In Progress: Thunderstruck

Broadway Books

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson is a random book I picked up from a local used books store.  I was familiar with The Devil in the White City (which I have yet read, but about which I've heard some really great things) and Dead Wake, but I hadn't had the chance to read any of Larson's books and, given my great love for history, I'm kind of surprised I haven't stumbled across his work sooner.

Although I'm only about a third of the way through Thunderstruck, I've had the realization that Erik Larson is a fantastic writer.  Not only does he combine accuracy and thoughtful, intricate prose, he has a genuinely interesting subject - or, maybe more accurately, he has a way of making his subject genuinely interesting.

So far, I've only made it through the set-up:  Guglielmo Marconi has begun his large scale experiments to attempt a transatlantic signal with his wireless telegraphy, and Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen has settled into London with a new job and his delightful wife, Belle.  And I can honestly say I have no idea where the story is going.

I mean, I know that Marconi must succeed (it's hinted at in the very first passages of the book that his transatlantic telegraphy works); likewise, I know that some tragedy must strike Dr. Crippen's life, that he must commit some heinous crime (little allusions populate the book, pointing to some criminal misdeed).  But I don't know the exact details:  I don't know how Marconi manages the first wireless transatlantic telegraph message (or how his race against Nikola Tesla goes), or what Dr. Crippen does to gain his criminal status.

And I'm dying to know.

Thunderstruck has been slow reading (which is my own fault, I get distracted easily), but it's been an incredibly enjoyable journey.  I love the detail and the intricacy of the story, as Larson pulls from personal correspondences, interviews, newspapers, and more.  Additionally, he has true talent for combining facts with storytelling elements, making his writing accessible and entertaining, like a narrative, but informative and thought-provoking.

Larson manages to combine the best of both worlds.