Over the holiday weekend, I finally got around to reading a copy of In Cold Blood, the book by Truman Capote that’s been getting so much attention lately. I read most of it in the car (thankfully, I don’t get carsick!) while we we traveling to and from Fredericksburg, VA, where we went to see some friends – which included going to a live performance of Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion (yes, it was awesome).
Anyway, Capote’s praise is well-deserved. As someone who doesn’t read true crime accounts or ‘investigative journalism’ I didn’t really expect to like the book, but Capote’s storytelling ability and exquisite use of language drew me in. He not only examines the psyches of the killers, what drove them to kill, but also turns his eye to the dynamics of small-town America and its inhabitants. My only complaint is that especially towards the end, he goes off onto tangents of other killers, which while giving greater insight into the minds of people who commit acts of seemingly senseless violence, did more to convolute and prolong the climactic finish.
Now I’m off to add Capote and In Cold Blood to my Netflix queue.
I have to ask you, was it gross at all? Does he get graphic? I have put off reading this for years because I’m too afraid of getting horrific images stuck in my head.
Actually, that was the key thing that put me off reading it for so long, since I’m not into reading that sort of thing. He does state how they were each killed but doesn’t go into graphic detail. But the nature of the crime and they way in which Capote conveys the humanity of everyone involved, killers included, is particularly haunting, and I think it’s the type of book that will stay in your mind after you’ve read it anyway.
I never thought much about this book but saw Capote, which I thought was a great film, and now this book is definitely going on my TBR pile! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!