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A review by gregbrown
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
5.0
Whenever I heard In Cold Blood described as a "non-fiction novel", I always thought they meant it was merely novelistic—well-written, with fully-embodied characters and a sharp grasp of description and narrative. Having finally read the book, I realize I didn't take the label literally enough.
Let's back up. In 1959, the small town of Holcomb, KS saw four family members methodically murdered within their own home, with no clear suspects or motives in sight. Hundreds of false leads and one multi-state manhunt later, police caught the two suspects, successfully brought them to trial, and executed them in 1965. Capote covered the events for The New Yorker—publishing the first version of In Cold Blood there before gathering it up in book form.
The traditional approach would be a methodical study of the facts, perhaps woven into the narrative of the trial itself. But Capote decided to embellish, and we're lucky he did. From the start, there's scenes (re-)constructed and characterizations that Capote… well, a generous term would be to say he "extrapolated". I'm not inclined to give him that much credit.
Yet, in spite of the clearly-manufactured renderings of characters and events that are sketchy at best, the book WORKS. If you accept it as a novel that happens to comport with facts, it's a marvelous experience. It's a shame that Capote pulled off the move so well because it inspired many lesser writers to try and fail spectacularly at the same. (Example: goddamn Eric Larson in The Devil in the White City.)
Part of why it works so well at a novel is because Capote constructs the scenes, accidentally or not, to support many different readings. Clarissa read the book first, and was struck by how much Capote was clearly, uh, enraptured by Perry Smith. I couldn't stop noticing the women being sidelined and reduced throughout the novel, and coping in their own ways that even Capote may not have recognized at the time. I have no idea how much any of it comports with reality, and I don't particularly care either.
Cool book overall, one I liked a lot more than I expected, even with Clarissa's glowing recommendation and all the accumulated street cred in the last fifty years.
Let's back up. In 1959, the small town of Holcomb, KS saw four family members methodically murdered within their own home, with no clear suspects or motives in sight. Hundreds of false leads and one multi-state manhunt later, police caught the two suspects, successfully brought them to trial, and executed them in 1965. Capote covered the events for The New Yorker—publishing the first version of In Cold Blood there before gathering it up in book form.
The traditional approach would be a methodical study of the facts, perhaps woven into the narrative of the trial itself. But Capote decided to embellish, and we're lucky he did. From the start, there's scenes (re-)constructed and characterizations that Capote… well, a generous term would be to say he "extrapolated". I'm not inclined to give him that much credit.
Yet, in spite of the clearly-manufactured renderings of characters and events that are sketchy at best, the book WORKS. If you accept it as a novel that happens to comport with facts, it's a marvelous experience. It's a shame that Capote pulled off the move so well because it inspired many lesser writers to try and fail spectacularly at the same. (Example: goddamn Eric Larson in The Devil in the White City.)
Part of why it works so well at a novel is because Capote constructs the scenes, accidentally or not, to support many different readings. Clarissa read the book first, and was struck by how much Capote was clearly, uh, enraptured by Perry Smith. I couldn't stop noticing the women being sidelined and reduced throughout the novel, and coping in their own ways that even Capote may not have recognized at the time. I have no idea how much any of it comports with reality, and I don't particularly care either.
Cool book overall, one I liked a lot more than I expected, even with Clarissa's glowing recommendation and all the accumulated street cred in the last fifty years.