★★★★☆ 4.5/5
Just finished reading the last page of The Alienist (Caleb Carr) thirty minutes ago. Caleb Carr’s recount of the ruse he pulled on his publisher brought out a genuine laugh from me. (For the purpose of persuading his publisher to consent to him writing a fiction rather than a non-fiction, the author told his publisher the story in the book had actually taken place, only to later reveal that the whole thing was his invention. Both his publisher/editor bought it hook, line and sinker!)
This further confirms the awe I’ve felt throughout the process of reading this book: it reads like genuine history instead of a fictional invention! Much of it is history, in a manner of speaking. Caleb Carr began his career writing non-fiction/historical pieces, and thanks to which (I think), has become a stickler for accuracy of details, which definitely shines through in the Alienist. The novel paints such a vivid picture of what New York was like back during the turn of the 19th to 20th century: the influx of immigrants, the general status of lodging, it’s slum quarters (described in great detail), modes of transportation, the vibe, the air, oh and lastly but not least, not to mention the food. The author seems to have a genuine penchant for food (the Delmonico’s, yummm). The amount of details is simply impressive.
I wouldn’t exactly call the Alienist a “thriller”, though it is no doubt that, on top of being a stellar suspense and cerebral creation. This is of course a personal response. Having been exposed to more than enough violence and gore in the print format, the amount of bloodshed and the macabre manner the perpetrator “dresses” his victims no longer, I’m sorry to say, sets off much of a reaction from me. Nevertheless, the deductive process in the book that gradually fleshes out the identity of the perpetrator truly impressed me. In this way, the Alienist sets itself apart from most other “whodunit” stories I’ve read. The story isn’t about a group of characters involved in murder(s), and one sleuth who tries to sniff out the perp from this group through, oftentimes, the perp’s own slip ups – a formula often favored by mystery writers. There is no “preset group” to begin with, so to speak. Instead, the central figure in the Alienist, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, through his mastery of psychoanalytical skills (and with the help of modern forensic science), gradually “paints a picture” of what the killer must look like, and fills in pieces of details from every aspect of the killer’s life. So from a vague shadow, we eventually have a name, a background, and a mental journey of the killer’s telling us the factors/people that were held responsible for the creation of such a monster.
And on a side note, I'm glad I ran into this book at this point. Something (and I'm still not sure what) sparked an interest in me to read about the U.S. history, a subject I know pathetically little about. I've actually always been interested in reading about history, which is one of my favorite genres to read, mostly in Chinese though (and mostly about Chinese history -- which is, long, and well, repetitive). I just wasn't particularly interested in the U.S. History. But lately, I'm kind of interested in knowing about the early settlers, or rather how the earliest "trailblazers" coped with the cruelty of nature, stuff like Robinson Crusoe. The Alienist of course has nothing to do with that, but its backdrop, the turn of the 19th to 20th century, is one of the turning point, so to speak, of New York, if not the U.S. as a whole. And I'm kind of keen on learning about those "turning points" in the U.S. history, the people and the events that have brought about what this country is, today.
