Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

16 reviews

emy_clemy's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Violence, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Gore, Domestic abuse, Child death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Racism, Ableism, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Suicide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Car accident

soswiin's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

4.0

definitely a unique format that grabbed my attention more than i thought it would've. yes, inventing dialogue and scenes made it read more like a novel than an informative essay as capote intended but it just didn't feel morally right. which is a dilemma that encompasses 90% of this book's controversies anyway. capote was brave for humanizing the clutter family's killers and i appreciate it to an extent — it elevated the pair from stereotypical jailhouse grunts to fleshed-out individuals with individual wounds and faults. while it added depth it still felt weird to ready about!! bad childhood ≠ the right to blow the brains out of an entire family. lot of repeated information which was quite helpful given the attention span i'd allotted for this.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Child abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Suicide, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Homophobia

ashwaar's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.5

This is another book I’ve read from my long list of classics and I really enjoyed it! I hadn’t heard of it before but it has been claimed as the first narrative non-fiction novel and whether that’s true or not, it was done really well. It’s a fascinating look into a seemingly motiveless crime in rural Kansas. Capote keeps the reader engaged throughout as you learn about and even sympathise with those involved in this chilling quadruple homicide.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Rape, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Car accident, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

jbrown1120's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Gun violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual violence, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kylielf's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

3.25

I originally thought this book was going to be a murder mystery but it read more so as a documentary-style recalling. I thought the writing was good and the book was well crafted, it just was not in my taste. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Death, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Pedophilia

sticky_soul_sticky_soles's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Grief

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

Capote’s prose is masterful, but the non-fiction aspect was handled in a way I don’t find responsible, and I think that, as one of the first major modern true crime media “sensations”, In Cold Blood embodies many of the same problems that true crime media, particularly dramatizations, maintains today. I don’t dislike Capote, and in fact I quite like his writing for the most part, but I couldn’t in good conscience give this book a wholly glowing review. There would still be issues if I looked at it the way one looks at fiction, but monumentally less — that said, it is not purely fiction, and I can’t look at this novel & not be acutely aware of the fact that these were real people & the facts were embellished in ways that can’t really be brushed off, in my opinion.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Mental illness, Death, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, War, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Homophobia, Abandonment, and Grief

moraina's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This was a very slow read for me. I appreciate that Truman Capote presented everything as factual and didn’t sensationalize, since these were real people that were affected by an awful crime. However, his lengthy descriptions and tedious run-on sentences sometimes made it difficult to stay engaged. I think he did do a fair job representing the events that happened and provided both commentary from a more outside perspective as well as representing how the community felt during these events, but the writing style did lessen my enjoyment of the book.

The descriptions of Dick and Perry’s capture and subsequent trial really did make me think on what is considered substantial evidence and a fair trial. I think Capote also did a good job delving into the ethics of capital punishment. It is interesting to see how much more religion played a role in these matters, given both the time period and geographic location of the events. Exploring the childhood of Perry, in particular, does end up being rather important for understanding the murders. I found the discussion of childhood abuse and the reasons for “murders with no apparent motive” quite interesting as well (although terrible, of course).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

Minor: Animal death and Terminal illness

mloschi's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A true crime classic for a reason - beautifully well-written, intimately drawn characters and a grappling with violence that doesn’t seem to glorify or pass judgement. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Suicide

lolamosk's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Gore, Suicide, and Child death

Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia