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Avg. Rating: 4
politics aside, is a good read
Mr. Carr evidently has a great dislike of religion--nearly every creep in this book claims at least some outward form of Christianity. Religion is blamed for creating every type of degenerate there is and all of society's woes. Pastors and priests are particularly evil in this book. How convenient and tolerant this is to label one group as the trouble for everything--as long as it is only the Christians. Leftist liberals, particularly shrinks, however, are society's true saviors, according to Carr. That aside, I did like the book.
The first 150 pages are very slow--I had to force myself to keep going. There are a few faster paced areas here, but still hard to navigate. The characters are not particularly likeable and tend to be rather dry and remain so throughout. The main character is irritating,he is very cold and arrogant, thinking he has everyone figured out. This is of course the fault of his childhood upbringingand parents, not his own responses to life. Oh, I also find Teddy Roosevelt to be one of the most irritating characters in any book I have read.
Things do pick up well after this. There is a lot of plot twisting and action. Carr has a way with describing the era (although he ascribes modern left wing attributes to everyone who is not a criminal) that makes it come to life. He tends to focus on the underworld a lot and does a good job of describing the atmospheres of dread and gloom. His historical detail is fascinating as are the plot twists. I found myself eager to continue to find out what happens next. I did find it rather unbelievable that a shrink, reporter,and femninist cop wannabe are able to solve a heinous crime that police detectives cannot. Despite my irritation with the character's personalities and politics, the last 2/3 of the book continually picked up momentum and drew me steadily along, leading to a surprising climax, although it was slightly overdone.
I will read more of Carr. It takes a good writer to carry along someone who is simultaneously irritated/ impressed; disagreeing with yet enjoying; disgusted and fascinated by their writing.
Must Read
This is a fantastic book. I've read two of Carr's mystery books and both were very good. I'm very picky about my mysteries and I couldn't recommend this book more.
Lost in the History
I came prepared to love this book. What could there possibly be not to love, about a story which combines history, a serial killer, and the birth of forensic psychology? The title comes from the fact that prior to the twentieth century, people with mental ailments were thought to be `alienated' from themselves and society. Thus, if you studied or worked with the mentally ill you were called an alienist. For a story I so wanted to love, I can find precious little to praise. Of that, the history of New York, disjointed as it was would be the best. Carr paints a vivid picture of the horrors of immigrant life in the tenements of New York and anyone familiar with New York, will find familiar places and faces in the Five Points Gang, Tammany Hall and characters such as Paul Kelly. That being said however, my criticisms are legion.
First among these is that the story gets lost behind the history that Caleb Carr so obviously loves. Endless pages are spent describing street-by-street routes taken by characters from one place to another or architecture such as the metropolitan opera house. Minor true-life characters peppered throughout the story are flat and lifeless giving little idea as to their relevance. Theodore Roosevelt is a prime example of this as he shows up as a reforming New York City Police Commissioner. With no context for him in the story, I did not even recognize him as THE Theodore Roosevelt until the story was mostly over.
I also had difficulty with Carr's writing style. The story is written in the first person and does much to illuminate the writers' adage, "show don't tell". The main narrator writes from the perspective of looking back to a story that happened in his past where upon he narrates the story rather than allowing the characters to do so. An excess of description and not enough dialogue also detract. In short, I had a difficult time finishing this book--things don't even start to get interesting until page 118--but if you do want to learn more about the history of New York, mixed with a so-so story of a serial killer gone amuck, check it out of the library, don't buy it.
OK, Not Great
I can't confirm the plaudits that have followed this book. It has an interesting hook, putting the modern notion of "profiling" into the ahistorical context of 1896. And the references to old New York piqued my interest and made me drag out my copy of Scorsese's "Gangs of New York." But overall, The Alienist read like a mediocre Hollywood psychological thriller.
Frankly I am amazed it has not yet been made into a film as it would perfectly play on the big screen. A pitch must have already been made: "All right, get this. It's like Silence of the Lambs crossed with Gangs of New York. A psychologist with revolutionary ideas - I'm thinking Johnny Depp - assembles a team of amateur detectives to catch a Jack the Ripper clone in New York in 1896. And it has Teddy Roosevelt in it!"
Not that any of the modern teenage audience would know who Teddy Roosevelt was.
It's ok. Just nothing incredible.
read this book!
I suggest Alienist as rivaling Devil In The White City by E.Larson for quality; I review books mostly according to the 'pageturner' factor.
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