I promise I don't just read books about murder and gore. I do tend to get "stuck" in one genre at times though. Also, if you have any book recommendations, please let me know! Email me at oddlystrangebooks@gmail.com.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Overview: In 1959, The Clutter family was murdered in their own home. The four family members, Mr. Clutter, Mrs. Clutter, their youngest son and daughter, were all tied up and shot point blank. The small Kansas town was rocked by the murders of such up-standing citizens and the K.B.I. had their hands full trying to solve the murder. Meanwhile, the book follows the lives of two ex-convicts Perry Smith and Dick Hickock as they flee from one place to another. Eventually, the two stories come together and the men are charged and found guilty of the murder of The Clutter family.
The Writing and Words: Though this book is an older book, the writing has held up very well over the years. Truman did an amazing job of telling the two tales and bringing them together. This was one of the first "nonfiction novels", in that it's based on a true story. I usually can't stand authors that go on and on in details but Truman was able to hold my attention. The book includes a couple of pictures of the family and the two murderers, you really don't need it since Truman does such an amazing job of explaining everything. The book is broken up into three parts: the first focuses mostly on The Clutter family and their lives before they were murdered. The second part focuses on Perry and Dick and their lives after the murder and their lives before the murder. The third brings the two stories together and it follows the trial all the way until the two men are executed.
My Opinion: I couldn't help but compare this book with my last book review "Columbine". "Columbine" is very straight forward, nothing but the facts book, "In Cold Blood" is very much full of emotions and gives the reader what was going on in the minds of the people in the book. The people of Holcomb, Kansas get the closure that the people of Columbine did not. Holcomb got to see the two men go on trial and then executed. Columbine was robbed of that by the two boys killing themselves, leaving many things unanswered.
The two books are also very similar even though they are decades apart. The murderers of Columbine and Holcomb both killed people without having anything to set them off. Perry and Hickock murdered the family after they realized that there was no safe full of money in the house. It's a weak motive, if any at all, because neither murderer felt any remorse or feelings about killing the family. If it wasn't The Clutters, it would have been a different family. Both towns were both filled of people who wouldn't stop talking about the case and the people of the town began to grow very, very tired of hearing about it. They just wanted to move on with their lives and get that sense of normal back.
It's amazing how both stories were so similar but told in two very different ways. Truman was a very talented writer. Even though he goes into details about Perry and Hickock and their tragic and hard childhoods, he does an amazing job of never letting the reader feel sympathy for the two killers. I really saw how much it meant for Holcomb to get the closure that Columbine did not and it made me feel a different kind of sympathy for the people of Columbine. This book was a very, very good read and even though it's an old tale it stands the test of time extremely well. I was very pleased by the writing and the story and probably one of the better books I have ever read.
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