Metropolitan’s Comments (group member since Aug 25, 2014)

Metropolitan’s comments from the Metro Library ReadUp group.

It's tomorrow! Looking forward to it!

Hello all,

If you can make it, I'd love for you to come! It's going to be at the Almonte Library, 2914 SW 59th St, next Thursday from 7:00-8:30pm. Here's the description from our online calendar if you want more
info:

Metro Library ReadUp Meet and Greet:
If you've joined Metro Library ReadUp, the online book club for adults, now is your chance to have a face to face meeting with the people you've been talking to all this time! We'll discuss the online book club in general, our favorite and not-so-favorite reads so far, compare suggestions for future books, and enjoy some light refreshments.

You can reserve a spot (and let me know how many people to expect and how much to spend on snacks) by visiting http://www.metrolibrary.org/ and clicking on Programs and Events.

Here's the website for the book: http://www.nothingdaunted.com/index.html lots of interesting stuff here!

Discuss here! I've heard good things about this one, and I think some of us may have already read it.

I set up a poll and it's open until the 13th. Here are your choices:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I'm so glad you liked it! I might give her another shot, maybe Miss Marple is more my speed.

I'm very sorry, I've been sick all this week and haven't posted anything here.

What did you all think of Murder on the Orient Express? It wasn't my favorite, I'd have to say. I think I'd probably enjoy a movie of the same story more than the book. I hadn't read an Agatha Christie book before, and you can certainly see how she's regarded as one of the most important mystery authors.

I was a bit confused as to how Poirot was able to say with such certainty who the killer was from one tiny little burned up scrap of paper too.

I'll do a poll for May here in a minute. Again, my apologies for the delay.

Here is the official website of Agatha Christie: http://www.agathachristie.com

and info about Hercule Poirot:
http://www.agathachristie.com/christi...

Biographical information about Christie (complete with cute childhood photo): http://www.agathachristie.com/about-c...

And a page about Murder on the Orient Express: http://www.agathachristie.com/christi...

The train's route: http://www.agathachristie.com/christi...

Talk about it here!

I just discovered that if you are using the Goodreads app, you can't see the polls. If possible, use Goodreads on a computer and then you can see the choices for April--click on Polls under group home. If you hover over the covers shown, you can see the titles better and then you can look them up to find out more about them.

The choices for April are:

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

An Officer and A Spy by Robert Harris: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Natchez Burning by Greg Isles: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Night Film by Marisha Pessl: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The Handsome Man's Deluxe Café by Alexander McCall Smith:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

These all seem like great books to me, and I think whichever one we pick will be awesome!

Sorry the poll function is so cumbersome, but it's easier for me to see at a glance what people want to read, instead of having to tally up results from comments here. Thanks!

A few more thoughts:

Perry's autobiographical statement was full of grandiosity, excessive detail and blame, and Dick's was a lot of excuses. What do you think the difference between the two statements says about their personalities?

Do you think criminality comes about because of a person's life experiences or are some people just born with a predisposition to do bad things? (The old nature vs nurture idea.)

What do you think about the two rules the book mentions for determining the relationship between guilt/innocence and sanity/insanity? Would either of these rules apply to Perry and Dick?
The McNaughton rule says that people can be found not guilty by reason of insanity if when they commit the crime they are so deranged that they don't know that what they've done is wrong. The Durham rule is that people cannot be held responsible of the criminal act is the result of their mental illness.

I was thinking about an Agatha Christie since we have tons of them. I will investigate that, and the Robert Harris one sounds familiar as well, thanks for the suggestions! Will set up a poll soon.

I saw something that said April is National Mystery Month, so I think we could read a mystery next time. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any mysteries you've been wanting to read but haven't gotten around to? Let me know and we'll see if there are enough copies available for it to be the selection for next month.

It sure was, and I think Capote purposely didn't go into a whole lot of horrible detail about the murders in favor of making a psychological portrait of the killers. I think I wouldn't have liked it if he focused on the gory stuff.

Has anyone seen the movie? I usually think the book is better than the movie, but I'd be curious to see how this book, with all the interior character development, was made into a movie.

I finished the book this weekend, wow! I think it will stay with me for a long time. The characterizations are so vivid, even for people who are minor players, like the frowsy lady who ran the motel in Las Vegas where Perry hid out and stored his stuff. She was only in the book for a couple of pages at most, but Capote made her so memorable. Just excellent writing.

I'm curious if anyone had a more negative reaction, and if so, why. Share your thoughts.

From litlovers.com, some discussion questions:

1.) In many ways, In Cold Blood is about the murderers. Do you feel they deserve such attention? Do you think that Capote pulls off the near impossible—does he build sympathy, in your mind, for the killers? Does he endow them—Perry Smith, in particular—with any kind of humanity? Or does he depict them as savage animals, devoid of human redemption?


2.) Discuss the killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock. What kind of men were they? What were their motives in committing murder? Talk about their backgrounds and psychological make-ups? Think, for instance, about Perry Smith's chilling comment: "I thought he was a very nice gentleman.... I thought so right up to the moment I cut this throat."

Here's an interesting article that discusses some controversy related to the book: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/cu...

I can't decide if Dick or Perry is the worst. I feel a bit bad for Perry because of his horrible childhood, but still, he participated in a horrific murder. What do you think?

I'm still waiting to find out what the reason for the killings was, and I'm halfway finished with the book.

So what do you think Perry was doing in the gas station bathroom with the rubber gloves? I thought maybe something drug-related, but I really don't know.

Yes, it is generally regarded as the first "nonfiction novel", which blends journalistic reporting and the more creative type of writing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fict...

I'm sure it was also one of the first really popular true crime books.