In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood is the new school classics selection in the group catching up on classics for November 2016. Having read Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's recently and enjoying his writing, I could not wait to read this nonfiction thriller in advance of the upcoming group read. Writing in his relaxing southern style, Capote turns a horrid crime into a story to make the how's and whys accessible to the average American. It is in this regard that I rate this thrilling classic five stars.

On November 15, 1959 Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith, on a tip from another inmate, brutally murdered four members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas. Having heard that the Clutters possessed either a safe or $10,000 cash in their home, Smith and Hickock desired this wealth for themselves so that they could live out their days in a Mexican beach resort. To their surprise and chagrin, the Clutters did not have neither the safe nor the cash, but Hickock had said to leave no witnesses. Crime committed, the pair escaped to a life of continued crimes and violence and believing that authorities would never catch up with them. And in the beginning it appeared that this ill advised lifestyle might actually work.

Due to the relentless work of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations (KBI) lead by Alvin Dewey, Hickock and Smith were eventually brought to justice and ultimately given the death penalty. Capote weaves a tale by giving us the backstory of both felons as well as a picture of Holcomb and nearby Garden City, Kansas as an idyllic place to raise a family. The crime changed everything. Families kept their doors locked and did not allow their children to venture far from home. In the surrounding areas, people viewed their lives as a before and after. Inevitably, the Clutter case lead to less community interaction and a beginning of a breakdown of society.

Yet by providing the backstories of the felons, Capote allows the the readers to emphasize with their place in society. Dick Hickock was on his way to finishing at the top of his class with a possible athletic scholarship and a degree in engineering. His family could not afford a university education even with the scholarship so Hickock went to work. An automobile accident left him partially brain damaged as his parents maintained that he was not the same person since, and this one incident lead to his adult life of crime. Smith, on the other hand, lead a bleak childhood to the point where readers would feel sorry for him. Coming from a fractured family and only a third grade education, Smith suffered from a superiority complex his entire life. His role in the Clutter murders was the consummation of a lifetime of rejection. The felons came from diametrically opposed upbringings and yet I was left feeling remorse for both.

Capote pieced together the crime to the point where I felt that I knew the people of Holcomb as well as the principal players in the crime intimately. This work lead to a new genre that brings together nonfiction and fiction in a way that history feels like a story. Both Capote and his research assistant Harper Lee ended up as award winning authors. Their fictional writing skills allowed for the personalization of this tale and ultimately help change the way many write nonfiction.

Truman Capote is one of 20th America's master storytellers, and In Cold Blood is by many considered his opus. His research was detail oriented and allowed him to bring the story of the Clutter murders to the average American home. After completing this five star work painting the picture of the how's and whys of murder, I look forward to reading more of his charming Southern stories.

This book is one of the first, if not the first, true crime novel. According to Wikipedia, only Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders has sold more copies in the True Crime category than In Cold Blood. While true crime fans might read this today and think that it sounds like your basic true crime story, at the time it was groundbreaking to detail a crime in this much detail and in a format as big as a novel.

One of the things it appears that this novel set the precedence for, and that I have seen in other true crime novels, is that the author is not only researching the story, he is getting in the mix and talking face to face with the criminals (example - Ann Rule). Sometimes this leads to relationships and feelings that are reflected in the retelling. After you finish reading this, it is interesting to look this up online and see some of the theories about how Capote approached this crime and the people involved.

Speaking of Capote, I have never seen any of the movies about him, but it sounds like all of them focus on this part of his life – and there are at least 3 of them! I may need to check them out to see what I think. Also, I need to check out the classic film that came out shortly after publication.

One think I found very, very interesting  when speaking of what criminals could do on death row in Kansas, basically everything – every form of comfort, entertainment, ways to pass the time – were taken away from them. The justice system went out of their way to make things as uncomfortable as possible for those awaiting death. However, they let them read as much as they want. I am wondering why reading was the one acceptable past time they were given?

One thing I forgot to add when I originally wrote this review was that having read this and Breakfast At Tiffany's, it is hard to believe it is the same author. Probably the most diverse writing from the same author I have ever encountered.

True crime fans! Non-fiction fans! Fans of must read classics! You must add In Cold Blood to your list.

Τα πέντε αστέρια δίνονται πρόθυμα, ειλικρινή και ένθερμα στο «Εν ψυχρώ», πρωτίστως για την εκπληκτική δουλειά του συγγραφέα και τον διακριτικό, ταπεινό, διεισδυτικό σεβασμό που χαρακτηρίζει την τεχνική ύφους και γραφής του βιβλίου.

Ακολουθεί μια σιωπηρή αξιοπρέπεια στην αφήγηση των γεγονότων χωρίς να αποστασιοποιείται απο την τραγωδία, δίχως επικλήσεις συναισθηματικών εξάρσεων, χωρίς επιτήδευση και μακριά απο την τυπική δημοσιογραφική προσέγγιση.
Ένα λογοτεχνικό έργο που δεν δείχνει, δεν προμηνύει το μακριά, το μέλλον, το μετά, μα εστιάζει στην ουσία της πραγματικής ιστορίας.
Καταφέρνει με αριστουργηματικό τρόπο να παραμένει αόρατη η μακρόχρονη έρευνα και επεξεργασία που έκανε πριν μας χαρίσει μια αληθινή αίσθηση εγκληματικής φαντασίας ως εν ψυχρώ εμπειρία.

Το βιβλίο αναφέρεται σε μια ανατριχιαστικά βάναυση δολοφονία μιας ευκατάστατης, αγροτικής οικογένειας, στο Κάνσας το 1959.
Οι δολοφόνοι, δυο περιθωριακοί, απλοί τυχοδιώκτες, θύτες και θύματα μιας αγιάτρευτης κοινωνικής ψυχοπαθογένειας.
Το κίνητρο τους αβάσιμο, το σκεπτικό τους ασταθές, το έγκλημα τους μοιραία και ανησυχητικά τυχαίο.
Η εξέλιξη γεγονότων και συμπτώσεων που προκαλούν τον αφανισμό της οικογένειας είναι μια λεπτή διαχωριστική γραμμή ανάμεσα στα πάντα,που φαίνονται και είναι κανονικά στην καθημερινότητα των ανθρώπων και στην απόλυτη καταστροφή, που χτυπάει ξαφνικά απο το πουθενά.

Ο θεμελιώδης σεβασμός είναι το στοιχείο που διεισδύει και μεταφέρεται σε όλο το βιβλίο.
Ο Καπότε σέβεται την οικογένεια των θυμάτων που τους σκιαγραφεί με απόλυτα κομψό άγγιγμα.
Αποδέχεται χωρίς μεγαλοστομίες την τοπική επιβολή των νόμων στην αγροτική περιοχή καθώς και τον τρόπο ζωής και σκέψης του λαού της.
Δείχνει βαθιά εκτίμηση σε κάθε ανθρώπινη ύπαρξη, σε θεσμούς και φορείς που συνθέτουν την λειτουργεία της κοινωνίας.
Ακόμη κι όταν αμφισβητεί τη δικαστική διαδικασία το κάνει σιωπηρά και όσο πιο αντικειμενικά θα άρμοζε στην αξιοπρέπεια.

Θαύμασα απεριόριστα το σπουδαίο ταλέντο της ενσυναίσθησης του συγγραφέα καθώς και την κατανόηση που εκφράζει όταν αναλύει τις ζωές των δολοφόνων.
Σε πρώτη φάση αφηγείται την πορεία των γεγονότων προς το έγκλημα με σαφήνεια, μα σε πιο βαθύ επίπεδο τα αφήνει όλα μυστήρια, αναπάντητα και ανεξήγητα αναφορικά με τις αιτίες που δημιουργούν έναν δολοφόνο.
Αίσθηση τραγωδίας διαπνέει την διαμόρφωση της ζωής τους, μα ο τελικός απολογισμός δείχνει καθαρά να σέβεται όχι το «ποιοι» ήταν οι δολοφόνοι αλλά το ποιοι θα «μπορούσαν» να είναι.

*Αξιοθαύμαστο*

Η απίστευτη λεπτομέρεια στην περιγραφή, τα στοιχεία που συνέθεσαν το αποτέλεσμα, το ίδιο το έγκλημα, οι δραστηριότητες των εμπλεκομένων στην υπόθεση ή των απλών παρατηρητών, καθώς και αναλυτικές συσχετίσεις με άλλα εγκλήματα εξίσου απεχθή και ανελέητα, αποκαλύπτουν την αξία του συγγραφέα.

Τίποτα δεν ακυρώνει το βασικό αίσθημα της τραγωδίας και το τελικό αποτέλεσμα ολοκληρώνεται με μια αιώνια σύγκρουση.
Η ρίζα του κακού είναι η μόνιμη φθονερή αντιπαράθεση δυο κόσμων που οριοθετούν την παγκόσμια κοινωνία.

Ο δυσλειτουργικός, βίαιος, στερημένος κόσμος των ασθενέστερων κοινωνικών στρωμάτων εκδικείται με αναδρομικά κατάλοιπα τους εκπροσώπους των τακτοποιημένων και ευκατάστατων κοινωνικών τάξεων που εκπροσωπούν επιτυχία και εξουσία.

Τελειώνοντας αφήνει την πικρή γεύση της ανασφάλειας και του φόβου στον αναγνώστη που μπορεί να ξεχωρίσει τους δυο κόσμους ... και να συμπεράνει ως εκ τούτου, πως, τέτοιου είδους μυστήρια πίσω απο αυτή την ιστορία, μένουν πάντα ανεξιχνίαστα.

Ό,τι παραμένει για πάντα ανεπίλυτο είναι προφανές πως μπορεί να επαναληφθεί και να εξελιχθεί με πιο δραματική βάση και ουσία.



Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.

I just wonder why it took me so long to get this masterpiece on my currently-reading shelf. What a breathtaking story! And told in the most amazing novelistic style! The cold-blooded murders in Kansas in 1956 are described by a cold, distant narrator via the interviews of the family, acquaintances, and community around the victims and the hair-raising stories of Perry and Bobby, the murderers. It is a real page-turner - I couldn't put it down! The descriptions of the youth of all the tragic protagonists are explored from every angle under a magnifying glass. In Cold Blood kept me thinking that most of the recent murder mystery shows and movies were indebted to this piece of literature (that Capote probably deserved a Pulitzer for but was passed over, helas, in 1965). There is this strange homoeroticism between the two murderers (who call each other "sugar" and "honey") but who both spout homophobic words throughout. Like the lawyers, I felt Richard was the coldest one and Perry the most twisted and tragic.

This book is a true masterpiece of the non-fiction novel (even if some of the facts brought out by Capote were disputed) and its narration is stupendous in character development and maintains an enormous amount of suspense end-to-end. It is even more astounding because the reader already knows who commits the crime, the novel only elucidates the "why" and even that is ambiguous and pathetic. An awesome read.

Note that in A Capote Reader, there is a great short essay about the making of the movie In Cold Blood where Capote talks a bit about the 6 years it took him to write this masterpiece. (Haven't seen the movie yet :/)

[UPDATE] I finally saw the movie Capote and it was absolutely amazing as a backstory to this book. I still haven't found the movie In Cold Blood yet.

Tuve este libro en mi biblioteca por mucho tiempo. La verdad es que nunca me llamó la atención y por cosas de la vida decidí leerlo para ver que tal... y wow!! Quedé gratamente sorprendido con la decisión que tomé y es uno de los mejores libros que he leído en bastante tiempo. Después de leerlo me puse a leer un poco más acerca del contexto y el autor y resulta que al parecer es una mezcla de ficción con realidad.
En cuanto al libro en sí, me gustó mucho la forma en que toda la historia fue relatada, iba cambiando desde el punto de vista de los personajes y la descripción tanto de la vida de los asesinos como de la vida de los Clutter iba tomando forma y fue muy fácil interesarse en ellos. Lo mismo pasó incluso con los personajes secundarios. Hubo días que no hacía nada en mi trabajo y en vez de eso leía este libro.
Me resultó muy interesante que se pusiera todo el contexto y se hablara de la vida e infancia que Hickock y Smith tuvieron, y de esa forma no eran solamente los malos de esta novela porque sí, si no que eran malos con fundamento, había una explicación detrás, lo que a mi entender le da un plus muy grande.
Totalmente atrapante y con un ritmo genial. Me encantó y no tengo nada malo que decir. Lo amé.

بهترین کتاب جنایی و یکی از بهترین کتاب‌هایی بود که توی زندگیم خوندم.
اگر دنبال اتفاق‌ها و معما می‌گردین، این کتاب احتمالا گزینه‌ی مناسبی برای شما نیست؛ اما اگر می‌خواین یک جنایت رو تمام و کمال درک کنین، از «در کمال خونسردی» بهتر پیدا نمی‌کنین.
این کتاب، داستان آدم‌هاست، واقعیت آدم‌ها، بی‌پرده، ذهن و شخصیتشون، همه‌ی افراد مرتبط با یک جنایت، از قاتل و مقتول تا بازپرس و اهالی یک شهر.
فضاسازی این کتاب و شخصیت‌پردازیش بی‌نظیر و بسیار عمیقه. هر جزئیاتی که ازش صحبت می‌شه، بخشی از تصویر کاملیه که کاپوتی می‌خواد در ذهن ما شکل بده تا به یک درک واقعی از مفهوم جنایت برسیم، نه فقط این مورد، بلکه جنایت به طور کلی.

من عاشق دونستن ِ آدم‌ها ام. اینکه شخصیت آدم‌ها و قصه‌شون و ذهنشون رو بفهمم. این کتاب باعث می‌شه از درک سطحی آدم خوب و بد و قضاوت مطلق فراتر بریم و بدونیم چقدر روان انسان پیچیده ست و سیستم قضایی ناقص و ناکافی.

این کتاب، یک زندگیه، یک زندگی کاملا روزمره که بر حسب تصادف جنایتی توش اتفاق میفته.
الان که تمومش کردم، در مورد یک سری چیزهایی مثل شخصیت جنایتکارها و مجازات و اعدام و غیره دچار تردید شدم که قبلش تکلیفم باهاشون نسبتا مشخص بود و این از دید من بهترین اتفاقیه که با خوندن یک کتاب می‌تونه برامون بیفته: به هم ریختن پیش‌فرض‌ها.
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یادگاری از کتاب:
دقیق می‌دانست در هر ساعت بناست چه کاری انجام دهد و آن کار چقدر وقتش را می‌گیرد.
...
خیلی مهمه که آدم همیشه یه چیزی پیشش داشته باشه که مال خودش باشه، چیزی که واقعا مال خودته.
...
یه چیزی تو این حوالی برای همیشه تموم شده.
...
مسئله اینه که بتونی ذهنت رو از همه‌ی صداهای دیگه خالی کنی. کاملا ساکت باشی و خیلی دقیق گوش کنی. ولی آدم هیچ‌وقت نمی‌تونه اون‌طور که باید سکوت کنه...
...
صادقانه بگویم، فکر می‌کنم هیچ کداممان نمی‌توانیم کاری که خودمان با زندگی شخصی خودمان کردیم را گردن کس دیگری بیاندازیم.
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من خیلی حساسم؛ خیلی وقت‌ها می‌فهمم تو ذهن آدم‌ها چی می‌گذره.
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همون لحظه که نامه رو خوندم، فهمیدم باید این کار رو بکنم چون ادعا کرده بودم دوست این آدم هستم.

Every once in a while I feel the need to get a couple of IQ points back by reading something that is considered a "classic" or won prizes or whatever.



So, this book is based on a real murder that happened way back in the 1950's. A family was killed in a small town in Kansas and it was a big deal. Not like these days. We hardly flinch anymore when the weekly killing spree is on the news. Truman Capote was super obsessed with this case and took his buddy, Harper Lee, with him to Kansas where they interviewed everyone extensively in this small town. This book was the result and took him 6 years to get out. He insisted that it is completely factual even though he was called a filthy liar with pants on fire because "they" say he made some things up. Personally, I don't care. The book is good whether or not he exaggerated or gave "alternative facts." Again, sign of the times. We are so used to facts being spun that we don't even expect absolute truth anymore.



The only thing that was difficult for me with this book was the unbelievably descriptive writing. I have little patience for long flowing sentences with many many adjectives to describe a wheat field. I die of boredom really easily. It's a problem. But, I pressed through it because I am brave like that, and I found myself very immersed in the story. I don't know if it is because all of that purple prose got my mind envisioning the story better than others or what, but it worked. Still not a converted fan of the excess adjectives though. I made ONE exception. Can I go back to my vampire smut books now?


Cool! See ya!

Too often crime is seen as one dimensional; criminals come from another realm that can't be explained. Capote had a gift for chipping away at criminal and victim to expose a deeper truth...often hidden for a reason. This book really captured my interest; one of the first 'true' books I can remember reading that made seek out other books about crime.