Date: 19 October 2014
Location: Bob & Linda
It was a beautiful fall Sunday afternoon as the Happy Bookers met to discuss our monthly reading–
another non-fiction work by Erik Larson, author of In the Garden of Beasts which we discussed back in 2011.
Most of the Bookers had read at least part of this month’s book and found it a compelling read.
Larson has definitely developed an effective technique for telling a tale.
He interweaves a major event of historical significance, in this case the Chicago World’s Fair of 1892-93,
with the details of an individual associated with the event, here the grisly story of a serial murderer operating in Chicago during the same time-frame.
Personally, I thought the combination was just a little contrived:
Holmes (or Mudgett) was carrying out his heinous acts before, during, and after the Fair and not just in Chicago. Most of the other Bookers seemed to think that the two stories meshed well together, and I guess I shouldn’t complain–we got two stories for the price of one.
Obviously, the account of Holmes and his evil activities,
including his infamous hotel with its gas chamber and kiln for disposing of bodies, is a horrific story, and Larson is certainly able to keep your interest.
However, Larson’s description of the creation and operation of the World’s Fair was, at least to some of us, even more interesting.
It is a fascinating account of how Chicago wanted to surpass the previous fair in Paris with its Eiffel Tower.
The book focuses primarily on the lead architect Daniel Burnham
but also describes the contributions and activities of many of the other contributors, including some of the country’s leading architects.
Larson covers many aspects of the project such as: the planning and construction of the buildings, the special foundation requirements for the buildings,
the selection of AC (vs DC) electricity, the landscaping decisions,
the mistakes such as the fire hazard in at least one of the buildings, labor issues, and of course
the construction of one of the fair’s key attractions-the enormous first Ferris wheel.
Naturally, during our discussion someone raised the usual question, “How did the author treat women?” There is a certain grim irony here, since most of Holmes’s victims were women.
However, the author Larson appears to treat women fairly throughout the book–
perhaps the only negative being his description of the powerful influence that Holmes seem to have over women. On the other hand, Larson also describes how Holmes was able to fool and manipulate men as well, so there is no obvious gender bias in his writing.
After our discussions we then shared a fine meal of jambalaya, bread pudding and several other assorted goodies. We normally try to have food that is associated with the book that we are discussing. The only food that folks could remember being prominently mentioned in the book was shredded wheat.
So, we decided to skip this ‘tradition’ for this month.
— Bob