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30th out of 565 books
—
841 voters
Thunderstruck
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world’s “great hush”
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of 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.
Set in Edwardian Lond...more
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of 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.
Set in Edwardian Lond...more
Hardcover, 480 pages
Published
October 24th 2006
by Crown
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I enjoyed parts of Thunderstruck and really had to force myself through others. The chapters about Marconi were often boring and too technical for my non-scientific mind. Larson sort of expects his reader to already understand certain elements of how radio waves works, which I don't. However, when Larson wasn't droning on about building towers and antennae, Marconi's story still captured my attention. (I'm sure more scientific minded people would enjoy the aspects that I didn't.)
In the end, I e...more
In the end, I e...more
20 likes · like · see review
view all 7 comments
There's a certain style of storytelling which I have an affinity for, both in terms of telling stories myself and listening to them (or reading them). The style, in a word, would be called "digressive". I know this style doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me. I like talking about or hearing about the little things that don't necessarily advance the plot or aren't crucial to understanding the point of something. As long as the digressions are interesting in and of themselves, I think the...more
9 likes · like · see review
Oct 31, 2007
Xysea
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
historical non fiction lovers, students of human nature
Well, he's gone and done it again! Another brilliant, engrossing true-life novel, completely with two independent yet seamlessly interwoven story lines that he manages to treat equitably through and through.
This book is a compelling journey of one man into the annals of scientific history (Marconi) and another into the depths of criminality (Crippen). The stories tie together in the end, during Crippen's capture.
Neither story can be said to be particularly happy: Both men were irredeemably flawe...more
This book is a compelling journey of one man into the annals of scientific history (Marconi) and another into the depths of criminality (Crippen). The stories tie together in the end, during Crippen's capture.
Neither story can be said to be particularly happy: Both men were irredeemably flawe...more
This nonfiction title cleverly combines the work of Marconi and the story of a famous turn of the century murder. The murderer was caught thanks to the new ability to contact ships at sea. I liked it but found the detail overwhelming. At first, I read carefully thinking some of those details might be important later but then realized I could speed read the book.
3 likes · like · see review
Jul 17, 2011
Teresa Lukey
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
i-learned-something,
non-fiction
This one turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for me. I loved The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America and was expecting something similar here.
Unfortunately, I was so weighed down in details of Marconi and his electrical engineering project, I could barely keep my head above water. There was simply too much detail when describing Marconi's work towards engineering wireless. Although an electrical engineer or any person interested in early c...more
Unfortunately, I was so weighed down in details of Marconi and his electrical engineering project, I could barely keep my head above water. There was simply too much detail when describing Marconi's work towards engineering wireless. Although an electrical engineer or any person interested in early c...more
2 likes · like · see review
Larson has a gift for making history seem stranger than fiction, but then again, history often is. Although the story is full of dates, facts, and details, it easily holds the reader's attention--that is, most of the time. At some points, however, usually those involving scientists squabbling and griping about each other, I found myself skimming ahead. The book traces the marriages and fortunes of two men, Guglielmo Marconi and Dr. Crippen, a murderer made world-infamous by Marconi's invention,...more
If you like history that reads like a thriller, then Thunderstruck should be on your list of books to read. Much like in Devil in the White City, Larson is able to weave an amazing amount of historical fact and detail into this fascinating story of murder and intrigue from the turn of the century. We take for granted today what was little understood and even less trusted as a viable means of communication then, in the form of radio transmission and communication. Larsen masterfully places his st...more
Erik Larson's previous novel, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, established him as the premier contemporary author of literary true crime. The publication of Thunderstruck maintains his status.
Larson retells the infamous and oft-told tale of the American Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who, while living in Edwardian London, murdered his aspiring actress wife and attempted to escape on an ocean liner only to be captured, thanks to a new invention...more
Larson retells the infamous and oft-told tale of the American Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who, while living in Edwardian London, murdered his aspiring actress wife and attempted to escape on an ocean liner only to be captured, thanks to a new invention...more
After reading Devil in the White City (one of my favorite books of all time), I was very excited to read this book. I ended up disappointed. I really had to force my way through this book. There was too much about the invention and not enough about the murder. Devil in the White City was much more balanced. Although maybe it just felt that way because the world's fair chapters were just as interesting as the serial killer chapters.
Erik Larson is a great writer. I enjoy how he ties a famous even...more
Erik Larson is a great writer. I enjoy how he ties a famous even...more
This was very interesting. It's a non-fiction book about the famous Crippen murder in England, how wireless communication came about, and how these two events connected somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean. I didn't know about the Crippen murder until I read this book, which I thought was a good thing, it added a bit more suspense to the book. Apparently, it is the second most famous murder in Britain, after Jack the Ripper. It did take me awhile to get into this book, about halfway through I was rea...more
1 like · like · see review
With incredible deftness, Larson weaves together the stories of an Italian scientist and inventor and a British hack physician and hapless lover. The setting is Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time that saw Edwardian indulgences and a fascination with mysticism and magic dissolving before the advances in science, technology, and the inevitable march toward the first World War.
This book is a lesson in history, an examination of the business and politics of technology and inve...more
This book is a lesson in history, an examination of the business and politics of technology and inve...more
3 likes · like · see review
This was paced even faster than The Devil in the White City. Thorougly enjoyed all the miscellany.
Sep 24, 2009
Shelly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Vicky, Lovers of Devil In White City
This is what I was hoping The Lightening Keeper would be! It is exactly what I was expecting from Erik Larson: epic storytelling in bite sized pieces that can be consumed by any lay-person willing to sit down and eat!! And while I mightily respect Mr. Larsen's writing talent I am ABSOLUTELY IN AWE of his incredible ability to SEE two pieces of history and know just how to juxtapose them and then converge both brilliantly into a satisfying climatic explosion!!! Another GREAT read from one of my f...more
The story of both Dr. Hawley Crippen and Guglielmo Marconi is intertwined nicely in this book by Erik Larson. The first book of his I read, Devil in the White City, I found to be extremely interesting, weaving its story among the Chicago World's Fair and a local serial killer. In much the same way here, he twists the two stories in on themselves, though the connection between the two men is tenuous - at best - until the last 15 pages.
Larson goes into detail on both stories - Marconi's developmen...more
Larson goes into detail on both stories - Marconi's developmen...more
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men--Hawley Cripen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creater of a seemingly supernatural means of communication--whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.
"Thunderstruck" is a better book if you have not read The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Erik Larson's riveting tale of how the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and th...more
Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. B-plus.
This is the second book by the author who made such a hit with his first book: “Devil In the White City.” This book is fascinating but not as enthralling as the first one. Peterson’s weakness is that, for every character he introduces, he tries to give you birth to death information about the character. Again, we have an over-riding event, and a discrete murder that is impacted by the over-all event. This time, we have the history of the invention and ongoin...more
This is the second book by the author who made such a hit with his first book: “Devil In the White City.” This book is fascinating but not as enthralling as the first one. Peterson’s weakness is that, for every character he introduces, he tries to give you birth to death information about the character. Again, we have an over-riding event, and a discrete murder that is impacted by the over-all event. This time, we have the history of the invention and ongoin...more
This is my third of Larson's books in as many weeks. I liked it the best of the three and thus awarded one extra star. It is well written as usual. What gives this one an added value for me is that it has such compelling material to draw from, and especially that the interwoven plots actually intersect meaningfully--well beyond the mere coincidences that provide the impetus for the story of the Columbian Exposition. I think Larson really nailed it this time, taking his speciality of interesting...more
Knowing just how good Larson is at creating a page-turning but still intellectually rewarding piece of nonfiction (based, of course, on the unbeatable Devil in the White City), Thunderstruck seemed like a good choice for an airport read. And it was. Kind of.
Thunderstruck follows the same general formula that made Devil in the White City so excellent: parallel narratives, one of historical importance and the other of a gruesome murder case. Unfortunately, he doesn't do much to update it. And this...more
Thunderstruck follows the same general formula that made Devil in the White City so excellent: parallel narratives, one of historical importance and the other of a gruesome murder case. Unfortunately, he doesn't do much to update it. And this...more
After reading Devil in the White City a few years ago, Erik Larson was on my list of authors that can write history like pulp fiction and I bought Thunderstruck a long time ago thinking I'd read it when I needed that type of book again. And in Thunderstruck, Larson does not disappoint. This book has the same mix of murder/mystery with large historical movements / creations as Devil. Where this one falls shorter in my mind is the scope of those stories. The architecture skills needed to create th...more
An interesting book but often slowed by side journeys into minutia. But I’d recommend it highly, anyway.
This book weaves totally separate story lines — that of Marconi, arguably the inventor of wireless who opened the way to radio, and that of Hawley Crippen, a “doctor” in an era of wonder miracle medical cures, ie concoctions that offered to cure about anything. Crippen was to be convicted of killing his wife and put to death.
Thunderstruck is story of how the Marconi story, or his technology, h...more
This book weaves totally separate story lines — that of Marconi, arguably the inventor of wireless who opened the way to radio, and that of Hawley Crippen, a “doctor” in an era of wonder miracle medical cures, ie concoctions that offered to cure about anything. Crippen was to be convicted of killing his wife and put to death.
Thunderstruck is story of how the Marconi story, or his technology, h...more
Overall a compelling story and page turner! I became a little frustrated because the author switches between two stories approximately every other chapter. So I felt like just when I was settling into one story it switched to another. But thankfully as the stories reached their climax the chapters became shorter and shorter, picking up the pace of each story.
The book is a work of non-fiction. It tells 2 stories that are happening simultaneously in Edwardian England. One is the story of G. Marcon...more
The book is a work of non-fiction. It tells 2 stories that are happening simultaneously in Edwardian England. One is the story of G. Marcon...more
An ok read by Erik Larsen, told in a style similar to his other hit, Devil in the White City. While both accounts read more like novels rather than historical accounts, Thunderstruck suffers from the same flaw as White City - namely he takes two stories (one generally fascinating, the other pretty boring), which pretty much have absolutly nothing to do with one another, and tries to intertwine them with one another.
Here, Larsen superimposes the story of Marconi and his (supposed) invention of w...more
Here, Larsen superimposes the story of Marconi and his (supposed) invention of w...more
Considering how much I'd enjoyed two of Larson's earlier books - Isaac's Storm and the completely wonderful Devil in the White City - it took me a hell of a long time to get around to reading Thunderstruck. Honestly, there was a pretty good layer of dust sitting on the jacket when I finally picked it up and went to work a couple of weeks ago. Why? Because, for no reason I can really explain, I was afraid I'd find it kind of dull.
Unfortunately, it turns out my apprehension was well-justified. I c...more
Unfortunately, it turns out my apprehension was well-justified. I c...more
Erik Larsen writes a unique sort of hist
orical novel in which he brings within the same covers disparate stories that somehow relate to a single overall event. Before Thunderstruck, I read—The Devil in the White City—which parallels the story of the construction of the Chicago world’s fair and the plotting of a murderer whose most notable crimes occurred in conjunction with the white city, which is what the modern wonder community the fair created was called. The result was a mystery full of dra...more
orical novel in which he brings within the same covers disparate stories that somehow relate to a single overall event. Before Thunderstruck, I read—The Devil in the White City—which parallels the story of the construction of the Chicago world’s fair and the plotting of a murderer whose most notable crimes occurred in conjunction with the white city, which is what the modern wonder community the fair created was called. The result was a mystery full of dra...more
Historical fiction about two gripping stories from the rise of Guglielmo Marconi with his drive to make wireless telegraphy work at trans-Atlantic distances, and the complicated life of Hawley Crippen, patent medicine man and murderer.
Larson tells a typical two-story-line tale that weaves back and forth between the two lines. Both stories are intense and really interesting, but the text also wavers a little between pure story-telling and history-telling. As you read, you get the sense that the...more
Larson tells a typical two-story-line tale that weaves back and forth between the two lines. Both stories are intense and really interesting, but the text also wavers a little between pure story-telling and history-telling. As you read, you get the sense that the...more
I am now an Erik Larson fan. He has, once again, combined a intriguing piece of history with an off-beat, suspenseful narrative to create a fascinating portrait of an era.
This story: the development of Marconi's wireless (I can't get over laying cable across the Atlantic, never mind sending messages without it!), which eventually evolved into radio and television, along with the strange life and crime of Hawley Crippen, who might have gotten away with a (bizarre) murder, had it not been for Marc...more
This story: the development of Marconi's wireless (I can't get over laying cable across the Atlantic, never mind sending messages without it!), which eventually evolved into radio and television, along with the strange life and crime of Hawley Crippen, who might have gotten away with a (bizarre) murder, had it not been for Marc...more
Got this at a library used book sale for 50 cents, and read it in the last two days in FL where I was working, at the West Palm Beach Int. airport, the airplane, and finally my apartment when I got home again.
Definitely an enthralling read, more because the author, E.L., is a fascinating researcher in the details he finds, then uses to tell intriguing stories about historical events and characters than how the story eventually unfolded.
This book was not as satisfying as his other, Devil In The...more
Definitely an enthralling read, more because the author, E.L., is a fascinating researcher in the details he finds, then uses to tell intriguing stories about historical events and characters than how the story eventually unfolded.
This book was not as satisfying as his other, Devil In The...more
I liked this in general, but got a bit bored with the history of telegraphy. Not that that was never interesting -- it often was -- but I didn't start with any curiosity about that particular subject and it would have been difficult to make it much more than palatable to me.
On the other hand, I'm always interested in certain aspects of true crime -- especially in murders by unlikely killers -- and that half of the story in "Thunderstruck" was compelling.
Larson previously penned a nonfiction boo...more
On the other hand, I'm always interested in certain aspects of true crime -- especially in murders by unlikely killers -- and that half of the story in "Thunderstruck" was compelling.
Larson previously penned a nonfiction boo...more
This is one of Erik Larson's books, although it is not his best. Larson is superb at telling real historical stories with the flair of a novelist. "The Devil in the White City" is one of his best.
As with his other books, Larson combines two different stories together to show how they interact in a given situation. The story combines a murder in London by Hawley Crippen with the efforts of Marconi to develop wireless communication. Without giving too much away, the use of one of the Marconi machi...more
As with his other books, Larson combines two different stories together to show how they interact in a given situation. The story combines a murder in London by Hawley Crippen with the efforts of Marconi to develop wireless communication. Without giving too much away, the use of one of the Marconi machi...more
It's an axiom that Great Men (and, one supposes, Great Women) are Unpleasant People. Larson's treatment of Guglielmo Marconi, great-great-great grandfather of the device you're reading this on, does nothing to dispel the miasma of meanness from him. What a rotten human being! How completely insensitive, how thoroughly obsessively devoted to his own self and comfort, what a complete rotter of a businessman!
Thank you, Guglielmo, for the gifts all that human wreckage you left behind have given us a...more
Thank you, Guglielmo, for the gifts all that human wreckage you left behind have given us a...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Books are my life...: Thunderstruck | 1 | 4 | Apr 01, 2013 07:17pm | |
| Clearwater Public...: March's Topic: Thunderstruck | 1 | 2 | Feb 23, 2013 10:11am | |
| A Lot Like Devil in the White City | 9 | 85 | Dec 13, 2012 06:06pm |
Erik Larson, author of the international bestseller Isaac's Storm, was nominated for a National Book Award for The Devil in the White City. He is a former features writer for The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine, where he is still a contributing writer. His magazine stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and other publications.
Larson has taught non-fiction wri...more
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Larson has taught non-fiction wri...more
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