Reviews with content warning for Animal death - In Cold Blood

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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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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dudajoia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Na introdução da minha edição, quando eu li que o Capote se gabava de ter escrito uma obra-prima, fiquei com um pé atrás com ele, e no fundo quis provar que o livro não era tudo isso. Mas pior que é. Você demora a se acostumar com o ritmo e as descrições muito bem detalhadas de tudo envolto na trama, mas logo cada menção mostra o seu propósito, com o talento e o domínio de texto do Capote piscando o olho pra você. Não esperava o tamanho respeito no texto que (apesar das discussões) afirma ser o primeiro de seu tipo, digo isso depois de consumir muito "true crime". A humanidade latente das páginas toma a sua atenção e seu fôlego como reféns, o que não é fácil para uma história tão cruel e tão triste como essa. Ele é excelente ao mostrar todas as pequenas sombras, as sutilezas, as ironias e o absurdo de tudo isso. Jornalismo literário em excelência. Quanto às críticas,

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_carmel_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

A very slow book. I disliked the authorial voice and opinions, however it is a very important book in the space of literature. It is genre defining and also forces the reader to challenge their own beliefs and place them in an uncomfortable position. Excellent use of syntax. Makes you think.

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kemorrell's review against another edition

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dark informative sad slow-paced

3.75

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em09's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.5

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athereaderofbooks's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

2.0

Clearly, I would not recommend this true-crime novel.

I will give kudos to a couple of aspects of this book:

1. It was organized in a notable way. It started with showing the past of both the victims and their killers. Their environments were taken into consideration and you developed an idea of their character. Later it led to the investigation and we found out how the murder occurred through confessionals. Truman Capote followed the case until its conclusion.

2. The entire book was thorough with everything. If something was mentioned it was never offhandedly, and we understood how everyone and everything contributed to the narrative.

But despite these factors, I hated this book. This is the first time that I have read a true crime book, and this most definitely affected my rating, but this was horrific. Why would I want to read about an entire family being murdered

because some thieves wanted money??

How does one find enjoyment in such a subject when they themself could one day be the victim of such an unsuspecting crime? The Clutters likely never thought of this likelihood and look what happened to them. The only thing this book added to my life was more anxiety, and I already have enough.

On top of this, there have been multiple people who have contested the accuracy of this book, saying that there were many pieces of opinion inserted and falsehoods added into the book. (Not just random people online, but people who themselves have analyzed this crime.)

This dragged on and on with a really excessive form of writing and the only interest I had was finishing this book so I could get it over with, understand what happened, and try to forget it.

And to me, most importantly, there were multiple instances where racial, homophobic, and in general degrading slurs were used. This includes but is not limited to the n-word, the f slur, and out-of-date referrals to Asian, Black, and Native American people.

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