DNF @ 40 min. on audio

I tried to read a print copy of this book a couple years ago and quickly gave up out of boredom. I thought that maybe the problem was timing and format, so I tried again with audio. I gave up after less than an hour.

Essentially, I think that Larson tries to do too much in this book, and the result is that he does not do any of it particularly well. Even in the first scene on the RMS Olympic, Larson establishes an unnecessarily high amount of required information (introducing many characters and giving quick backstories that become easy to lose track of), all of which is not particularly relevant to the actual story of the World Fair. What makes this setup even more frustrating is Larson's deliberate withholding of some of that information. Like...why won't he just say that the friend is on the Titanic. It's clearly the Titanic. What does not saying the name actually accomplish?? I feel like it's a sign of a weak writer if the only way they can create tension is to refuse to give away NAMES of historical events. WE KNOW THESE THINGS HAPPENED! Create tension in the pacing of the narrative, or in the characters' interactions. Withholding facts about history does NOTHING except frustrate me!! (And by the way, constantly hinting at other things that will happen by saying "this person's eventual destiny will end up being completely ironic given what you just saw" does not count as good tension-building either. It's gimmicky and maybe fine for [a:Lemony Snicket|36746|Lemony Snicket|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199734355p2/36746.jpg], but I expect an actual historian to do better.)

If this book works for you, great. But I'm not going to try to appreciate it anymore.