Chapter 19: A Book You Started and Never Finished

The Orchardist,  Amanda Coplin

It's been a while since I was here to talk books. I blame this book for that. It was supposed to fall into a different category. It was supposed to be a compelling story, beautiful prose, a recommendation. Instead it just kept putting me to sleep.

Coplin's tale is about an old guy who lives on a large orchard. He should be named Joe White he's so boring. I wanted to like him. I wanted to feel how haunted he is by the loss of his sister. I wanted him to find some sort of soul salve in the branches of the fruit trees. But, no, he just lets life happen around him. He's kind. That's the nice thing I can say about him.

So this guy lives alone and two pregnant teenage girls show up in his orchard but won't interact with them directly and he decides to sort of adopt them. The more feral girl, who probably could tell a good story, is not long for the world and we are left with Boring Guy and Dumb Boring Girl. She's had a really hard life and is detached from pretty much everything except horses. At this point I gave up.

The part of the book I did read could have been fleshed out into it's own novel with a bizarre resolution to a mystery, but that is not the route Coplin took. Heroin and sexual slavery are just kind of glossed over so we can focus on how boring the main guy is.

There's also a practical midwife who might be a good character, but she isn't given much page space except to call her by her first and last name every time she is mentioned, a device that quickly becomes, you guessed it, boring.

So, I might give this one a try again in the future. But for now, I want to read a story that does something besides cure my insomnia. After an trip to Book A Million, it looks like I've got some good material to share with you soon. Until then, The Orchardist gets half a Maria.

Chapter 18: A Nonfiction Book

The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson

I typically enjoy historical fiction. The Constant Princess from Philippa Gregory's Tudor series is one of my favorite books. What Larson has done here is take samples of actual communications from a historic period and written them into something unique. It reads like fiction but is all true. Nothing is conjured or imagined. The result is a bit magical.

It's hard not to go on and on about tiny details that make this book so interesting, how certain famous people's paths crossed or almost crossed. Reading many passages, I was excited to recognize people and events. That it covers both a city I love (Chicago) and a topic I find endlessly fascinating (serial killers) is almost icing on the cake. I learned new things, experienced the city in a different era, and found my insomniac hours filled with Wikipedia research.

So the main story is that of the World's Fair preparations in Chicago during volatile times (are they ever not?) This section focuses on the processes of designing and building the fair, the decadence and struggles of the creators, the emergence of new architectural art forms, and an appearance or two by Chicago's darling Frank Lloyd Wright. I say this is the main story because there is much more time and detail about the goings on of the fair. However, the parallel story of H.H. Holmes and his hotel of terror ticks right alongside it.

Now, if you are looking for details about Holmes- his methods and peculiarities- you will not find them here. I find Harold Schechter's research and analysis of serial killers to be well written and insightful. So check that one out if you want a more intimate portrait of Holmes. But, Larson does a decent job of putting Holmes into the context of labor unrest, financial panics, and the irresistible draw of an international display. After the fair ends, Larson turns to the pursuit and capture of Holmes but stops short of trial, conviction, and death. If you don't handle gore well, you don't have to worry about encountering it here.

 I found this book ... not exactly enjoyable, but still very readable. Perhaps fascinating is the right word for it. I am also very intrigued by others who have liked it, not people who I would expect to rave about murder, especially true crime. I won't be keeping it in my library. In fact, I've already packed it to pass on to my mom, who will pass it on to someone else. And I won't read it again. Still, Devil gets a solid 3 Marias for readability and interesting content. I'll even tack on an extra half for it's original format and writing.

P.S. If you like this one, I also recommend Shadow Divers for its storytelling style of nonfiction.