Thunderstruck, written by Erik Larson, tells the story of two men--Hawley Crippen, a hopeless romantic who falls in love with a woman that craves the thrill of trouble; and Guglielmo Marconi, a scientist researching means of communication who strays away from normality and attempts methods pertaining to the supernatural. This book is set in a seemingly large ship, the S.S. Montrose in 1910, when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners. Racing against time, Marconi must create a better, more convenient, yet technologically advanced means of communication, even though thousands of other scientist are attempting/researching the same innovation. Marconi does everything he can to increase progress on his research and soon to be invention while working in fear that his life’s work may be taken away from him at moment, a fear that would soon destroy him and others around him. Thunderstruck portrays an unparalleled conflict of a nearly perfect murder, an endless love and an innovation that has made up our today, which flips our daily views of communication up-side-down. In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the story of Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murder. The most memorable scene in Larson’s story for me is the moment when Hawley crippen was thunderstruck by love. Crippen hopelessly falls in love with Cora Turner, a young, vivacious woman who comes from a past of eternal sin. Cora lived in an apartment paid for by a man named C.C. Lincoln, but in return, Lincoln received sex and the companionship of a woman who was young and physically striking. Crippen was well aware of Cora’s past, however, that was void because now, Cora was his and she wouldn’t have to do the things she’s done again. This scene reveals Crippen’s personality and interest, he doesn’t care about past but lives in the present but he would soon find himself empty. Cora’s true intentions come out to play when either money, pleasure and/or favorable manipulation is involved.Ultimately, the story of historical science and communicating supernaturally, Thunderstruck is a story of committing original sin, loving carelessly through sea travel, communicating over the deep seas, and putting one's life to an end forever. It all adds up to a tale of true love and murder, an ironic situation between the hidden similarities of passionate love and infinite hate, which we all should bring to our acknowledgement. Thunderstruck tells that story very emotionally, helping us realize that even though we may be looking for love, we might just find hate along the way, an unfortunate game of hide and seek that we all eventually play, a game that depends on who finds what first; love or hate.What I took from this book is a lesson on people’s character and that love and hatredco-exist in this world and that it’s up to us to balance between the two. I learned that people aren’t always as they seem at first impressions. Larson first portrayed Marconi as a determined scientist who didn’t mind other’s business but as the story progressed, Marconi’s true colors were revealed, and they weren’t so pleasant. And as for Crippen, let’s just say you’ll be in for a shock.This book made me feel like I was thirty years-older because of the time setting and historical feel to the book. It felt like Larson was taking me back to the past and showed me a scandalous part of history where the only things to do were to invent, party, kill and have sex. Not so different from today, other than the invention part. And Frankly, Marconi’s story was extremely tedious and probably would only entertain another scientist interested in means of communication. However, Crippen’s adventures were exciting and thrilling, the most interesting parts of the book all involve Crippen and his different personality.Do I recommend this book? Well, it all depends on your fetishes. If you like history, crime, sex and murder, go for it, but only if you have nothing better to do. You’ll often find yourself bored when you travel with Larson and observe Marconi, however, when it comes to Crippen, you won't be able to put the book down. This story of a true love and murder is full of surprises and misadventures that will almost always succeed to satisfy your historical book fetishes.
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 all. Rot in peace.Then, at the precise opposite end of the emotional spectrum, lies the once-infamous, now largely forgotten, Dr. Hawley Crippen, who murdered his termagant of a wife (who *richly* deserved killing, being a female Marconi sans genius), so he could be with his little light-o-love. Didn't work out, needless to say, though if the Scotland Yard inspector had simply been told to go the hell away, the whole chase and capture and hanging might not have had to happen. There was no evidence of a killing, but the Inspector went on a fishing expedition in Crippen's basement--wouldn't be allowed today, not a chance!--and, well...he really did do it. Probably not alone, though....Well, anyway, you've read The Devil in the White City and Isaac's Storm, so I needn't belabor the point that Larson has a magpie's eye for shiny things, bringing to the nest of the book a trove of odd and telling details about Edwardian London, about the nature of human relationships, about the science of radio waves as it was being discovered; most of all, he brings us characters we feel some connection to, and can really invest in. I know how the book ends before I pick it up, but I find myself wanting Crippen to get away with it and pulling for him and Ethel to make it to Canada *this time*.They don't. Shame, that.Wrap yourself in this big, warm greatcoat of a book that transports you back to an optimistic, doomed, bright summer afternoon of a time. It's oodles of fun, if you take it slowly and don't try to gulp it down. It's too big to swallow whole, and half the fun is setting the book down and savoring the images of this vanished world. Recommended to all but the most history-phobic.
What do You think about Thunderstruck (2006)?
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 juxtapositions of murder and progress to its best possible expression. It sort of makes sense to me that the more recent book of his that I've read is more of a straight up history rather than a parallel tale of murder and great events. Anyway, this is a great book. Marconi is a compelling character in his own right, of course, but the stories of the scientific establishment's dealings with the untutored foreigner are well worth attention. The backdrop of growing international tension also provides interest.
—Bobscopatz
In classic Erik Larson style, Thunderstruck is told through parallel lives and events. In this case, more so than in The Devil in the White City, it's not immediately evident how the elements will come to intertwine.Guglielmo Marconi (below) was smart, contributed to society in the end, blah, blah, blah, but he was also kind of a jerk (that's my opinion, not expressly stated in the book). Larson chalks it up to a lack of social skills, which may be true, but it doesn't mean I have to forgive him for it. It would still be a few more decades before Robert Merton would outline his "norms" of modern science, but in the face of a spiritualism frenzy, "real" scientists were trying to distinguish the components of, well, "good" science. Marconi (an entrepreneur, more so than he was a scientist, which he, ironically, noted in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics) was not on board with key components of this like communality and letting skeptics in on the experiments.On the other side of town (or the ocean, depending on the day), our second story line involves a homeopath, an aspiring actress/singer (lacking in the skill department - think American Idol outtakes), and, of course, a mistress. If Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen were a woman and/or late 19th-century jurists had access to the Law & Order franchise, we might think his was a case of battered wife syndrome (in these PC days, "battered person syndrome"). I feel like just looking at the pictures of Crippen (above) and his wife,Corrine "Cora" Turner/Belle Elmore (below) you might get a sense of what a truly terrible match theirs was. The details of how this all plays out are intriguing, and involve plenty of deceit, betrayal and a dash of 19th century detectivery and forensic science.Skipping ahead, the story lines converge when Dr. Crippen and his mistress, Ethel Le Neve (below), take to the seas- in this instance, dressed as father and son. (Le Neve really should have seen bad things coming at this point, being asked by your lover to dress as a little boy should always be a deal-breaker!) Without giving away too much, the SS Montrose essentially becomes the "white Bronco" of this whole affair, and (here comes the Marconi tie in), thanks to the advances in science, this was basically the first instance of live tweeting the hunt for a murderer on the run. The public appetite for this type of thing, it would seem, has always been high- so this was pretty much the best publicity Marconi could have ever hoped for. I would give this more stars if it weren't Larson, who I know can (and does) do better. It's worth reading, I just wouldn't put it up there with his more recent books. Bonus Archer reference: "Thanks Guglielmo Marconi...who I think invented the radio."
—Mara
have you read devil in the white city? its similar in that the book follows a famous criminal, and at the same time gives you an in depth account of the chicago worlds fair. im in the midst of it and enjoying it. it is somewhat gory.
—Karlan
