Reviews

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

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calamitiville's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.0

issianne's review against another edition

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3.0

With this novel, I can absolutely see its merit and still not really enjoy it. “In Cold Blood” was actually required reading at my high school for an AP Language class, but it was part of a collection that we could choose from and I chose another. This book seems like the perfect true crime recount—a family of four murdered in their own house by two strangers (the very exception to the typical rule of the murderer knowing the victim). And while Capote’s writing is well-crafted and paints an elaborate setting for this grisly quadruple homicide and its after-effects, it crawls along and focuses on minuet details of the villains’ lives. It was incredibly hard for me to stay engaged with the content throughout the book when the narrative changes often, and I couldn’t seem to care about Smith or Hickock unless it related to their arrest and sentencing. (Also I can’t imagine sixteen-year-olds reading this and casually writing a paper about it…)

bookslut007's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

jenhurst's review against another edition

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3.0

I was not expecting to be sooo bored.

anparsons's review against another edition

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4.0

I've been meaning to read this book for about 4 years now, and am so glad that I finally did. Full of suspense and detailed description, Capote's tale keeps you intrigued until the very last page. Besides a bone chilling plot, this is brimming with complex characters, each developed with care. They are definitely not your ordinary killers. Although I might not recommend it as a jovial bed-time read, In Cold Blood is a fantastic book, with Capote a marvelous writer.