Feedback Trends

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Many thanks to those who provided feedback a fortnight ago about the kinds of topics you would most like to see discussed at 17th Street in the future. As I’m currently too swamped with work to research/write about anything specific to the books this week, I thought that I would take the opportunity to share some of the trends from the feedback survey instead.

blog-topicsEvery survey respondent indicated that they had read both The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness, which is probably not too surprising given the primary focus of this website. However, I was pleased to see that most respondents indicated that they had also read at least one other book of Mr. Carr’s, with The Italian Secretary and Killing Time the most common of his non-Alienist books to have been read.

Consistent with the preceding trend, the overwhelming majority of respondents indicated that they would prefer to read about topics on the blog related to the historical aspects of the Alienist books, with subject matter related to the literary aspects of the Alienist books the second most popular choice. There was also reasonable interest expressed in topics related to the historical aspects of Mr. Carr’s other novels, although there appears to be less interest in the literary aspects of these other novels or general topics related to Mr. Carr’s non-fiction work.

history-topicsPerhaps the most interesting trend that I observed lay with the types of history topics respondents were most interested in reading about for the Alienist books. Social history related to the Alienist books was the most popular topic by a relatively narrow margin, with a fairly even spread of interest between New York history and true crime as the second most popular topics, and the history of psychology and the history of forensic science as the third most popular topics. Most respondents ticked multiple boxes for this question, which is why there is a fairly even spread among the second and third most popular topics.

Regarding which of Mr. Carr’s non-Alienist books respondents were most interested in reading about, The Legend of Broken was by far the most popular choice, with The Italian Secretary and Killing Time coming equal second. I can only suppose that even though respondents haven’t necessarily read The Legend of Broken, there is considerable curiosity among Mr. Carr’s readership about the new book, so I will do what I can to cover topics that might be helpful in addressing the types of questions Mr. Carr’s readers might have about Broken.

I also received some very creative and interesting new content suggestions and ideas about the 20th anniversary coming up next March, many of which I couldn’t possibly have come up with on my own. I won’t review these now but rest assured that your ideas have been heard and I will be doing my best to implement the most feasible of the suggestions over the coming months.

17th Street Feedback

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As 17th Street has undergone substantial reorganisation and a revival of the blog in recent months, I would really appreciate it if visitors would be willing to take a couple of minutes to complete a short anonymous survey about the site. Completing this survey will help me keep 17th Street on the right path in the future to deliver the kind of content visitors to the site (you!) are most interested in. You can take the survey by clicking on the link below.

I also wanted to make a quick announcement that updates will be sporadic for the next month as I’m currently swamped with work. Things should return to normal in October.

New York Times Video Feature

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Late last week, Caleb Carr and a number of other notable New Yorkers were asked to comment on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s legacy. Mr. Carr’s short video feature can be viewed below, along with an excerpt from the commentary Mr. Carr contributed. The full article can be read at the New York Times website.

When Michael Bloomberg finally leaves office, we may rely on pervasive testimonials concerning the manner in which he has made the city cleaner, safer, more attractive to business and a hive of new development; and many of these assessments will even have the virtue of being true. What is less likely to be discussed is the cost of all this supposed civic improvement to the soul of the city.

The influx of wealth and the super-wealthy from around the world has meant the exodus of those creative New Yorkers who gave the city its own unique romance — and heart. This is part of the “he cleaned up crime” aspect of Bloomberg’s legacy: For it was the city’s seedy, crime-ridden neighborhoods that could offer cheap housing not only to the middle and lower classes of workers and business owners, but to artists, writers and musicians.

Psychology in the Dark Ages – Part Two

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View Part One and Part Two of the Psychology in the Dark Ages series.

Given that Caleb Carr’s latest novel, The Legend of Broken, was released in paperback last month, I’ve decided to spend this week overviewing how philosophers and physicians of the Dark Ages (the time period in which the novel was set, typically considered to span the fourth or fifth century A.D. to the eleventh century A.D.) believed the human mind and brain functioned. To quickly recap what was covered during Part One earlier this week, throughout this period it was generally believed that cognitive processes such as mental imagery and memory (known as particular knowledge) took place in a three-part ventricular system located in the brain. As this theory of the inner senses was the most widely cited theory of human cognition between approximately the fourth and sixteenth centuries A.D., we are returning to the theory today to discuss how it allowed medieval physicians to account for phenomena such as dreaming, and to eventually provide an explanation for certain types of mental illness as well.

However, before diving straight back into the theory of the inner senses, we first need to overview Hippocrates’ humors theory, which was perhaps the most influential theory of medicine prior to the modern age, with aspects still widely believed well into the eighteenth century. Between approximately the twelfth and sixteenth centuries A.D., the theory of the inner senses was typically combined with the humors theory by scholars such as Avicenna who took the strengths and weaknesses of both into consideration in order to produce a unified theory of human cognition that would explain individual differences in cognitive functioning (e.g., memory ability), personality differences, and mental illness. Prior to this point, however, the two theories appear to have remained fairly separate, so in order to understand how mental illness was perceived and treated during the earlier time period under consideration here, we need to overview the theories separately. | Continue reading →