Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

115 reviews

herelieshenry's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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

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

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

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Rape

Minor: Animal death and Terminal illness

shinumi's review against another edition

dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

sammiesavors's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Rape

librarymouse's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

terrificarno's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

letiross's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, and Blood

limabean1011's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

1.75

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Gun violence and Pedophilia

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: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Suicide

dudajoia's review against another edition

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, 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death and Homophobia