In Cold Blood in Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)

Mar 15, 2013 Andrea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-sorted, nonfiction, list-1001-books, nonfiction-true-crime, list-40-before-40, publisher-penguin-modern-classics

A very detailed account of the gruesome murders of the four members of Clutter family back in 1959. A very gripping and graphic narrative at first unfortunately turned a little dragged out by the time the motive was revealed in the middle of the book. Capote was so meticulous and detailed in his work, that it took a little away from my overall enjoyment of his art. It was hard to read the analysis and the attempts of humanizing these two perpetrators, so maybe that was a bit too much for me. But ...more

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May 04, 2017 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, 1001-books

I am finding it difficult to describe why I liked this book so much. Truly it blew me away. Truman Capote is a master storyteller and he took this horrific story and told it so brilliantly that it captivates. And he does it without resorting to the gruesome descriptions that so many modern authors would use. He writes with a quiet and reserved style that is more impactful than anything else I have read in this genre or in the mystery (fiction) genre. And when you take a book that is this good an ...more

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Jun 09, 2019 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: fin-2019, chris-bc, true-crime

True crime books are hard to rate and review. I didn't enjoy this book, it wasn't pleasurable to read about two murderous doofuses, but it was worth reading. I recently read The Executioner's Song & In Cold Blood is a bazillion times better. I found the structure between the two books to be very similar. Ugh, Mailer is such a copycat. Capote is a far superior writer and it shows in this book.

The entire crime is so tragic in its pointlessness. That's what got to me the most. The sheer waste of li True crime books are hard to rate and review. I didn't enjoy this book, it wasn't pleasurable to read about two murderous doofuses, but it was worth reading. I recently read The Executioner's Song & In Cold Blood is a bazillion times better. I found the structure between the two books to be very similar. Ugh, Mailer is such a copycat. Capote is a far superior writer and it shows in this book.

The entire crime is so tragic in its pointlessness. That's what got to me the most. The sheer waste of life for no reason. Not that being murdered for any reason is a good thing, obviously. However, a murder based on revenge or political gain or even a conniving serial killer attempts to make "sense" of the crime by having a reason behind it, even when that reason is nuts. The murder of the Clutter family...there was no reason! As Perry points out, they could have worn masks in order to not be identified. They didn't need to kill all witnesses. That is a stupid reason! Dick & Perry were just too moronic to think ahead and see the negative consequences to their actions.They didn't research the family & made their plan based on the bullshit story of some con in prison. It was like when Dick was passing hot checks - IN HIS OWN NAME. It makes no sense! That sort of behavior did make me wonder how much his head injury had affected his subsequent behavior.

I liked that Capote didn't get too graphic with any of the violence. Instead, he drove home the devastating horror of the murders by writing bits like mentioning how Nancy laid out her red dress the night of the murder, to wear to church the next day. The dress she would be buried in, instead. The heartbreaking bit when Buddy, Nancy's boyfriend, sees her horse and rubs his cheek on the horse's neck, like how Nancy used to do; that story makes me more upset than a detailed description of head wounds. Capote personalized the family in a way that made the crime all the more shocking.

I did feel that he favored Perry over Dick and so was leery of totally trusting Capote's viewpoint about them. Was Perry "playing" Capote in their interviews? I wonder. Perry's comments about his normal sister were so creepy & disturbing - for me it negated any positives Capote pointed out. I think she was correct in being afraid of her brother & worrying what he would do to her if he knew where she was. Perhaps Perry seemed less scary to Capote because he was safely behind bars at that point? Hmmm.

While I am glad I finally read this book, I am relieved it is over. I have vowed to myself to read several lighthearted books next, as a way of cleansing my palate, as it were. I certainly need it after this.

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Jun 08, 2013 Mimicha rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This book took me a long time to read because I didn't love it. There were interesting quotes and the writing had pleasing moments. I understand that this was the first true crime torn from the headlines type of book and it was one of the first non-fiction novels. Because of my current time period and me being so desensitized I didn't find the unraveling of the murders too graphic or disturbing. I'm not upset that I read this book, it had been on my shelf for a long time before I ever read it an ...more

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