The Alienist by Caleb Carr

Caleb Carr 's The Alienist set in turn-of-the-century New York bases upon the links between present and past by opening with a of a burial . The burial is that of Theodore Roosevelt , twenty-sixth president of the United States of America , on 8 January 1919 . The presence of historical event points to the co-existence of real and fictional characters , and allows the author to employ the retrospective narration in the novel . The fact that the story of a series of murders in New York in 1896 is being narrated retrospectively is emphasized by the

fact that even Roosevelt 's burial is being narrated after the fact , as the narrator , John Schuyler Moore , and Laszlo Kreizler , the alienist of the novel , discuss it over dinner in a restaurant frequently visited by them during the events of 1896 , and which Moore observes sadly is 'on its way out like the rest of us (Carr , 7

Carr creates very detailed of the world were his characters live . Certainly the author had to carry out a scrupulous research of New York history of the 1890s to present such a vivid picture as he did Carr 's historically grounded approach gives his readers a comprehensive understanding of the history of the times . The filthy narrow streets of the poor districts come together with the luxury of the districts inhabited by the rich . Carr masterfully intertwines past and present even in the everyday details . Thus John Schuyler Moore is living in a house which still has one gas lamp but in which the telephone is part of daily life and a constant irritant to his grandmother "John . Who in the world was on the telephone (Carr , 30 ) The New York elevated railroad clatters along Sixth Avenue the "dozen-storied " National Shoe and Leather Bank looks down on "squat , ornate Victorian monuments (Carr , 152 , 153 and "the electrical chair is increasingly usurping the gallows (Carr , 37

The characters are also described with the every bit of detail thus seem real and believable . Carr employs a trio of principle detectives in The Alienist , each of them having own philosophy . Dr . Kreizler , the principle detective , is interested in the pathologies which drive the actions of those "suffering from mental illness [who] were thought to be 'alienated ' not only from the rest of society but from their own true natures (Carr , 75 . Kreitzler 's character is that of a bright but arrogant psychologist whose ideas are usually called into question by his colleagues . He is not a simple character and evokes an ambiguous attitude from his fellows . The second detective in The Alienist is Theodore Roosevelt and he serves to locate this story of detection in the tangible historical world of New York in the 1890s . More specifically , however , he represents the dual Progressive drive to rid society of terrible crimes and of a New York police force penetrated with corruption . In creating this character Carr masterfully follows the image , restored by Roosevelt 's biographers , of full of enthusiasm intelligent...