is the reputation of Chicago as a city that can compete with New York City.

In the process, Burnham deals with some of the biggest names in architecture for the era including George B. Post, Charles McKim, and Richard M. Hunt, all from the east coast, which adds fuel to the fire of rivalry between New York and Chicago. Frederick Law Olmsted appears frequently. Often referred to as the “Father of Landscape Architecture,” Olmsted is known for his design of Central Park in New York City and the Biltmore House grounds in Asheville, NC.

But development of the fair isn’t all about architecture. You need engineers, construction crews, interior designers, and exhibits. The stories and people Larson tells us about add color and charm to the book. For example, Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show was rejected as an exhibit, but Cody got around this rejection and made far more money than he would have had he been included. Sol Bloom’s exhibit idea was also rejected. When he took another approach, he ended up being responsible for the design and management of the Midway Plaisance. It was so successful that we still call the exhibit area of fairs the “Midway.” Oh and Bloom was only 23 at the time.

Other people you will encounter include George Ferris (as in Ferris Wheel), Harriet Monroe, Annie Oakley, Susan B. Anthony, Theodore Dreiser, Clarence Darrow, George Westinghouse, and Thomas Edison. It was a time of dramatic change in the country and the fair exemplified it.

The parallel story told by Larson is that of H. H. Holmes, serial killer. Holmes takes advantage of the coming Exposition to establish a business and build a cheap hotel. He is also a con man who avoids creditors through the use of aliases and his ample charm. The way he avoids suspicion and deals with it when it occurs is fascinating. He also has special needs for his chosen modus operandi as well as accomplice help. Larsen details all of this. He does take some liberties in describing Holmes’s murders, but he documents his choices and sources nicely in the notes and Epilogue.

All of this takes place against a backdrop of turmoil in the country. The Panic of 1893, the worst until the Great Depression, makes the success of the Exposition questionable and financial choices critical. It also brings hundreds of unemployed people to the city looking for work during a time when labor concerns and disputes were prominent.

Larson weaves all of this together beautifully and wraps the book up with a look at how the Exposition made an impact on the country overall. If you’re looking for a true crime book, you might be disappointed. Although true crime is definitely an element, in spite of the title, I don’t think it is the main focus of the book. If instead you are looking for a history book about Gilded Age America with a lot of interesting people and color, I think you’ll enjoy it. I certainly did.


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Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

I'm not a technophobe or a "gadget geek" as I call a friend of mine. I use technology when it suits my needs, but don't feel the need to run out and get the latest, sexiest new device. That may explain why I've always been a PC gal, but the people I know who have Apple products love them.

Steve Jobs was a genius at combining technology with artistry, which was one of his goals along with building a great company. This is also a somewhat simplistic statement. Jobs' goals, along with the man himself, were complex. From his feelings about being adopted to his abandonment of his own daughter, from his refusal to work with anything less than "A players" to his "reality distortion field", Isaacson does a superb job of walking us through the complexities of the life and accomplishments of the man behind Apple and Pixar.

I am old enough to have taken Fortran IV and used keypunch cards to submit my programs, so I remember when Apple computers were first introduced and the fierce debates between PC and Apple fans over the years. However, I have not followed the career of Jobs, so much of the book was new to me. If you follow technology news closely, I suggest that you read a number of reviews before buying the book. If you are looking for a rundown of events, or a history of Jobs' companies and the technology, you might be disappointed. If you read biographies for a look inside the person, to try to understand what makes them tick, their admirable and non-so-admirable traits, and what contributed to their success, I don't think you will be disappointed. I wasn't.

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas G. Carr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It includes a little for everyone who enjoys non-fiction. Carr goes into the history of different media and how they changed society, such as the written word, printing press, TV, etc. This sets the stage for how the internet is affecting us.

There is good news and not so good news. It seems that use of the internet is very distracting (as if we needed to be told that.) But it's not just distracting us from the rest of our lives, but distracting us while we are surfing. There are so many links, ads, banners, etc. that we are getting better at multitasking and filtering out what is important. But imagine this - You're sitting in a comfortable chair with a good cup of coffee or tea. It's raining softly, maybe a little chilly, and you're sitting there with a soft afghan and one of your favorite books. You quickly get absorbed into the book. Well apparently frequent surfing on the web can decrease our ability to think deeply about what we are reading.

Carr goes into the science of how our brains work, how memory works, and what it takes to hold knowledge in our working memory. He cites many different studies that show our ability to comprehend information that we read decreases in proportion to the number of links and distractions in our material. But this inability to concentrate carries over to reading off of the internet.

The internet is here to stay and we have to make adjustments. When reading material became easily accessible to the general public, the need to memorize knowledge was lessened. Eventually, educators began requiring less memorization which actually decreased our ability to memorize. Now with information at the touch of our fingertips, we are keeping even less information in our working memories. This is no problem for things that are not required for critical thinking, such as logarithms or functions that a calculator could perform for you. But for example, when evaluating current political events in light of historical events, you need to remember the things you've learned.

It's obviously more complicated that this, so I would recommend reading the book for yourself. It's readable and full of interesting information both historical and scientific, which of course made it perfect for me.

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We Wait You - A Book Review

We Wait You by Taryn R. Hutchison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Taryn Hutchinson goes to Eastern Europe after the fall of communism with Campus Crusade for Christ. In this memoir she recounts her life there over a period of ten years. Ultimately, what began as a short one year mission trip became a life choice that changed her outlook on life and her feeling of belonging in the world.

Hutchinson began her life as a foreign missionary in Eastern Europe in Romania as a "college student" studying the Romanian language. She and her colleagues ministered to the other college students. As Romania became more open, they were able to be more forthcoming about their intentions in the country and openly minister to students and their neighbors. She does an excellent job describing the living conditions in this newly free country and the openness of the people there.

After a couple of years in Romania and in Hungary, Hutchinson takes on a more supervisory role and begins to work with staff and volunteers in the other Eastern European countries. She weaves in information about the history of the region, the living conditions in each country, the varying receptions they received from the people, as well as more personal information. She doesn't shy away from describing her own difficulties in dealing with the lack of basic necessities or the spiritual struggles she experienced.

At the end of 10 years there with only short trips home to see family and connect with sponsors, she returns to live in the US. The transition is not an easy one. Life in Eastern Europe has changed her. Returning in 2000, she has missed the 1990s and has to adjust to many new things. Most of the people she knows don't understand her perspective, and she often feels like she doesn't belong in either world. She takes the reader on this personal journey of reintegrating into life in the US.

This book is on the recommended reading list for the United Methodist Women for 2012. I picked it up because I have always been interested in Eastern Europe. I was not disappointed. The book is funny, sad, sometimes a little scary, and very informative. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the area or in mission work.

A Jerusalem Memoir - A Book Review

It's Easier to Reach Heaven Than the End of the Street: A Jerusalem Memoir by Emma Williams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Emma Williams' memoir of her time living in Israel is an important book to read if you want to understand the nuances of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Williams and her family moved to Israel just prior to the beginning of the second Intifada in August, 2000. Her husband works for the UN; she is a doctor who tries to work and provide some normalcy for her 3 children and a 4th born in Bethlehem. They live in Jerusalem in a village with one Jewish family and an extended Palestinian family.

Throughout the book Williams weaves personal stories and events with the bigger picture of the struggle between Jews and Palestinians. She is in a unique position to develop friends and colleagues on both sides of the issue and tries to convey the fears, desires, and attempts to maintain daily life on both sides. She is also open about her own attempts to understand and how difficult it is at times to face the reality. She quotes frequently from conversations with journalists, soldiers, politicians, and ordinary people. Keeping close and frequent communications with friends and family in the US and Britain, she is also able to compare what appears in the press in those countries with what is happening in the country. We definitely don't see the entire picture here.

The Williams lived in Israel until 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq, when her husband was transferred to another country. She continued to visit frequently through 2006 when the book was first published in Britain. The edition I read was an updated edition published in the United States in 2010.

It isn't necessarily an easy book to read. It's beautifully written, but the reality is harsh. As with any emotion packed issue, there are people on both sides of the issue who have extreme views, but also people on both sides who above all else want peace. I get the feeling that this is a situation that is almost impossible to understand unless you've lived with it. For that reason, this is an important book to read, especially if you think that you understand the issues you owe it to yourself to read this. It might give you a different perspective or at least a more in depth understanding of the situation.

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