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emilypoche's review against another edition
4.0
To qualify this review; I’m a definite fan of Larsen’s and have really enjoyed some of his other works. I’m sure that my enjoyment of this book is in some way colored by my overall enjoyment of reading the way he crafts histories. Just like Devil in the White city this book blends two parallel stories, a crime and a historical figure and then converges them in a crescendo. I think that this book did have very high stakes due to the nature of the story, which was compelling and interesting even without the contextualization.
The thing that caused me to rate this 4 rather than 5 stars is the abrupt way Marconi’s storyline drops off and the Crippen storyline dominates the end of the book. I also thought that the book was very, very heavily weighted to the exposition and contextualizing history. It felt like once the book moved to the pursuit of Le Neve and Crippen that the book took a feverish pace that didn’t match the other 3/4 of the book.
All things considered, Larsen is a well-researched thorough writer that knows how to make nonfiction interesting and compelling. This book does not disappoint, particularly if you’ve already read any of this other titles.
The thing that caused me to rate this 4 rather than 5 stars is the abrupt way Marconi’s storyline drops off and the Crippen storyline dominates the end of the book. I also thought that the book was very, very heavily weighted to the exposition and contextualizing history. It felt like once the book moved to the pursuit of Le Neve and Crippen that the book took a feverish pace that didn’t match the other 3/4 of the book.
All things considered, Larsen is a well-researched thorough writer that knows how to make nonfiction interesting and compelling. This book does not disappoint, particularly if you’ve already read any of this other titles.
rprav8r's review against another edition
3.0
There was a lot of boring to wade through for the exciting narrative.
namirsolo's review against another edition
5.0
The parts about Crippen are fascinating. I knew nothing about this story previously and was surprised that so many elements of it have gone on to influence popular culture since- Rear Window mostly notably. However, the parts of the book concerning Marconi are dry and I had a hard time paying attention to them at all. Quite honestly I don't really care about the science behind radio technology or how he developed it. The latter parts of the book where how radio impacted the world are much more interesting than what Marconi did day to day.
Overall this is another incredibly well-written history by Erik Larson. I have yet to read something by him that I wouldn't recommend.
Overall this is another incredibly well-written history by Erik Larson. I have yet to read something by him that I wouldn't recommend.
theresaalan41's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story of two men whose lives intersect in 1910. Harvey Crawley is a diminutive, balding doctor who is suspected of killing his wife and nearly getting away with it. At the same time, because of advances in communication, the entire world knows about Crawley attempting to run away with the woman he loves.
The Crawley/Belle/Ethel story was compelling, but the Guglielmo Macroni story of trying to get the technology built to be able to communicate over long ranges goes into painful, excruciating detail and is an absolute snoozefest. Also, the author writes about things that happen in1910 and for no apparent reason is suddenly back in 1906 talking about something that happened then.
mcarson24's review against another edition
4.0
Another Erik Larson in the books, so to speak. Here, Larson takes the reader on two journeys, one through Marconi’s intense quest to prove that wireless trans-Atlantic communication was not only possible, but practical and the other following one of Britain’s most famous crimes and infamous criminals.
What in the world do the two have to do with each other?? Well, not all that much. That is, until the two story lines quite dramatically intersect, each part thrusting the other into the world spotlight. Along the way, Larson explores the growing conflict between “true science” and commercial enterprise, the increasing political tensions of pre-WWI Europe, and a whole host of personal traits and experiences of one of history’s most notable scientists, one of Scotland Yard’s most pursued murderers and many of the key figures who surrounded them.
In a world where we tuck wireless into our back pockets dozens of times each day, it’s easy to forget that it took several acres of land and hundreds of feet of wire to send just a few words a few hundred feet. And that at the time, most people believed it to be of little practical value - a parlor trick. How quickly things can change!
Be forewarned…as the details of the murder are exposed, things get quite gruesome. Think PD James. And if physics never excited you, you may have to wade through some technical jargon that threatens to bore you. But hang in there. Larson balances it out and brings these two distinctly different stories into a unique juxtaposition.
What in the world do the two have to do with each other?? Well, not all that much. That is, until the two story lines quite dramatically intersect, each part thrusting the other into the world spotlight. Along the way, Larson explores the growing conflict between “true science” and commercial enterprise, the increasing political tensions of pre-WWI Europe, and a whole host of personal traits and experiences of one of history’s most notable scientists, one of Scotland Yard’s most pursued murderers and many of the key figures who surrounded them.
In a world where we tuck wireless into our back pockets dozens of times each day, it’s easy to forget that it took several acres of land and hundreds of feet of wire to send just a few words a few hundred feet. And that at the time, most people believed it to be of little practical value - a parlor trick. How quickly things can change!
Be forewarned…as the details of the murder are exposed, things get quite gruesome. Think PD James. And if physics never excited you, you may have to wade through some technical jargon that threatens to bore you. But hang in there. Larson balances it out and brings these two distinctly different stories into a unique juxtaposition.
subversivegrrl's review against another edition
3.0
Seems like Larson was trying to do the same thing here as with The Devil in the White City - parallel stories of two historical personages/events that eventually come together. Although the intersection of Marconi (or at least Marconi's technology) and putative murderer Hawley Crippen (since this book's publication, DNA evidence has shown that the body found in Crippen's cellar was not only NOT Cora Crippen/Belle Elmore, but was in fact MALE) was a little more clear than the stories of architect Daniel Burnham & serial killer H.H. Holmes in White City, I thought the book overall was less successful.
msroark's review against another edition
4.0
Bogged a little in the middle and I understand nothing of electricity. But the murder mystery makes up for those things.
stacia_reads's review against another edition
3.0
I love what Erik Larson does—turning a nonfiction story into a narrative that reads like fiction—but this book missed the mark for me. The story is divided between two men, a murderer and an inventor, but it focused disproportionately on Marconi's development of wireless communication. While interesting, I could've done with a lot less of the business dealings and science.