Did you know, on November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
Review:
An exceptional book that is both chilling and touching. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, tells the epic yet historically nonfiction tragic murder occurring on November 15, 1959. Four members of the Clutter family were brutally killed by shotguns that were considerably shot at close range in a small town in Holcomb County, a few miles from Kansas City. The novel commences on a few days before Thanksgiving.
When Herbert Clutter, the head of the Clutter family, inspects his ranch while on the other side of Kansas, the two culprits of the crime, Richard (Dick) Hickock and Perry Smith. All members of the Clutter family proceed doing their everyday activities such as running errands or teaching the neighbor's youngest daughter how to bake a pie. And as the Clutter family retires to their home and sees the sun setting in the west on November 14, 1959, nobody knew it would have been their last picturesque view.
At dawn that morning, strange noises woke up the whole town. Nobody knew what it was until one of Herbert's daughter's friend saw the four bodies lying on the kitchen floor motionless. The investigation begins led by Alvin Dewwey, the primary agents for the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigation). After a few short hours, the whole nation finds out about this. It turns out that Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were both put in jail for previous crimes. It was brought to the attention of one of the criminals cellmate that it was obvious that either one of those two had committed the crime.
Hickock and Smith know that they're being chased and flee to Mexico. While attempting to steal a car, they are caught by the police and through numerous lines of questioning both of them finally confessed and are charged with 1st degree murder. Many people who have read this book find it a fictional work of art. In reality this tragic murder did occur and it grasped the attention of Truman Capote.
In Cold Blood is representative of a true American tragedy on all counts, for you have the horrid slaughter of the Clutter family, and in another way, you have the death of two men who could have become something more than what they ended up if their circumstances early in their life had been just a little bit different. Ultimately, the punishment for the crime was well deserved, if not a tragedy in its own right. All told, there are no words that can appropriately express the emotions that are evoked when the book is entirely read through.
This book with make you examine your own feeling about good and evil, the death penalty, and society in general. It did not change my points of view but it gave me cause to reaffirm them.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
Review:
An exceptional book that is both chilling and touching. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, tells the epic yet historically nonfiction tragic murder occurring on November 15, 1959. Four members of the Clutter family were brutally killed by shotguns that were considerably shot at close range in a small town in Holcomb County, a few miles from Kansas City. The novel commences on a few days before Thanksgiving.
When Herbert Clutter, the head of the Clutter family, inspects his ranch while on the other side of Kansas, the two culprits of the crime, Richard (Dick) Hickock and Perry Smith. All members of the Clutter family proceed doing their everyday activities such as running errands or teaching the neighbor's youngest daughter how to bake a pie. And as the Clutter family retires to their home and sees the sun setting in the west on November 14, 1959, nobody knew it would have been their last picturesque view.
At dawn that morning, strange noises woke up the whole town. Nobody knew what it was until one of Herbert's daughter's friend saw the four bodies lying on the kitchen floor motionless. The investigation begins led by Alvin Dewwey, the primary agents for the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigation). After a few short hours, the whole nation finds out about this. It turns out that Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were both put in jail for previous crimes. It was brought to the attention of one of the criminals cellmate that it was obvious that either one of those two had committed the crime.
Hickock and Smith know that they're being chased and flee to Mexico. While attempting to steal a car, they are caught by the police and through numerous lines of questioning both of them finally confessed and are charged with 1st degree murder. Many people who have read this book find it a fictional work of art. In reality this tragic murder did occur and it grasped the attention of Truman Capote.
In Cold Blood is representative of a true American tragedy on all counts, for you have the horrid slaughter of the Clutter family, and in another way, you have the death of two men who could have become something more than what they ended up if their circumstances early in their life had been just a little bit different. Ultimately, the punishment for the crime was well deserved, if not a tragedy in its own right. All told, there are no words that can appropriately express the emotions that are evoked when the book is entirely read through.
This book with make you examine your own feeling about good and evil, the death penalty, and society in general. It did not change my points of view but it gave me cause to reaffirm them.
