The Alienist

The Alienist, written in the mid-90s by Caleb Carr, follows a ragtag investigative team's pursuit of a sadistic serial killer stalking boy-prostitutes in New York. Set in the 1920s, Carr does an amazing job of setting up the world around the investigative team - made up of alienist (psychologist, as we would call him nowadays) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, reporter and narrator John Schuyler Moore, police receptionist Sara Howard, and twin detectives Marcus and Lucius Isaacson - often using real-life places, people, and events to set the stage for exciting plot developments. Carr uses a very distinct writing style, among other tools, to create an extremely readable psycho-thriller. Beyond the pages, however, is where Carr strikes gold. In the shadows of the pursuit of the serial killer lie the issues of class divisions, the distrust of psychologists at the time, the implied (and sometimes direct) corruption and attempted reformation of the NYPD, and a moral conflict that exists between those who want to seize the killer for the sake of justice versus those who are morally ambivalent because of the nature of the murder victims. Overall, I'd say this book is a fascinating read, especially for those who enjoy crime/murder mystery novels as well as historical fiction.

First Line: "Theodore is in the ground."

Author: Caleb Carr

Length: 487 pages

Hamlet

Ah, to be or not to be, that really is the question, isn't it? The immature and insane Hamlet would agree, of course. Hamlet stars in the eponymous play written by the prolific William Shakespeare, a masterful exploration of true human nature mixed with trademark tragic elements that not only distinguish this play as one of the darkest works in ol' Willie's repertoire, but also as one of the best. As minor character Marcellus points out, something is rotten in the state of Denmark. And it's up to poor, recently bastardized Prince Hamlet to save the day. But, as the play slowly progresses, it becomes quite apparent that the intellectual, depressed, possibly religiously zealous Prince has no intention of avenging his father's perceived murder. Along the way, he deals with the weighty topics of, I don't know, life and death, heaven and hell, love, leadership, and of course, sex. Hamlet excels as a study into the intricacies of the human brain, but I found it to be a little lacking on the action side. The play moves glacially and spends far too much time on irrelevancies and belaboring the point that Hamlet is a lunatic. However, finishing Hamlet is worth it, and it stands as one of my favorite Shakespeare plays as of now. 

First Line: " 'Who's there?' "

Author: William Shakespeare

Length: 287 pages

1st Post

Hello!

I'm Andrew Sobotka, a sophomore in high school who has been a bookworm since I could first put together sentences. The goal of this blog is pretty much just to review books I read, maybe start some heated discussions (about books...yeah), and just enjoy books! I had a few book reviews I had already composed prior to today that I wanted to sorta lump together as an intro today, but blogger.com (I hope they aren't watching me...) wasn't too psyched about letting me copy and paste stuff. Bummer. Well, I guess an original one isn't too bad! Enjoy!