What would a novel be without some dark, unexpected turns? After all, consistent, positive progress cannot really be expected in real life can it? According to Erik Larson, the answer is apparently not, as the progress of the World's Fair begins to encounter more and more road blocks as the already strict time constraints begin to wind down. John Root has his rough design for the 1983 Chicago World's Fair approved, finally, and while that may seem like good news, much more complexity follows. Now, the duo of Daniel Burnham and John Root must contact other architects to assist in the development, and interestingly, they choose to go with ones from New York, Boston, and Kansas City, rather than Chicago. Not only does this decision cause an uproar in the city of Chicago, but the outsiders contacted are not all enthusiastic concerning participation. Only Henry Van Brunt agrees at first, so Burnham travels to New York to attempt and entice the others into joining. Only Robert Peabody of Boston agrees to Burnham, who is noticeably less confident without his partner, as well as Frederick Law Olmstead, another well-known architect involved in the project. Upon his return, not only is he disappointed with the results, but the city of Chicago is in an angry state over the betrayal, so Root and Burnham quickly decide to bring on five Chicago firms to the committee. Finally, some good news is found when the other holdouts agree to join upon the Committee on Grounds and Buildings offers to pay each $10,000, but their concerns with the project were not diminished. After all, "they still had not seen Jackson Park" (Larson 84), the decrepit park chosen for the site of the Fair.
Dubbed "The Landscape of Regret" by the chapter title, Jackson Park was not a welcome sight to the architects. As a matter of fact, upon viewing it, "The architects were stunned: 'they gazed,' Burnham said, 'with a feeling almost of despair'" (Larson 95). The sheer desolated look of the park was enough to scare almost anyone off, except for Burnham and Root, who believed they could make something extraordinary out of, "one square mile of desolation, mostly treeless...it was ugly, a landscape of last resort" (Larson 95). Unfortunately, the site, in all honesty, was even worse than it appeared, as many of the oak trees were dead, the root systems were badly damaged, and the soil was almost like quicksand, which spelled trouble for the buildings's foundations. This realization of the architects from outside of Chicago hit them so gravely, that one even remarked that the project could not be completed on time, to which Burnham simply replied, "That point is settled" (Larson 96). While Burnham may have been putting on a brave face, even he did not truly know if their goal could be accomplished.
As if the circumstances surrounding the World's Fair were not already incredibly difficult on Daniel Hudson Burnham, they were about to get much, much worse. While Burnham gathered the eastern architects in order to attempt to ease their concerns about the task at hand, the recently weakened John Root is officially diagnosed with pneumonia and takes a turn for the worse. Burnham leaves the meeting to go to his partner's bedside. He arrives in time to spend much of Root's last moments with him, but Root cannot be saved and he passes away, leaving behind a stunned Daniel Burnham. He even considers quitting the project altogether, but decides to stay and take on the ever daunting challenge with full enthusiasm. Part One ends here, leaving the reader in suspense, a technique mastered by Larson throughout his novel, whether it is from chapter to chapter, or between sections.
In addition to the traumatic events occurring in the life of Daniel Burnham, we revisit the adventures of Dr. H.H. Holmes. While his activities are less frequent in this section, we do note that his building is being developed with a kiln in the basement. While it is supposedly for his Warner Glass Bending Company, it noticeably took the form of an oven used in a crematorium, and could easily fit dead bodies. This detail is of extreme importance given the dark mystery that surrounds Holmes and the people that seem to disappear once they come around him. At the end of the section, we see two new females, Gertie and Julia Conner, enter Holmes's life and they are noticeably appealing to him. I am personally interested to see what will become of them as the novel moves forward. The most intriguing element of this entire section to me personally, lies in the final words of the section. They read, "Closer at hand a far stranger creature raised his head in equally intent anticipation. 'I was born with the devil in me,' he wrote. 'I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing'" (Larson 109). It is fairly clear that the person being discussed here is Dr. H.H. Holmes, and it left me with a sense of anticipation for the events to come. I am thoroughly interested to learn of what other devious acts Holmes will commit, as well as how the Fair will move along without John Root, and Larson's use of suspense allows this feeling to be evoked. It is something that not only excited me, but angers me as well, because I have to wait to learn what is coming.
Dubbed "The Landscape of Regret" by the chapter title, Jackson Park was not a welcome sight to the architects. As a matter of fact, upon viewing it, "The architects were stunned: 'they gazed,' Burnham said, 'with a feeling almost of despair'" (Larson 95). The sheer desolated look of the park was enough to scare almost anyone off, except for Burnham and Root, who believed they could make something extraordinary out of, "one square mile of desolation, mostly treeless...it was ugly, a landscape of last resort" (Larson 95). Unfortunately, the site, in all honesty, was even worse than it appeared, as many of the oak trees were dead, the root systems were badly damaged, and the soil was almost like quicksand, which spelled trouble for the buildings's foundations. This realization of the architects from outside of Chicago hit them so gravely, that one even remarked that the project could not be completed on time, to which Burnham simply replied, "That point is settled" (Larson 96). While Burnham may have been putting on a brave face, even he did not truly know if their goal could be accomplished.
As if the circumstances surrounding the World's Fair were not already incredibly difficult on Daniel Hudson Burnham, they were about to get much, much worse. While Burnham gathered the eastern architects in order to attempt to ease their concerns about the task at hand, the recently weakened John Root is officially diagnosed with pneumonia and takes a turn for the worse. Burnham leaves the meeting to go to his partner's bedside. He arrives in time to spend much of Root's last moments with him, but Root cannot be saved and he passes away, leaving behind a stunned Daniel Burnham. He even considers quitting the project altogether, but decides to stay and take on the ever daunting challenge with full enthusiasm. Part One ends here, leaving the reader in suspense, a technique mastered by Larson throughout his novel, whether it is from chapter to chapter, or between sections.
In addition to the traumatic events occurring in the life of Daniel Burnham, we revisit the adventures of Dr. H.H. Holmes. While his activities are less frequent in this section, we do note that his building is being developed with a kiln in the basement. While it is supposedly for his Warner Glass Bending Company, it noticeably took the form of an oven used in a crematorium, and could easily fit dead bodies. This detail is of extreme importance given the dark mystery that surrounds Holmes and the people that seem to disappear once they come around him. At the end of the section, we see two new females, Gertie and Julia Conner, enter Holmes's life and they are noticeably appealing to him. I am personally interested to see what will become of them as the novel moves forward. The most intriguing element of this entire section to me personally, lies in the final words of the section. They read, "Closer at hand a far stranger creature raised his head in equally intent anticipation. 'I was born with the devil in me,' he wrote. 'I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing'" (Larson 109). It is fairly clear that the person being discussed here is Dr. H.H. Holmes, and it left me with a sense of anticipation for the events to come. I am thoroughly interested to learn of what other devious acts Holmes will commit, as well as how the Fair will move along without John Root, and Larson's use of suspense allows this feeling to be evoked. It is something that not only excited me, but angers me as well, because I have to wait to learn what is coming.