Welcome to the first installment of Bookin' It, a blog where each week I read a new book, and review it for your convenience!
There are an infinite number of books in the world- over 2,200,000 were published worldwide just last year!- each with their amazing story to tell. I intend to choose 10 books that have been burning a hole in my shelf to review!
I'd like to preface this by saying I have a fairly uniform taste in books. I tend to gravitate toward books set in a fictional reality, that offer a loose connection to a political conspiracy and some sort of love triangle. I aim to break that mold with this blog, instead opting for books that offer interest to a wider of range of people.
However,
I cannot promise to avoid love stories entirely; what can I say, I'm a
romantic. I do swear to only review books available in the Penn State
Library, in case anyone is interested in reading it for themselves
(which I hope everyone has a chance to do)!
With that, let's dive right into our first book!
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Genre: Crime Fiction/ Historical Fiction
Setting: New York, 1896
Published: 1994
Woah, this book was insane! My mom had recommended it to me a few months ago, but I never got around to it, but I am so happy I finally got to read it. It was a little lengthy, at 496 pages, but each page was filled with pure thrill.
The book begins at the funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, although the reader is quickly brought back in time to 1896 where crime journalist John Schuyler Moore and the soon to be president first began their friendship. At this time, Roosevelt has just been appointed police commissioner of New York City. The author, Caleb Carr does a fantastic job of setting the scene. He seamlessly works in the real life issues facing the crime ridden city at the time; an influx of immigrants, harsh divides between the rich and poor, and the era of crime capitalized upon by the seemingly debonair mobsters who controlled the tenement in the lower East side.
Roosevelt brings Moore to the scene of a heinous crime against a young immigrant boy on the Williamsburg Bridge. Carr spares no details, so for someone who gets queasy easily, this may not be a book on your "100 Books to Read Before You Die" list. The horror does not end there however, Roosevelt confides in Moore that this is the third in a series of similar deaths, but the police have no leads. That is in part because each murdered child has been an immigrant, and thus their crimes were not as thoroughly investigated as Roosevelt would have liked. To remedy that, hr brings in his old Harvard boxing team friend, psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler. This accomplished 'Alienist' (the name of the book!!!), as psychologists were referred to at that time agrees to help Roosevelt using a series of then unexpected methods, like finger printing and behavioral profiles. Along with them is intelligent Sara Howard, the first women to work for the police force, who is determined to be taken seriously as a women in the male dominated field.
I don't want to give too much away, as the story unravels quickly without allowing the reader to take any breaths. I could only tear myself away to to go classes, and occasionally eat! Carr's style of writing is sophisticated without loosing the reader, and his descriptions of old New York were captivating to a native New Yorker like me! He describes the building of Coney Island's original aquarium, the swanky 5th Avenue brownstones, and the theater and food scene in a way that makes me wish I could visit this time (minus the murders, of course).
I will probably read this book again in the near future, and I recommend you do to! It is the perfect book to keep you hooked until the very last page, and even then, you will keep thinking of it was after you've closed its cover.
**PS: There is a sequel, The Angel of Darkness, that I have yet to read. It's absolutely on my list now, although it seems to be focused on a different case than The Alienist**
There are an infinite number of books in the world- over 2,200,000 were published worldwide just last year!- each with their amazing story to tell. I intend to choose 10 books that have been burning a hole in my shelf to review!
I'd like to preface this by saying I have a fairly uniform taste in books. I tend to gravitate toward books set in a fictional reality, that offer a loose connection to a political conspiracy and some sort of love triangle. I aim to break that mold with this blog, instead opting for books that offer interest to a wider of range of people.
 |
| Via unearthedcomics.com |
With that, let's dive right into our first book!
 |
| Via inammagazine.com |
Genre: Crime Fiction/ Historical Fiction
Setting: New York, 1896
Published: 1994
Woah, this book was insane! My mom had recommended it to me a few months ago, but I never got around to it, but I am so happy I finally got to read it. It was a little lengthy, at 496 pages, but each page was filled with pure thrill.
The book begins at the funeral of Theodore Roosevelt, although the reader is quickly brought back in time to 1896 where crime journalist John Schuyler Moore and the soon to be president first began their friendship. At this time, Roosevelt has just been appointed police commissioner of New York City. The author, Caleb Carr does a fantastic job of setting the scene. He seamlessly works in the real life issues facing the crime ridden city at the time; an influx of immigrants, harsh divides between the rich and poor, and the era of crime capitalized upon by the seemingly debonair mobsters who controlled the tenement in the lower East side.
Roosevelt brings Moore to the scene of a heinous crime against a young immigrant boy on the Williamsburg Bridge. Carr spares no details, so for someone who gets queasy easily, this may not be a book on your "100 Books to Read Before You Die" list. The horror does not end there however, Roosevelt confides in Moore that this is the third in a series of similar deaths, but the police have no leads. That is in part because each murdered child has been an immigrant, and thus their crimes were not as thoroughly investigated as Roosevelt would have liked. To remedy that, hr brings in his old Harvard boxing team friend, psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler. This accomplished 'Alienist' (the name of the book!!!), as psychologists were referred to at that time agrees to help Roosevelt using a series of then unexpected methods, like finger printing and behavioral profiles. Along with them is intelligent Sara Howard, the first women to work for the police force, who is determined to be taken seriously as a women in the male dominated field.
I don't want to give too much away, as the story unravels quickly without allowing the reader to take any breaths. I could only tear myself away to to go classes, and occasionally eat! Carr's style of writing is sophisticated without loosing the reader, and his descriptions of old New York were captivating to a native New Yorker like me! He describes the building of Coney Island's original aquarium, the swanky 5th Avenue brownstones, and the theater and food scene in a way that makes me wish I could visit this time (minus the murders, of course).
I will probably read this book again in the near future, and I recommend you do to! It is the perfect book to keep you hooked until the very last page, and even then, you will keep thinking of it was after you've closed its cover.
**PS: There is a sequel, The Angel of Darkness, that I have yet to read. It's absolutely on my list now, although it seems to be focused on a different case than The Alienist**
