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Hadley (567 KP) rated In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences in Books
Aug 2, 2020
The writing (1 more)
The flow
In the 'Introduction' of Capote's true crime novel In Cold Blood, American writer Bob Colacello states: "Capote was one of the first who dared to elevate journalism to the level of art. In Cold Blood is a work of great discipline and even greater restraint, a tale of fate, as spare and elegiac as a Greek tragedy, as rich in its breadth and depth as the classic French novels of Stendhal and Flaubert. 'We all have our souls and we all have facades,' Truman Capote told his friend Kay Meehan a year or so before he came upon the news that would inspire his masterpiece, 'and then there's something in between that makes us function as people. That's what I have the ability to communicate.' "
The novel, which was published in 1965, is an eyewitness account of Capote's visitation to the scene of the murder as well as meetings with the murderers and townspeople- - - a retelling of the crime and aftermath, mostly from the eyes of those affected, by hundreds of hours of interviews and interrogations. The novel, ultimately, was the end of Capote which led him to alcoholism that took his life in 1984.
Like most small-town murders, a tension between residences is created when a well-known and well-liked family of four is brutally murdered, and everyone begins to point a finger at the other: "But afterward the townspeople, theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors, found fantasy re-creating them over and again - - - those somber explosions that stimulated fires of mistrust in the glare of which many old neighbors viewed each other strangely, and as strangers." Fortunately, the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigation) didn't allow these accusations to keep them from finding the real killers.
" 'Deep down,' Perry continued, 'way, way rock bottom, I never thought I could do it. A thing like that.' " Perry Smith, one of the murderers, confesses to his cohort and partner-in-crime, Richard Hickock, about murdering the Clutter family. "Presently, he said, 'Know what it is that really bugs me? About that other thing[Clutter murder]? It's just I don't believe it- - - that anyone can get away with a thing like that.' And he suspected that Dick [Richard] didn't, either. For Dick was at least partly inhabited by Perry's mystical-moral apprehensions. Thus: 'Now, just shut up!' "
Capote writes clearly of the impact that Smith's and Hickock's past may have played leading up to the murders, mostly focusing on Smith's traumatic childhood. During the trial portion of the book, a psychologist is brought in to point out how the two murderers may not have been responsible for their actions due-to instances in their past - - - a horrific car crash in Hickock's that left him with a lop-sided face and black-out spells, as well as Smith being physically and emotional abused by his alcoholic mother and father. In exploring these traumas, In Cold Blood leaves the impression that these two men were merely ticking time bombs and that the Clutter family, unfortunately, had to pay for it.
The trauma shared by Hickock and Smith help to shape the two murderers into actual human beings rather than monsters throughout the novel: one scene, where we get to read a letter to Smith from his last living sister, readers get to see how he was perceived by his family members, as his sister goes on to degrade him to the maturity level of a child and that she is above him because of that- - -but she also reveals her jealousy of their father loving him more than he ever loved her (despite the excessive abuse). A close friend of Smith's tells him to be careful writing her anymore because he believes that: 'they can only serve to increase your already dangerous anti-social instincts.'
Part of the narrative, too, is the KBI agent in-charge of the Clutter murder, Alvin Dewey: One day while visiting Holcomb's well-known cafe (Hartman's) where Dewey is told he looks awful from weight loss and fatigue - - - Dewey recalls that he had spent: 'two wearying and wasted days trying to trace that phantom pair, the Mexicans sworn by Paul Helm to have visited Mr. Clutter on the eve of the murders.' And then he gets heckled by a local, who wants to know why he hasn't found the people responsible yet,but Dewey simply smiles and walks away, having put up with numerous people being angry that the murders were taking so long to solve.
But it wasn't footwork that got the pair arrested, it was an old cellmate who had given Hickock the idea that there was $10,000 in a safe at the Clutter farm that came forward: (read this on my blog because I had to cut it out since my review was too long!).
Meanwhile, readers also get to experience Hickock and Smith's troubles as they are on the run after the murders which is done masterfully by Capote. And although one would assume that the killers would stay as far away from Kansas as possible, the two end up back there, only to miraculously get out before the police can catch up with them. The pair decide to head to Florida, where, on December 19, 1959, an entire family was murdered in the exact same way as the Clutters; Hickock and Smith both adamantly denied that they were involved with it - - - and back in 2012- - - Hickock and Smith's bodies were exhumed to compare their DNA with a profile found on one of the victim's clothing: they were not a match. The case remains unsolved til this day.
" Presently he[Smith] came across an inner-page story that won his entire attention. It concerned murder, the slaying of a Florida family, a Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Walker, their four-year-old son, and their two-year-old daughter. Each of the victims, though not bound or gagged, had been shot through the head with a .22 weapon. The crime, clueless and apparently motiveless, had taken place Saturday night, December 19, at the Walker home, on a cattle-raising ranch not far from Tallahassee."
Not soon after the pair leave the Florida beaches, they are arrested on what they believe to be parole violations, but it's clear, when the arresting officers are KBI agents that they had been caught for the Clutter murders. " 'Listen good, Perry. Because Mr. Duntz[KBI agent] is going to tell you where you really were...' Midway in the questioning, after he'd[Smith] begun to notice the number of allusions to a particular November weekend, he'd nerved himself for what he knew was coming, yet when it did, when the big cowboy with the sleepy voice said, 'You were killing the Clutter family' - - - well, he'd damn near died. That's all. "
The confession that follows is the most intense part of the book, given in it's entirety, readers finally get to know what happened to the Clutter family that cold night in November, 1959. Smith reveals that he never had the intention to kill anyone in the home, and that when the safe hadn't been found, he had fully intended to leave, even without Hickock, but what kept him there was Hickock threatening to rape Nancy Clutter. Smith states that he hates people who can't control themselves sexually, and that he didn't allow his partner to touch her at all. He also reveals that he thought about killing Hickock afterwards,stating: " no witnesses."
Capote didn't write 'In Cold Blood' until after Hickock and Smith were executed. The amount of interviews, court room appearances, and even witnessing the executions of both murderers shines through in this novel. But the book has also brought about doubters; a handful of people have since come forward to state that Capote's masterpiece is either 'not the full story' or 'completely wrong.' Just as recent as 2017, a man came forward with a 'manuscript' of a book that Hickock was writing, that contained a different confession on how and why the murders took place- - - Hickock states in this unpublished manuscript that a man by the name 'Roberts' had hired him and Smith to kill the Clutters.
Whether or not you believe that Capote wrote the whole truth or some of the truth, this novel is flawless and beautiful. The writing is poetic and the flow of the story keeps moving, page after page, never stopping long enough to bore the reader. I highly recommend this book as a MUST READ for anyone who loves the True Crime genre.
The novel, which was published in 1965, is an eyewitness account of Capote's visitation to the scene of the murder as well as meetings with the murderers and townspeople- - - a retelling of the crime and aftermath, mostly from the eyes of those affected, by hundreds of hours of interviews and interrogations. The novel, ultimately, was the end of Capote which led him to alcoholism that took his life in 1984.
Like most small-town murders, a tension between residences is created when a well-known and well-liked family of four is brutally murdered, and everyone begins to point a finger at the other: "But afterward the townspeople, theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors, found fantasy re-creating them over and again - - - those somber explosions that stimulated fires of mistrust in the glare of which many old neighbors viewed each other strangely, and as strangers." Fortunately, the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigation) didn't allow these accusations to keep them from finding the real killers.
" 'Deep down,' Perry continued, 'way, way rock bottom, I never thought I could do it. A thing like that.' " Perry Smith, one of the murderers, confesses to his cohort and partner-in-crime, Richard Hickock, about murdering the Clutter family. "Presently, he said, 'Know what it is that really bugs me? About that other thing[Clutter murder]? It's just I don't believe it- - - that anyone can get away with a thing like that.' And he suspected that Dick [Richard] didn't, either. For Dick was at least partly inhabited by Perry's mystical-moral apprehensions. Thus: 'Now, just shut up!' "
Capote writes clearly of the impact that Smith's and Hickock's past may have played leading up to the murders, mostly focusing on Smith's traumatic childhood. During the trial portion of the book, a psychologist is brought in to point out how the two murderers may not have been responsible for their actions due-to instances in their past - - - a horrific car crash in Hickock's that left him with a lop-sided face and black-out spells, as well as Smith being physically and emotional abused by his alcoholic mother and father. In exploring these traumas, In Cold Blood leaves the impression that these two men were merely ticking time bombs and that the Clutter family, unfortunately, had to pay for it.
The trauma shared by Hickock and Smith help to shape the two murderers into actual human beings rather than monsters throughout the novel: one scene, where we get to read a letter to Smith from his last living sister, readers get to see how he was perceived by his family members, as his sister goes on to degrade him to the maturity level of a child and that she is above him because of that- - -but she also reveals her jealousy of their father loving him more than he ever loved her (despite the excessive abuse). A close friend of Smith's tells him to be careful writing her anymore because he believes that: 'they can only serve to increase your already dangerous anti-social instincts.'
Part of the narrative, too, is the KBI agent in-charge of the Clutter murder, Alvin Dewey: One day while visiting Holcomb's well-known cafe (Hartman's) where Dewey is told he looks awful from weight loss and fatigue - - - Dewey recalls that he had spent: 'two wearying and wasted days trying to trace that phantom pair, the Mexicans sworn by Paul Helm to have visited Mr. Clutter on the eve of the murders.' And then he gets heckled by a local, who wants to know why he hasn't found the people responsible yet,but Dewey simply smiles and walks away, having put up with numerous people being angry that the murders were taking so long to solve.
But it wasn't footwork that got the pair arrested, it was an old cellmate who had given Hickock the idea that there was $10,000 in a safe at the Clutter farm that came forward: (read this on my blog because I had to cut it out since my review was too long!).
Meanwhile, readers also get to experience Hickock and Smith's troubles as they are on the run after the murders which is done masterfully by Capote. And although one would assume that the killers would stay as far away from Kansas as possible, the two end up back there, only to miraculously get out before the police can catch up with them. The pair decide to head to Florida, where, on December 19, 1959, an entire family was murdered in the exact same way as the Clutters; Hickock and Smith both adamantly denied that they were involved with it - - - and back in 2012- - - Hickock and Smith's bodies were exhumed to compare their DNA with a profile found on one of the victim's clothing: they were not a match. The case remains unsolved til this day.
" Presently he[Smith] came across an inner-page story that won his entire attention. It concerned murder, the slaying of a Florida family, a Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Walker, their four-year-old son, and their two-year-old daughter. Each of the victims, though not bound or gagged, had been shot through the head with a .22 weapon. The crime, clueless and apparently motiveless, had taken place Saturday night, December 19, at the Walker home, on a cattle-raising ranch not far from Tallahassee."
Not soon after the pair leave the Florida beaches, they are arrested on what they believe to be parole violations, but it's clear, when the arresting officers are KBI agents that they had been caught for the Clutter murders. " 'Listen good, Perry. Because Mr. Duntz[KBI agent] is going to tell you where you really were...' Midway in the questioning, after he'd[Smith] begun to notice the number of allusions to a particular November weekend, he'd nerved himself for what he knew was coming, yet when it did, when the big cowboy with the sleepy voice said, 'You were killing the Clutter family' - - - well, he'd damn near died. That's all. "
The confession that follows is the most intense part of the book, given in it's entirety, readers finally get to know what happened to the Clutter family that cold night in November, 1959. Smith reveals that he never had the intention to kill anyone in the home, and that when the safe hadn't been found, he had fully intended to leave, even without Hickock, but what kept him there was Hickock threatening to rape Nancy Clutter. Smith states that he hates people who can't control themselves sexually, and that he didn't allow his partner to touch her at all. He also reveals that he thought about killing Hickock afterwards,stating: " no witnesses."
Capote didn't write 'In Cold Blood' until after Hickock and Smith were executed. The amount of interviews, court room appearances, and even witnessing the executions of both murderers shines through in this novel. But the book has also brought about doubters; a handful of people have since come forward to state that Capote's masterpiece is either 'not the full story' or 'completely wrong.' Just as recent as 2017, a man came forward with a 'manuscript' of a book that Hickock was writing, that contained a different confession on how and why the murders took place- - - Hickock states in this unpublished manuscript that a man by the name 'Roberts' had hired him and Smith to kill the Clutters.
Whether or not you believe that Capote wrote the whole truth or some of the truth, this novel is flawless and beautiful. The writing is poetic and the flow of the story keeps moving, page after page, never stopping long enough to bore the reader. I highly recommend this book as a MUST READ for anyone who loves the True Crime genre.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1) in Books
Jun 6, 2018
(This review can be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I'd been wanting to read this book for awhile. It was high up on my TBR pile. I finally couldn't wait any longer and bought it. Luckily, it was money well spent!
Mara Dyer is a 16 year old girl who survived a building collapse although her other friends didn't. She doesn't know why she was the only one to survive. She begins to hear her dead friends voices and seeing them in mirrors and in her waking life. She's convinced she had something to do with their deaths and resolves to stay away from people. However, all that changes when she meets the womanizing Noah Shaw. Will Noah and Mara be able to fall in love or will something or someone prevent that from happening?
I love the title of this book! It sounds so ominous and sad at the same time. The title definitely drew me in. It made me want to know more about this book.
I kind of like the cover, but I don't really get why these two people, who I presume are Noah and Mara, are in water. When I first saw the cover, I presumed that this was going to be one of those books that deal with underwater themes like mermaids and what not, but it's not. Then I thought that maybe it was symbolic about Mara feeling like she was drowning, and Noah is supposed to save her although it looks more like Noah is trying to drown her.
The world building felt very believable throughout most of the book. All my questions were answered in this book which I was super happy about! However, towards the end of the book, the story kind of took a left turn, and I was just like "what". I felt that it got a bit crazy here, and I really can't explain why which I know is bad since this is a review. I know this is a fiction book so of course things won't really happen that happen in books, but without some spoilers, I can't really explain why. Maybe it's just a personal thing.
I enjoyed the pacing and thought it was done quite well. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next. I was immersed in the writing, and I didn't want to leave Mara's world.
I loved the whole plot. Mara can make things happen just by visualizing them. (Don't worry, that wasn't a spoiler). I've always wished I could do that, so I enjoyed reading about it. Plus, there's the subplot of the romance with Noah. I'm not a big romance fan since I believe it tends to get in the way of the actual plot (unless, of course, it's a romance book), but the romance was done in an enjoyable way.
I liked Mara a lot. She felt like a real teenage girl. She's under a lot of stress, and I liked seeing how she was able to deal with it. Mara felt like a girl I could be friends with. With Noah, there were times I liked him and times where I thought he was being a bit too mean and bossy. There's a few times (and only a few) where he tells Mara what to do. He does get violent when it comes to defending Mara's honor. I also didn't like how Noah would use Daddy's money to get whatever he wanted. I know he was only doing it for Mara, but still, it rubbed me wrong. I loved the character of Jamie. I loved his wit, and I wished that there was more of him in the book.
The dialogue was well written although there were a few times where the characters would talk like they were in a Dawson's Creek episode or for those that don't get that reference, like Sheldon does in Big Bang Theory. Personally, I've never been in any situation where a whole conversation used such a rich vocabulary, especially when it involve teenagers. This could just be a me thing though. I enjoyed reading about what Mara did in certain situations. As for language, there is a lot of swearing in this book although I don't feel like it's over the top.
Overall, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is a super enjoyable read. The plot is great, the romance is enjoyable, and the characters are very down to Earth. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
I'd recommend this book to those aged 16+ due to language used. Those who appreciate paranormal elements in their books will love this one!
I'd been wanting to read this book for awhile. It was high up on my TBR pile. I finally couldn't wait any longer and bought it. Luckily, it was money well spent!
Mara Dyer is a 16 year old girl who survived a building collapse although her other friends didn't. She doesn't know why she was the only one to survive. She begins to hear her dead friends voices and seeing them in mirrors and in her waking life. She's convinced she had something to do with their deaths and resolves to stay away from people. However, all that changes when she meets the womanizing Noah Shaw. Will Noah and Mara be able to fall in love or will something or someone prevent that from happening?
I love the title of this book! It sounds so ominous and sad at the same time. The title definitely drew me in. It made me want to know more about this book.
I kind of like the cover, but I don't really get why these two people, who I presume are Noah and Mara, are in water. When I first saw the cover, I presumed that this was going to be one of those books that deal with underwater themes like mermaids and what not, but it's not. Then I thought that maybe it was symbolic about Mara feeling like she was drowning, and Noah is supposed to save her although it looks more like Noah is trying to drown her.
The world building felt very believable throughout most of the book. All my questions were answered in this book which I was super happy about! However, towards the end of the book, the story kind of took a left turn, and I was just like "what". I felt that it got a bit crazy here, and I really can't explain why which I know is bad since this is a review. I know this is a fiction book so of course things won't really happen that happen in books, but without some spoilers, I can't really explain why. Maybe it's just a personal thing.
I enjoyed the pacing and thought it was done quite well. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next. I was immersed in the writing, and I didn't want to leave Mara's world.
I loved the whole plot. Mara can make things happen just by visualizing them. (Don't worry, that wasn't a spoiler). I've always wished I could do that, so I enjoyed reading about it. Plus, there's the subplot of the romance with Noah. I'm not a big romance fan since I believe it tends to get in the way of the actual plot (unless, of course, it's a romance book), but the romance was done in an enjoyable way.
I liked Mara a lot. She felt like a real teenage girl. She's under a lot of stress, and I liked seeing how she was able to deal with it. Mara felt like a girl I could be friends with. With Noah, there were times I liked him and times where I thought he was being a bit too mean and bossy. There's a few times (and only a few) where he tells Mara what to do. He does get violent when it comes to defending Mara's honor. I also didn't like how Noah would use Daddy's money to get whatever he wanted. I know he was only doing it for Mara, but still, it rubbed me wrong. I loved the character of Jamie. I loved his wit, and I wished that there was more of him in the book.
The dialogue was well written although there were a few times where the characters would talk like they were in a Dawson's Creek episode or for those that don't get that reference, like Sheldon does in Big Bang Theory. Personally, I've never been in any situation where a whole conversation used such a rich vocabulary, especially when it involve teenagers. This could just be a me thing though. I enjoyed reading about what Mara did in certain situations. As for language, there is a lot of swearing in this book although I don't feel like it's over the top.
Overall, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is a super enjoyable read. The plot is great, the romance is enjoyable, and the characters are very down to Earth. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
I'd recommend this book to those aged 16+ due to language used. Those who appreciate paranormal elements in their books will love this one!