Reviews tagging 'Blood'

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

38 reviews

ashwaar's review against another edition

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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.

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gh1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

2.5


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cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

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dark informative slow-paced

3.25


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bcooper21's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0


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moraina's review against another edition

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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).

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miaaaaaume's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.75


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librarymouse's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.25

This text was jarring in that there was vibrant and comprehensive descriptions of seemingly innocuous details and then facts like Hickock's pedophilic tendencies were dropped into the middle of a paragraph, only to be left and then picked up again after dozens of pages. The descriptions of the Clutters, their family life, their friends, and their pastoral joys made the details of their deaths all the more profoundly upsetting. I appreciated the depth of research that went into this book and the information given on the communities the Clutters and their killers spent time in, but I am also, in some ways, upset with the lengths at which this book works to humanize the killers. It's bitter to feel something akin to empathy with either of them or the men that lived with them on death row.

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letiross's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0


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brandywyne's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

3.5


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