Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

25 reviews

maddypat's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

This book made me feel some kind of way. Overall I would say it was a fantastic book. I was practically glued to it, so eager to know what happened next despite knowing the ultimate ending from the start.

While reading it, though, I couldn't help but think about the current discourse about true crime as a genre. A lot of people feel that true crime seems to focus a lot on the murderers and barely treat the victims as people, and often spreads misinformation about the case or the people involved. I think this is fair to say about a lot of true crime podcasts and, I'm sure, also about a lot of true crime books. 

In Cold Blood, I think, does a pretty good job of humanizing the victims. Accounts from friends and family of the Clutters help paint a picture of who they were before they were killed, and throughout the book we never forget how brutal of an end they were met with at the hands of Dick and Perry. But then on the flip side, well over half of the novel is dedicated to talking about those men, their lives leading up to the murder, and what happened following it. After finishing the book and looking up the case, it turns out Capote had actually befriended Perry during his research. 

At first, I was not really happy with this. Who are these men, these two people that murdered a whole family

(for no more than $50!)

, that I should feel bad for them? Or feel any kind of way except disgusted? I again kept thinking about the true crime discourse and how victims are so often drowned out by the coverage of their killer. But then, as the book went on, I realized it simply isn't that black and white. Dick and Perry did something horrible and unforgivable, but it doesn't mean they aren't humans with complicated lives - and understanding those lives can go some way in trying to understand why they did what they did. I grew to appreciate that I learned so much about these two, and similarly wrestled with the punishment they ended up receiving. I have never given much thought to the death penalty, but as it's reasoned in the book, it was urged because even life in prison could result in a parol in as few as (if I remember correctly) 15 years in that. These two men would be barely in their forties by then, and from my view of them, very much capable of making similar choices again. But who are we to decide who dies and who lives? 

In the end, I think what sets this book apart is that it paints the full picture. Sure I learn a lot about the perpetrators of the crime, but I also am thinking of the victims around every curve, and that is the difference between good true crime and bad.

I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. I'd recommend it even for people who don't read much other true crime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

anacardosolouren's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Pedophilia, and Rape

reiley_61's review against another edition

informative mysterious slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, and Cursing

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

bcooper21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Grief, Mental illness, Cancer, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual content, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Car accident

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).

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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

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.

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Content Warnings

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

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, 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

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

Minor: Animal death and Homophobia

_carmel_'s review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Violence, Death, Cursing, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Hate crime, Gun violence, Addiction, Abortion, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Racism, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

kemorrell's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Gun violence, and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Sexual assault and War

em09's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Animal death