Truman Capote

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I saw IN COLD BLOOD when it came to the theaters in 1967-68. And I finally got around to reading the book now. It's stunning in how its perfectly formed.

I cant recall the last book I read that I didnt want it to end. This is one of those books. I mention it because I believe most of us will profit from reading it.

Capote said: Since each story presents its own technical problems, obviously one can't generalize about them on a two-times-two-equals-four basis. Finding the right form for your story is simply to realize the most natural way of telling the story. The test of whether or not a writer has defined the natural shape of his story is just this: After reading it, can you imagine it differently, or does it silence your imagination and seem to you absolute and final? As an orange is final. As an orange is something nature has made just right.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

I have read so many books during the course of my life, but In Cold Blood stands out as quite probably the most well-written and perfectly paced prose I have ever read. I have never forgotten that book and remember that it had such an impact on me the first time I read it. Such beautiful descriptions of such horrible things. An awesome work.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

So many excellent passages from the book, but this is a favorite of mine:

"Dick was standing at the side of a black surfaced highway, Route 66, his eyes fixed upon the imaculate emptiness as though the fervor of his gaze could force motorists to materialize." (Capote, In Cold Blood)

JBJ, any particular favorite bits for you?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Two places frosted my cake.

The build up to the murders....and the immediate discovery of the dead by the girl. The murder scene is totally ignored, and very powerful, because Capote launches your imagination into the void.

And the sighting of the drifter standing at the window in Nancy's bedroom. Like a ghost. But real.

 

[Boxlicker101]

One thing that really bugged me about the movie was the very last scene. One of the bad guys was, deservedly dropping through the trap door on the gallows, and the words: "IN COLD BLOOD?" came across the screen, as if the movie maker was accusing the state of killing in cold blood. As far as I am concerned, these two guys had it coming.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The History Channel interviewed the prosecutor, and he said pretty much the same as you say. They had it coming. He said some people are so dangerous you cant take the risk of a judge cutting them loose down the road. They must be killed.

We had that problem here. Out in California a man raped a teen then amputated her arms with an axe. He went to prison and they cut him loose.

He moved here and murdered some women. We sentenced him to death and he died of a heart attack.

Danny Rollins is an excellent example of screwy justice. He murdered some folks in Alabama and Louisiana, and did some time at Angola Prison. They cut him loose. He wandered to Florida and murdered 5 college students at Gainesville with a large knife.

 

[Verdad]

I'm buried under a to-read pile the height of a pyramid, but this sounds like a high praise indeed. Thanks for the mention.

 

[Pure]

nice

jbj, i loved the movie and gather it's pretty faithful to the book, of which i've read several sections.

one part i remember is where the robt blake fellow refuses to go along with his partner's intention to rape the girl. (they do, of course, plan to kill all of the family.). there is a human element even in thse guys. ... also their very different personalities are contrasted and how the two added together, in the crime.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

It took me 41 years to get around to it, but I cant get over how damned good it is.

I mean, there's lotsa controversy associated with the book, but the writing is excellent. Actually some of it isnt excellent. But it is.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

PURE

They didnt rape anyone in the book. One of the bizarre aspects of the killings was how comfortable Perry Smith tried to make the victims before they shot them.

 

[Boxlicker101]

The History Channel interviewed the prosecutor, and he said pretty much the same as you say. They had it coming. He said some people are so dangerous you cant take the risk of a judge cutting them loose down the road. They must be killed.

We had that problem here. Out in California a man raped a teen then amputated her arms with an axe. He went to prison and they cut him loose.

He moved here and murdered some women. We sentenced him to death and he died of a heart attack.

Danny Rollins is an excellent example of screwy justice. He murdered some folks in Alabama and Louisiana, and did some time at Angola Prison. They cut him loose. He wandered to Florida and murdered 5 college students at Gainesville with a large knife.

There are some persons, including many on this forum, who still speak against the death penalty. If Danny Rollins had gotten what he had coming in AL or LA, he would not have murdered those five people in FL, plus whatever other evil deeds he commited that he wouldn't have been able to do.

As for that teenager in CAm as I recall, she was willing, but only 15, so it was statutory rape rather than forcible. He was kept in prison as long as they could, but they finally had to let him go.

I also understand that one of those two men wanted to rape the Clutter daughter, but the other man wouldn't let him. To me, that seems like swallowing a camel but straining at a gnat, relatively speaking.

I may get flak for this, but Willie Horton is another terrible example.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

BOX

I'm not sure why anyone wants to rescue predatory killers. I understand all the arguments opposed to the death penalty, and society should definitely demand that cops and prosecutors have terrific penalties for anything less than good-faith investigations, and most jurors shouldnt be allowed near a court-house.

Still, some people are too dangerous to risk taking a chance with an idiot do-gooder judge eager to right social injustice.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

The film barely came close to the true gritty quality of the book. Through Truman Capote's writing, you get a deeper sense of the textures of the crime, the murder scene, the pillow under the head of the young man before he is shotgunned in the face. You see the crime stripped bare of Hollywoodism and it is shown for all its brutality. Yet, the book is so well-written, so bare-bones prose and so compellingly descriptive that it moves it beyond the crime genre.

None of the films even gave a hint of the reality of the book. In Cold Blood is a masterpiece.

 

[Trinique_Fire]

Sounds like a book I'm going to have to read. I'm enticed.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Yes. It surprised me quite favorably.

I recently read THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG by Norman Mailer, and thought it top shelf, but IN COLD BLOOD is much better.