Reviews tagging 'Death'

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

132 reviews

haileyeh's review against another edition

3.0

dark informative sad slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Murder

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts

fboschetti's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder

Moderate: Rape

calamityin's review against another edition

1.5

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

---

While it's one of the cornerstones for True Crime as a literary phenomena, it's incredibly insensitive to the victims and those around them.  It's frankly a bit disgusting the way that Capote describes these horrible acts as if they didn't happen to real people who had real hopes and dreams and lives.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia

bucklace27's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

ryxthree's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder

Moderate: Violence, Murder

Minor: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism

ashwaar's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

---

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Car accident

gh1's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting

Moderate: Toxic friendship

jbrown1120's review against another edition

5.0

dark fast-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Car accident, Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail

kylielf's review against another edition

3.25

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

---

I originally thought this book was going to be a murder mystery but it read more so as a documentary-style recalling. I thought the writing was good and the book was well crafted, it just was not in my taste. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide

maddypat's review against another edition

4.75

dark reflective sad medium-paced

---

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death