Two reviews (kinda), an explanation, and a stupid joke.

When I last posted two weeks ago, I promised to have a review of Arkham Asylums: A Serious House on Serious Earth by Grant Morrison, and that this week I would have a review of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Well, my computer died, and I lost the review of Arkham, and I am not about to spend another three hours compiling my research for the review, so here’s my official opinion:

It’s great. Read it.

Fortunately, that review is the only thing of import that I lost. My manuscripts, including my current WIP and research notes for the co-venture with my wife, came out unscathed. Thank G-d.

Now, onto the Capote.

My first experience with Truman Capote, to the best of my knowledge, was the Philip Seymour Hoffman biopic, Capote. I knew next to nothing about the man, but the film has Chris Cooper, so I was guaranteed to watch the movie at some point. And I did. My wife and I went to the art theater to see it. The film sparked our interest in the book In Cold Blood. We purchased a copy, and it lay unread by either of us until recently.

The old axiom is never let the truth get in the way of a good story, and despite his insistence that the film was 100% true, Capote took certain literary licenses to give a neater picture (I’ll not go into the differences, but a simple internet search will result in several different articles).

Capote begins his tale, not with the murders, but with the victims and townspeople. We are given a fully fleshed-out cast of characters who are all sympathetic. Even the killers, when they make their appearance, are painted with the same sympathetic approach. After having spent time with both Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, Capote leaves no doubt about their guilt. They confessed to the crime, and they eventually swung for it.

Throughout the narrative, we are given the internal thoughts of real people. Whether those are figments of the author’s imagination, or they actually occurred, I know not, but it helps to flesh everything out.

Even knowing certain scenes were largely fictional, this was a terrific read.

Now, the joke:

A man walks into a bar, the next guy ducks.

If you would like to purchase Arkham Asylum or In Cold Blood, follow the links here and here.