In Cold Blood - Posting Spot
Posted on June 23rd, 2008 by jbuboltz
Post your thoughts here for Capote’s “nonfiction novel” In Cold Blood. A great movie to watch for this one is Capote. It came out a couple years ago, really interesting. Make sure you at least fill the box.
Filed under: Honors 11
Hey, this is another great read for summer. It’s a good idea to watch Capote, but try reading Gerald Clark’s biography of the same name first. It might be interesting to watch Infamous–it’s a film based on George Plimpton’s biography of Capote. The film covers the same time period–when Capote researched and wrote In Cold Blood, and they both show the drastic effect that the task had on the brilliant author. I believe he was one of our great short story writers.
In Cold Blood was a long, difficult read. I did not like it much. I enjoy stories that are fast paced and gripping. The novel had a terrible plot, but I did not care for the characters. Even though it was a based on a true story, I felt Capote could have taken more creative liberties and developed some of the characters further. It was hard for me to connect with any of the detectives. The character I enjoyed the most was Perry. He seemed like a nice guy, and he had very short legs and a huge body. He was this way do to a motorcycle accident. He also had a very tough childhood. However I later found out that he was the one who had killed the Clutters. Capote’s style of writing was slower than I like. It seemed like the book took forever to read because of all the description. It would have been a lot better of a book if it had been written by Orson Scott Card, the author of my favorite book, Ender’s Game. The book would have been faster paced and more interesting.
In Cold Blood was an interesting book. I did like it a lot too. I liked how there were many twists and turns throughout the book. I also liked how you knew Perry and Dick’s story throughout the book too. I thought that this was a very good book.
Being a newcomer to the Honors English criteria, I really did not know what to expect out of these books, In Cold Blood especially. The extensiveness of the vocabulary that is Capote tempted me to keep a dictionary by my side throughout the reading. The excessive details of the scenery and characters was more than enough. I felt emotionally connected with each and every character and took a hard blow while reading about the Clutter’s deaths.
The style of writing that Capote used was pretty interesting to follow along with. It seemed I was reading a documentary at one moment and the next moment I would be watching a scene unfold through another character’s eyes. There was action, there was depression, there was fear, there was just a treasure load of emotions.
One thing that never ceased to amaze me was the ingenuity of Dick. I would expect Dick to be good at chess since he seems to always be two steps ahead of everyone. He would have pulled off the perfect crime but he made the mistake of leaving someone alive.
I enjoyed reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Towards the begining of the book the author used a surplus of foreshadowing and really built an immense amount of suspense within the reader.
Throughout the book I felt like i really began to understand Perry Smith. I know that he commited an unforgivable crime, and received the correct punishement, but i do believe that his life was very depressing. To have no one to love you and the ones that you are supposed to respect, torture you would be a life of misery. I strongly believe that your surroundings as a child help to mold you into the person you are today and Perry Smith’s surroundings did him no good as a man. He may have had a hard life indeed, but in no way does that bypass that fact that he murdered four innocent people in cold blood.
Capote was just as odd as his writing style. I admit the story took forever to get through, but I enjoyed it when I finally finished. It isn’t necessarily the truth in the plot that made this book so real but the character study itself. The depth of perfection can be seen in each detail. Capote not only included the feelings of Smith and Hickock, but their families and community members. The length of the read is a good thing in my eyes. You can tell his 6 years of writing were well spent.
The sympathy from Perry Smith is evident as soon as the character is mentioned. Seeing how Smith is insane and Hickock didn’t commit the murders themselves, I do not think they received the correct punishment. Yes, I do agree what they did was wrong but taking a life to avenge another makes no sense to me. “An eye for an eye”, the biblical Law of Retribution, was mentioned in In Cold Blood. I however would have to side with Ghandi, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.
I really enjoyed In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I would have to say it is one the best books I have ever read. I loved the descriptions, the suspense, and Capote’s interesting style of writing. He explained each character in depth; I felt I actually knew the Clutters and the murderers.
I connected strongly with Nancy Clutter. There were quite a few sections about her, and each time I read them, I felt I really understood her outlook on life and I respected her goals. Also, the closeness between her and Sue Kidwell reminded me very much of my best friend and I. I was devastated while reading about her murder, along with her family.
My favorite characters, however, were Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. I was really surprised when I found out that they were the killers. I had no idea when I was first introduced to them, especially Perry, that they could be the murderers. Even though what they did was horrible, I just loved reading about their lives and their interesting personalities. Dick’s sense of humor and his sarcasm was my favorite; Perry’s sensitivity and intelligence was what I loved about him. I felt myself growing attatched to them, and, honestly, it was very difficult for me to read about their deaths. Yeah, obviously they deserved a harsh punishment, but taking their lives, to me, was not right. I believe they should have had a lifetime imprisonment…not the death penalty. Punishing someone by taking their lives doesn’t prove anything.
I kind of liked this book, except when it seemed to go by slowly. Some things would spark my interest but then along the road things seemed to get boring until something exciting happened. Overall, after finishing it, I did think it was pretty good.
My favorite character would have to be Perry hands down; honestly I think Capote sympathized with him so he wrote his book so we would sympathize with him to. I did too, his childhood sounded dreadful and he was truly alone in the world. I felt very bad for him when he heard that he was sentenced to hang and cried in his cell, holding Mrs. Meier’s hand. I don’t think they should have deserved the death sentence but instead serve life in prison. Even though their crime was severe taking the lives of the Clutters, a life for a life doesn’t seem right to me.
I must say I am overwhelmed with joy that I have finished this novel! I feel as if Capote had to drag everything out. I felt this novel should have been two hundred and forty three pages instead of three hundred and forty three pages.
The descriptions of the murders by Perry made me sick. I know they would describe them from the murders point of view but the last words of the family made my stomach uneasy.
I was so glad that Perry and Dick got the death penalty. They deserved it for killing the Clutters. They took two teenagers when they had their whole lives in head of them. Just makes me sick thinking Dick and Perry killed the Clutters for a mere forty dollars; ten dollars per life. I wonder if Dick actually did kill the Clutters. I still think he deserved the death penalty even if he did not kill them. He assisted in the killings and he did basically nothing to stop them. Seriously, it disgusts me that a human being is that sinister.
I just finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This was a fantastic book. I injoy mystery stories, and this book was tops all of them. This story was more and more interesting every page. You learned new things about the story every sentence. The details of characters was very complex. You could actually picture the person in your head, with so much detail. The detail of the murder was very interesting. All in all i loved the book In Cold Blood. This book was not good all the time. But the ending was very interesting.
I feel great now that I have finished of two of my three books! I didn’t feel the greatest about this book. To me it was slow moving and didn’t capture my attention.
I felt that Perry shut people out of his life a lot. Instead of talking to others, he just wrote and read.
I thought that Dick and Perry deserved everything they got! They had no motive to go in to a family’s house that they didn’t even know and shoot them all. Dick also wanted to rape poor Nancy who was only seventeen years old! That’s sick. All they got out of these murders were ten dollars, a radio, guilt, running, prison time, and death. To me, it doesn’t sounds worth it.
I read In Cold Blood awhile ago but I liked it. I thought the book was very descriptive and you felt like you could picture what was happening in your mind. I did find it slow to get into and there were many words I did not know and had to look up. I liked how they had Dick and Perry’s story all throughout the book. A question that I had all throughout the book was how could anyone do such a horrible crime to people you don’t even know. The Clutter family did nothing to deserve what happened to them. I think that Dick and Perry are greedy people and all they want is money and have a good time. I guess they will do anything to get money. I agree with the other people who have commented on how Perry seemed like such a nice person but then he killed the whole family. I feel bad for him because he has no one that loves him and the two people he has left in his life he pushed them awa. Overall I liked this book.
When reading “In Cold Blood” I found myself wanting to read just one more page before I turned off the lights. There were so many twists and turns that it was hard to find an uninteresting spot to stop. Although I found the penalty for Perry and Dick to fit the crime they committed, I figured that hangings would have been banned before the 1960’s.
The descriptions of the murders was a little to gruesome for my tastes, but I understand that was needed for my own understanding of Perry and Dick’s mind set. Although they both seemed to have “a hard life”, I still don’t understand how their lives could be bad enough for them to kill innocent human beings. I have a hard time even killing bugs, so its a hard concept for me to grasp how you could kill a person.
“In Cold Blood” was a very well-written story. I like how Capote is telling the story and not some uneducated Southerner. I was under the impression that it was going to be a mystery, but he told us right away who the killer was. I like that. Since we knew who the killers were, he told us their plains and how they lived before and after the killings.
In Cold Blood was probably my favorite book I read this summer. Yes I agree with Haleigh that this book should not have been as long as it was. But I enjoyed Capote’s writing style. Some of the words I did have to look up: however, overall this plot kept me from wanting to put the book down. I just had to find out how everything ended!
One of the parts I particularly disliked was the extensive part involving Perry and describing his life. I didn’t think that he needed to be explained that much but it definitely helped me connect with him better.
But that did not change my opinions of what actions should be taken to punish Perry for what he did. Murders such as those should not be left unpunished.
I agree with Bre when she says “All they got out of these murders were ten dollars, a radio, guilt, running, prison time, and death. To me, it doesn’t sound worth it.”
It was definitely not worth it.
I would have to say that although i thought the book was a good one, I am glad to be done with it. If I hadn’t waited till last minute to read it then i probably would have liked it more.
I enjoyed reading about the family and how the crime took place, but I didn’t like reading about where Dick and Perry were going and about all the interviews that took place. I like how in the end the criminals got what they deserved and the family finally got justice.