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Summary: My favorite book ever
Review: I think that we all have the capacity to love and relate to Perry Edward Smith. He is the driving source behind the greatness of this novel- his inward struggles, his hazes of reality and what is a mere dream, a fantasy- all make this book the best ever. The book is rich in the details of the murder of the Clutter family, from Holcomb, Kansas, in the lives of the victims and the two murderers, Dick Hickock (the less likeable) and Perry Smith. I really, really love this book. I have like five different copies of it, like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory (haha). But that's only because this is an utterly absorbing and beautiful; it is like an eggshell china set covered in fancy scrawls and designs but with a crack forming in it. The crack is not to say anything negative, I just have to speak in metaphors. The crack is the human flaws, those so well noticed by Capote. READ THIS BOOK PLEASE!
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Summary: A New Kind of Fiction
Review: Truman Capote emerged as a prominent author during the post-war period. Capote was known for his open homosexuality and other controversial opinions. His most popular literary works include Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood. Capote was inspired to write In Cold Blood after reading an article on the recent Clutter family murder. For five years Capote researched and interviewed the murderers and the citizens of Holcomb, Kansas, and neighboring Garden City, Kansas. The book is hard to categorize and could be called a work of non-fiction or a work of journalism. No matter what genre you label the book as, it tells the same story. Amazon.com summarizes the book as a new breed of literature that narrates the story of the shocking and brutal murder of the ideal family and what happens to the murderers. The tragic story is one the readers won't soon forget. The book was made into a 1967 movie that was nominated for four Oscars.
The book takes place first in Holcomb, Kansas, on the Clutter family farm. The reader gets a taste of the Clutter family's picture-perfect lives. Herb worked hard to make his beautiful estate what it was at the time of the family's deaths and support his family. Herb's wife, Bonnie, suffers from mental illness. She tries hard to keep up with the family and town, and Herb still loves and cares for her very much. He pleads with his murderers not to harm Bonnie because she's "an invalid" and she's been accomplishing so much in terms of getting back to normal that it would be unfortunate for something traumatic (like what Herb thought was just a robbery) to set her back in her recovery to a normal mental state. Nancy is a busy and popular high school girl with a boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, whom she loves. (For lack of any other obvious suspects, Bobby is the first accused of the Clutter family murder. This suspicion was based on a diary entry and apparent conflict between Nancy and Herb on the topic of Bobby. Herb had asked his daughter, Nancy, many a time to stop the relationship with Bobby. Herb didn't dislike Bobby's personality; he just preferred that Nancy see someone of her same religion. Religion was very important to Herb and his family.) Nancy holds leadership positions in many organizations in town and in high school. Kenyon is the younger brother who loves adventure and building things. These four individuals are important, respected, and admired persons in the small, tightly knit community they reside in. Though the reader only receives a miniscule glimpse into the lives of the Clutters, their ideal family image is memorable and makes the characters believable and their deaths more distressing.
The book also follows the story two men (the main characters), Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, on their journey to rob (and murder) the Clutters and then on their expedition to Mexico and other exotic lands in search of a paradise they will never arrive at. Smith is short and stocky in contrast to Hickock's taller, leaner build. Hickock is Smith's partner in crime. Smith was in a motorcycle accident as a young adult (which accounts for his disproportionate legs and his aspirin addiction). Toward the end of the book, the physician reviewing Smith considers possible brain damage due to the motorcycle collision. No tests had been done up until the time of the trial or would be done afterward to prove or disprove this theory. Capote doesn't bring us too closely to the murderer's minds until they are finally in police custody and grilled until the officers obtain confessions. A doctor is brought in during the court case to analyze the mental states of Smith and Hickock, and though the court doesn't allow the doctors to supply more than a yes or no answer to the question of the murderers' sanity, Capote includes the censored opinions and evaluations. Capote does this because he believes there is more that should be considered and evaluated by the jury on the terms of the defendant's mental stability than a simple yes or no. Not only is the consideration of mental disruption brought up in an analysis of Hickock and Smith's backgrounds, but it is also brought up as a general disorder that causes any normal person to kill. The court doesn't take these pleas into consideration when evaluating the court case and deciding on a verdict.
Capote tells this story in an unusual way. The reader is present during the murder of the Clutters, so (contrary to most murder-mysteries,) the mystery isn't a who-done-it. Instead, the reader is kept in suspense waiting to find out what happens to the murderers. Do they get away clean like they had planned or do they leave behind one fatal clue that links them to the crime? I was also in suspense for any real motive to be revealed (if Smith and Hickock even had one) for the murder of the family. Capote offers different characters' perspectives on the situation and keeps the reader in suspense by vaguely connecting the accounts without telling the full story straight out. Capote saw the book as a challenge to interestingly tell a story everyone had been familiar with due to the enormous amount of press it had received. In Cold Blood was published just one year after the deaths of Smith and Hickock. The book was definitely a different kind of murder-mystery.
"The big yellow bird" appears repeatedly throughout the story in Smith's dreams. This golden bird represents an escape to paradise for Smith. He has had a life of trial and tribulation, but hoping for some kind of angel to rescue him from his troubles does no good. It is possible for Smith to clean up his life and obtain success on his own merit. In the end, Smith's savior and utopia are nothing more than just a dream. Smith's fictional escape shows a lot about his character.
Another symbol later in the book and less repeated is the pair or shabby stray cats that regularly patrol Holcomb looking for scraps of bird carcass in the grills of traveling vehicles. Perry had curiously watched the cats' odd habits from his jail cell, but once Mrs. Meier explained the cats' motives, Perry could watch no more. He painfully admitted to his life being too similar to that of the dirty, feline scavengers who moved from car to car living on minimal meals the road kill found in the cars could provide and their friendship.
The theme of the book involves the upsetting murder of the Clutter family. The Clutter family is a symbol of the All American Dream, and the murderers represent any given disaster that could completely destroy something so fragile as dreams. All the work Herb Clutter did to work himself from the bottom to the top was not in vain, but it was brought to a rapid halt with the robbery-gone-wrong of Smith and Hickock. The lives of a family came to an unfortunate end, but while they were alive they lived their lives well and didn't waste a day. This book also carries a smaller message to live your life to the fullest, for you never know when your time is up. This example is demonstrated in the fulfilling lives of Nancy and Herb Clutter and when the detectives decide that due to the unusual circumstances of the almost coincidental murder, the family might as well have suffered in a natural disaster (ex: struck by lightening). It's upsetting to the detective that there was no motive for such an unfortunate murder, but maybe it could be at the same time sort of calming to know that the Clutters did indeed leave this earth with not an enemy, not even the men who viciously murdered them. The information presented in the last section reflects Capote's opinions on murder cases and the death penalty. Capote chose to include information about the mental analysis of the murderers that the court refused to hear because Capote believed this was important information in determining the guilt or innocence of the criminals. He also brings up an article from "The American Journal of Psychiatry" which discusses the validity of "'sane'" and "'insane'" murderer classifications.
I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates good writing. The details of the murders may be a little bit too gruesome for some readers, but it's easy to skip over those parts (there aren't too many recollections of the murder scene). Even if one is familiar with the story of the Clutter family, this book still holds suspense and surprises with the way it was written. Capote spent a very long time with the murderers in order to fully absorb their character. Capote's opinions on the sanity of murder and the validity of the death penalty come through in the book and make the reader start questioning his or her own beliefs. It's a very eye-opening book written in a new style of non-fiction without being too biased either way.
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Summary: A classic so I felt I must read it
Review: After hearing about the book forever I felt I must read it. ALthough it was interesting I felt that it never built to much.
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Summary: Review -"Ladies of the Club" Book Club, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Review: Many critics agree that a new genre was born when Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood. Capote takes a true crime report and presents it in the form of a novel. With his background as a reporter and writer for New Yorker Magazine he developed a unique writing style.
In order to gain insight and details of the Clutter family, the victims of the murders, Capote lived in their Kansas town and interviewed the Clutter's friends and neighbors. From those interviews he is able to paint a picture of what life was like for folks in the small rural community of Holcomb, KS. We are given a chance to become familiar with the Clutters to the extent that the reader feels sorrow and horror at the brutality of their deaths.
Keeping with his writing in the style of a novel, Capote also gives us a portrait of the killers. Through his interviews with the two murderers, their families, and their associates, Capote again portrays in depth the history, the psyche, and the motive of these killers in his page-turner prose.
It is Capote's writing style that draws the reader into his story. His writing is smooth and flowing when he tells us of the life of the Clutter family. But when he shows the reader the murder scene his sentences are short, choppy, and almost breathless. The reader feels that he is actually viewing what went on in that farmhouse on that gruesome night.
Our book club was intrigued with the true-crime story, but was even more interested in the author's writing style. We gave this book high marks and we are looking forward to reading more by this talented author.
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Summary: Contemporary? Maybe...
Review: This book was interesting in a very creepy way. I felt very certain emotions being played out through the entire piece. These emotions were impossible not to feel. Capote makes a true story seem like a work of fiction. Let's just all admit that most true-life accounts are all the same and the spectacle of the fiction books keeps us more enthralled. But I was amazed at how well the story kept me interested and allowed for the emotions in the book to make an impact on me.
The story was linear which made it seem less interesting, but going back and forth from Perry and Dick to the Clutters, and back to the Sherriff made the story pick up pace a little bit.
The only thing I did not enjoy about this book was that it made me feel sorry for the killers. After what they did I did not want to feel sorry for them. And at the end, I was surprised to find myself rooting for Perry and Dick. (Well, mostly Perry) But they did something horrible and that's what they deserve.
I would recommend this book to someone interested in true-life accounts because I am sure it will be the best they will ever read.
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Summary: Simply one of the greatest works of American prose
Review: Whether you consider this to be a journalistic enterprise or a fictionalized rendering of real events, "In Cold Blood" is brilliantly written. The pacing is taught and compelling. Yet it is the glimpses of humanity, both in the killers and their victims, that makes Capote's work so unforgettable. "In Cold Blood" is one of the few books I have ever read that I simply hated to put down, even when I was deeply disturbed by what I read. To this day, I can't hear the word "clutter" without referencing this book in my mind. Truly haunting.(On a personal note: I read this book and "Helter Skelter" one summer while living alone -- I don't recommend it. It made for many a sleepless night.)
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Summary: In Cold Blood is Based on a True Story
Review: I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about murder cases and/or mysteries. This book talks about the murder case of the Clutter family which Perry and Dick had killed when trying to rob the house. Dick and Perry get into investigation when Floyd (a member in the jail house) hears about the murder case. Dick is accused of writing bad checks as always and soon after in Las Vegas a policewoman notices them and they are brought in for questioning. Both admit to the murder and they are tried with capitol punishment. 5 years later they are hung.
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Summary: If you haven't read this book yet....
Review: This one's a classic and nothing I say will describe what it feels like to experience this book.
I had to stop reading somewhere in the middle because I was getting severe panic attacks. To imagine this small, squeaky-voiced man writing about such brutal murders is even more fascinating.
This is my second favourite of Capote's. Music For Chameleons is my first.
Read this book then read how Capote found this story and what he did to prepare for it.
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Summary: This Book is OKAY
Review: In Cold Blood was okay book . I didn't really enjoy it very much for two reasons, one reason is because it was based on a true story and that those characters in the book were real and they didn't get to live. The people who did it seemed smart for almost puliing it off but were stupid for the action that took place. the second reason is that I usually read books that our gross and bloody with a lot of Blood spilling and slaughter and have a lot of murder mystery but this book was nothing like that , it took placce in a small town in kansas and it talked about the family that was savagely slaughter, they were shot in the face. It was a trgic story.
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Summary: Desperate to Cont. Reading
Review: I read this book about two years ago when I was 15 and I loved it. Its a reality check for the reader because it is a true story and so well written I honestly couldn't put it down. It at the same time made me disgusted at the whole event described and I was pulled into the lives of the family murdered, proving that the author thoroughly did their job in writing this book.
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