"Neither killer showed any remorse after being captured and indicted for murder. Kidnapping had been involved; they had sent a ransom note to their victim's family. But money wasn't their true motive. Perfection was. Leopold and Loeb dreamed of committing the perfect crime, and they found philosophical backing for their desire in Nietzsche's notion of the Übermensch. Leopold wrote to Loeb: 'A superman . . . is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men. He is not liable for anything he may do.'"
Joseph Epstein in The Wall Street Journal reviews Simon Baatz's For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder that Shocked Chicago.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment