Wednesday, March 04, 2009

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote


Becky wrote about Breakfast At Tiffany's and I mentioned I'd never read "In Cold Blood" so she loaned me her copy. If there are any others in our circle who've not read it, I strongly recommend it.

As you probably know, it's the story of two men who kill a family of four in Kansas and how they subsequently were captured and executed. The "must read" aspect of the story is Capote's descriptive yet sparse writing and his empathy for everyone appearing in the story, including the murderers. It's not a bleeding heart empathy but rather a clear-eyed look at everyone involved and a lack of vindictive slant when it would be easy to do given the awful nature of the crime. The two murderers had different backgrounds and somewhat different psychological drivers leading to the murder but you feel as if you know them, the victims, lawmen, townspeople, and anyone else touched by the crime. It's also why we lock our doors while living in an area where almost nobody else locks theirs.

4 comments:

Amanda said...

This is one I've been wanting to read for a LONG time. I will definitely check it out....thanks!

Becky said...

I loved this book, and Amanda you should DEFINITELY read it, too! You can just circulate my copy if you want!

Debbie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Debbie said...

I read this book a L O N G time ago. I recall enjoying Capote's writing style also, being pulled into the story, feeling exhausted sometimes.