In Cold Blood (original 1965; edition 2011)

See! I'm not spending my days solely on crochet.

In Cold Blood is a sort of disturbing read. It's an account of the murder of innocent people -- who had not done anything wrong to their murderers, who had never even met their murderers: whose deaths were, in fact, settled upon by the murderers before they ever saw them. It's an account that explores the hows and whys. Of course it's going to be disturbing. There's also an emotional distance from it that somehow makes that feeling worse.

It was a slower read than I expected, packed with detail, and with atmosphere. You could almost believe you know the murdered family (distantly, perhaps: you've seen them around, you exchange hellos with them), and even more so, the two murderers.

Disquietingly good. ( )

This book is a peculiarity. At once a compelling novel-style piece of work, yet also a minutely detailed reconstruction of the murders of four members of the Clutter family on November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas.

I was somewhat familiar with this book, as well as its subject but had held off from reading it for years. I think I had built it up to be much gorier than it was, in actuality. While certainly some details were difficult, Capote's style manages to arouse, if not empathy and compassion for the two men convicted of the crime, at least a gnawing need to get to the root of "Why?".

Some details are tricky to believe. Conversations, particularly between Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, were so meticulous in their depth and detail I wonder how this was fully possible and/or realistic. Wikipedia notes "Despite the book's billing as a factual "True Crime" account, critics have challenged the authenticity of the book, arguing that Capote changed facts to suit his story, added scenes which never occurred, and re-created dialogue. Capote relied entirely on memorization when talking to subjects in the book, and did not use a tape recorder or take any written notes; this alone may have contributed to several inaccuracies in the book." And some details, while mentioned several times, are never answered. For example, on the day of her murder Nancy Clutter kept smelling cigarette smoke. The source of the odour was never divulged. Her father, Herb Cuttler, was a staunch Methodist and disapproved of alcohol, caffeine and tobacco. Also, Nancy Clutter observed her father had been out of sorts for the three weeks leading up to the murders. Again, this is never explained to the reader.

When Capote learned of the quadruple murder, before the killers were captured, he decided to travel to Kansas and write about the crime. He was accompanied by his childhood friend and fellow author, Harper Lee, and together they interviewed local residents and investigators assigned to the case and took thousands of pages of notes. and Capote ultimately spent six years working on the book. It is considered the original non-fiction novel. Overall, the study of the lives and personalities of Smith and Hickock are compelling studies and the specific slice of the small town and people of the American Mid-West, from 1959 to 1965, were fleshed out so fully. ( )

still chilling

After watching the movie Capote, I was eager to learn more about the author and the Clutter murders. I enjoyed Mr. Capote's writing especially in the beginning. As the novel progresses it truly becomes a non fiction novel. In fact it was one of the first of its kind. ( )

Wow. Seriously.

Although friends had told me really good things about Truman Capote in general and this book in particular, I would never have expected to be so enthralled by a 'True Crime' book. Aside from the incredible closeness Capote makes the reader feel to all the "characters", one thing that struck me as absolutely amazing was the fact that he details complicated situations and introduces many, many voices/people, but nothing is confused - every place, every detail of the story-line, every personality is distinct and clear. I cannot fathom how he did it. Masterly! I'm very much looking forward to reading more Capote. ( )