Still As Good The Third Time.......Or Is It The Fourth??????????????????

                                     I can't recall how many times, exactly, I have read Caleb Carr's "The Alienist," except to say several.  I do know this recent reading was the first in well over a decade, if not more than that.  And what l learned on this reading was eye opening.  Now, there are going to be spoilers herein, so if any of you have not read the book, or want to experience anew again, I suggest you stop reading here. For those of you who are with me, let us continue.

                                      Anyone about to embark on Serial Killers 101 should read this novel.  It not only has the urban flavor of Stephen Crane's "Maggie--A Girl Of The Streets," where the reader can practically smell the filth polluting the city, circa 1896, it also is a textbook illustration of the idea that serial killers are made, not born.

                                          Consider--

                                           1. A dysfunctional parent/child relationship at home.  Particularly with
                                              the mother, which shall be dealt with, later.

                                            2.Mutilation and murder of small animals.

                                            3. Sexual abuse by an adult.

                                             4. Self-hatred.

                                              5. A perverted relationship to children--a need to sexually act out with them, yet kill them to protect them from the world.

                                              6. Problems in school, and poor performance

                                               7. Negative feelings towards women.

                                                8. Reclusiveness.

                                                9. Despite the above, an ability to blend in.

                                             10.  A need to show himself superior to those around him.

                              These traits, by themselves, do not a serial killer make.  It is true that abused children, hurt either physically or emotionally, often become abusers themselves, but others live through similar traumas (consider Dave Pelzer, who went on to be be a motivational speaker, and author of the chilling, but effective, book, "A Child Called IT!!!!) and don't end up serial killers.

                               For Japheth Dury/John Beecham in Carr;s book, it was the combined force of all these factors that made him into the predator he became.  What was fascinating this time around, was that, while many serial killers, suffer abuse at the hands of their father, in both this book and its follow up, "The Angel Of Darkness," it is the mothers of the killers, who do the most damage. Carr
seems to be hinting at the mother-child relationship, and its crucial importance in emotional development.  Without that, there is trouble.

                               I recalled that the mother, known only as Mrs. Dury, abused her son, but my recollection was, in charting the killer's background, the abuse was detailed graphically. It is not; one
gets the impression of physical and emotional neglect in infancy, and, once the child could speak, constant verbal abuse.  Not unlike that Charlotte Bayes, on the "Cold Case" episode, "Churchgoing People."  But while Tina and Ryan there, are clearly damaged emotionally, and are going to need help, I never got the sense either would become a serial killer.  But Mrs. Dury's damage was enough, and when it was revealed that Japheth either ran off, or was kidnapped by Indians--I am still not sure which to believe; I think he ran, and I don't blame him--and that, later on, both parents were horribly murdered, not only did I realize their son did it, I also could, to a degree understand why.

                              As Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, the book's leading figure, maintains, such people in torment can evoke a degree of sympathy, despite the horrors they have committed.  Not that they should ever be excused, but, as Kreizler points out, is what society does to these tormented souls, and the culture around them condones, that causes them to evolve into killers.

                               "The Alienist" holds up because of its superb, historically detailed, writing, and because such beliefs and occurrences are still valid, and going on. Serial killers are out there, and their lot shows no signs of abating.

                                 Imagine my shock when, looking at the copyright page, I realized this book, first published in 1994, is over twenty years old. So, it was two decades ago, when I first read it.  It holds up superbly, but its time for having the potential to be made into a great movie has passed.  We have no actors around for the parts.

                                 Unless MERYL decks herself out like a man, to play Kreizler!  Now, there is an idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!