Book Review: In cold blood - T. Capote

"I thought that Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman. I thought so right up to the moment that I cut his throat."

Gosh, how awful! Not the book, the facts described in the book. It is just a horrible story, this poor decent, hard working, well respected family killed in cold blood for not even 50 dollars in the end!
I get why Truman Capote got so fascinated by those murders and those killers to want to write a book about it. It is just unbelievable that two people, yes two "disturbed" people, no doubts, with a bad luggage of stealing, could committee such an atrocious act without any kind of remorse or nightmare at night!
The book itself is the account of what happened, who the family killed was, what the killers background was. There is a long part about their movements to reach the farm and then an account of the killing themselves. The end chapter is about the trial and the subsequent appeal.
It is a chronicle of what happened, well written, quite cold and factual, with some feelings from the various characters in the story in it, but generally it is quite a detached account of events. But the events themselves are so horrible that it becomes addictive to read on and on, to try and understand if they had a motive and what went on in their minds to commit such brutal assassinations.
A good read for the readers that like real crime story and are not too weak in the stomach!

Overall rating: 6,5   Plot: NA   Writing style: 6,5    Cover: 4

Title:In cold blood
Author: Truman Capote
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 352
Publication year: 1965

Plot:

The chilling true crime 'non-fiction novel' that made Truman Capote's name, In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative published in Penguin Modern Classics. Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human.

The Author:
Truman Garcia Capote born Truman Streckfus Persons, (September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966), which he labeled a "nonfiction novel". At least 20 films and television dramas have been produced of Capote novels, stories, and plays.