Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
Release date: 2006 / 392 pages
Synopsis (from back cover): “In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the story of the two men — Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication — whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.”
Review: Almost exactly one year ago I discussed my family’s book club — which had at that time chosen Three Cups of Tea to discuss. This year, my husband suggested Thunderstruck as a good choice. We had chosen Larson’s The Devil in the White City a few years ago and had enjoyed it (although some found it a bit tedious). We are always anxious to include the men in the family, as well as the women, and Larson’s latest seemed to appeal to both genders. Many of my cousins have small children and were unable to read Thunderstruck this year, but my grandmother, mom, cousin Sarah, husband, and Uncle David did — and my sister and cousin John joined us, too, having not read the work yet, but seemed intrigued nevertheless.
I must admit, when my husband first finished Thunderstruck and recommended it, the subject matter didn’t grab me. I tend not to read murder mysteries and while the invention of radio seemed interesting, the length of the work was initially daunting. However, I did ultimately enjoy Thunderstruck and do recommend it. I think most of the family members who read the work enjoyed it, too — or at least were not sorry that they had read it. My uncle did not enjoy how Larson alternated between the parallel narratives — and found the Marconi sections a bit slow. On a positive note, my mom was surprised to learn that Larsen had not fictionalized the work at all — in other words, the narratives really do read like fiction at times and Larsen’s “character” development is excellent.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this work is how in many ways the murderer, Dr. Crippen, is more sympathetic (until the murder, obviously) than Marconi the inventor is. Another compelling aspect is how unrelated the two men are until the very end. And, by the way, the end is truly gripping. The pages flew by as I galloped to the resolution that joined the two men and couldn’t do much else until I had finished it.
However, I do think it was a bit lengthy at times. The beginning and end were fast-paced, but a bit of Marconi’s self-induced, if not intentional, drama dragged a bit. Fortunately, Larson must have a pretty strict editor — note how the 40 pages of Notes at the end were introduced in the Coda:
“Regrettably, when the time came to write the final drafts of this book, I found myself forced by the demands of narrative coherence and pace to eliminate a number of compelling but useless pieces of information. Anyone obsessive enough to read the following the footnotes will encounter some of these orphans, lodged here for no better reason than that I could not bear to expel them.”
I imagine that Larson — and many historical writers — become so completely immersed in the subject matter that it becomes very difficult to let go even the most minor detail. But, if I had been Larson’s editor, we would have struggled a bit…
Nevertheless, I do recommend Thunderstruck and enjoyed it more than The Devil in the White City.
Anyone else read this yet? Drop me a comment!
Wow, I’m glad you all liked this book … because I couldn’t stand it! ~LOL~ I listened to the audio version and was so bored in parts that I tuned it out for entire chapters at a time. I’ve heard bloggers rave about Devil in the White City, but I don’t think I’ll be trying that one myself.
Regardless, it is really interesting to me that your whole family reads and discusses something. My family thinks I’m nuts for reading so much – they’d shoot me if I tried to make them read the same books that I am!
Thanks for stopping by, Heather!! I think our family book club works because NO ONE is pressured to read the book (key point) and because my cousin Libby (2 kids under the age of 5) suggested it (as opposed to me, the book-obsessed English teacher with no kiddos).
It is a challenge each year to find something that will appeal to a lot of folks… but the discussions are great!