| T9 |
I was intrigued in the "The Devil in the White City" for several reasons. My father is an architect and I have always tried to understand the beauty of what he creates - but my mind is far too undisciplined to focus on the art like he does. I've always had an interest in the evil that men do, if only to help give real foundations to my fictional villains - for some reason I've never heard of Mudgett, a serial killer who may have killed as many as 200 people. And I have always wanted to visit a World's Fair, since my uncle passed on clippings of the New York World's Fair to me.
The chapters alternate between pursuing the noble aspirations of Burnham, the architect who would build the greatest World's Fair ever in Chicago, and the insidious murders of Mudgett as he lures women and children to their doom.
Burnham's story is of necessity filled with political backbiting, lots of fretting, plenty of arguing, and sometimes a bit boring. But it is noteworthy if only because so many familiar characters appear - from Ferris, the maker of the Ferris Wheel, to Edison, to Frank Lloyd Wright (my father's a big fan), to Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, the list goes on and on. Set at the turn of the century and entirely factual, the events are distant enough to seem fictional but recent enough that we recognize the characters and places. Yes, even Shredded Wheat makes its debut at the World's Fair.
The events around the Chicago World's Fair are directly influenced by the prevailing politics: The economy falters, politicians lie, human apathy and stupidity leads to death. But as Erik Larson (the author) states at the end of the book, it was a rare event (perhaps, I'm afraid, the last event in America) where people united for the common good. Architects, builders, performers - all wished to demonstrate their national pride by building something fantastic and beautiful. That they nearly achieved perfection is a testament to the will of the age. It is nearly unthinkable now, where people squabble over a proper tribute to September 11 or World War II.
Conversely, there was a naiveté that was both galling and pitiable. Young women were entering cities for the first time on their own and finding jobs. They left farms and homesteads but had none of the survival skills necessary for any city dweller today. They were still hopeful to get married and have children. And they were away from their families.
In the 1890s, this combination was a veritable feast for Mudgett, who embodied every strength and preyed on every weakness of women in American society. He pretended to be wealthy, was daringly forward with his sexual advances, always promised marriage, and was only too happy to provide for children and relatives. Simply put, American society did not have any coping mechanism to deal with serial killers, just as we were recently unprepared for terrorism.
The American psyche's inability to conceive of the horrors that Mudgett perpetrated paralyzed every process - creditors who should have descended on him like a pack of wolves believed his lies, investigators never considered him a suspect, police were friendly with him. Mudgett had a black enough heart to gas, dissect, burn, and sell his victims with such pre-planned thoroughness that he makes Jack the Ripper look like a gibbering baboon with a scalpel. Mudgett built an entire building to facilitate his murders and he did it without a single person reporting him to the authorities.
Through it all, you can't help but realize that all of this is true. Indeed, Larsen's devotion to absolute accuracy sometimes become tiresome - for the most part, this book is a narrative rather than an account. I sometimes longed for some sort of fictionalized interaction, because it wouldn't have harmed the book and moved things along.
That said, The Devil in the White City is as much about the events described as it is about the loss of American innocence at the turn of the century. It resonates especially deeply now, only three years after the turn of a new century. A must read to help understand American culture, history, and the forces of good and evil in every human being.