Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

A sangre fría by Truman Capote

26 reviews

ashwaar's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.5

This is another book I’ve read from my long list of classics and I really enjoyed it! I hadn’t heard of it before but it has been claimed as the first narrative non-fiction novel and whether that’s true or not, it was done really well. It’s a fascinating look into a seemingly motiveless crime in rural Kansas. Capote keeps the reader engaged throughout as you learn about and even sympathise with those involved in this chilling quadruple homicide.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Car accident

jbrown1120's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

maddypat's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

This book made me feel some kind of way. Overall I would say it was a fantastic book. I was practically glued to it, so eager to know what happened next despite knowing the ultimate ending from the start.

While reading it, though, I couldn't help but think about the current discourse about true crime as a genre. A lot of people feel that true crime seems to focus a lot on the murderers and barely treat the victims as people, and often spreads misinformation about the case or the people involved. I think this is fair to say about a lot of true crime podcasts and, I'm sure, also about a lot of true crime books. 

In Cold Blood, I think, does a pretty good job of humanizing the victims. Accounts from friends and family of the Clutters help paint a picture of who they were before they were killed, and throughout the book we never forget how brutal of an end they were met with at the hands of Dick and Perry. But then on the flip side, well over half of the novel is dedicated to talking about those men, their lives leading up to the murder, and what happened following it. After finishing the book and looking up the case, it turns out Capote had actually befriended Perry during his research. 

At first, I was not really happy with this. Who are these men, these two people that murdered a whole family

(for no more than $50!)

, that I should feel bad for them? Or feel any kind of way except disgusted? I again kept thinking about the true crime discourse and how victims are so often drowned out by the coverage of their killer. But then, as the book went on, I realized it simply isn't that black and white. Dick and Perry did something horrible and unforgivable, but it doesn't mean they aren't humans with complicated lives - and understanding those lives can go some way in trying to understand why they did what they did. I grew to appreciate that I learned so much about these two, and similarly wrestled with the punishment they ended up receiving. I have never given much thought to the death penalty, but as it's reasoned in the book, it was urged because even life in prison could result in a parol in as few as (if I remember correctly) 15 years in that. These two men would be barely in their forties by then, and from my view of them, very much capable of making similar choices again. But who are we to decide who dies and who lives? 

In the end, I think what sets this book apart is that it paints the full picture. Sure I learn a lot about the perpetrators of the crime, but I also am thinking of the victims around every curve, and that is the difference between good true crime and bad.

I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. I'd recommend it even for people who don't read much other true crime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

reiley_61's review against another edition

informative mysterious slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

shinumi's review against another edition

dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.25

This text was jarring in that there was vibrant and comprehensive descriptions of seemingly innocuous details and then facts like Hickock's pedophilic tendencies were dropped into the middle of a paragraph, only to be left and then picked up again after dozens of pages. The descriptions of the Clutters, their family life, their friends, and their pastoral joys made the details of their deaths all the more profoundly upsetting. I appreciated the depth of research that went into this book and the information given on the communities the Clutters and their killers spent time in, but I am also, in some ways, upset with the lengths at which this book works to humanize the killers. It's bitter to feel something akin to empathy with either of them or the men that lived with them on death row.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

_carmel_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

A very slow book. I disliked the authorial voice and opinions, however it is a very important book in the space of literature. It is genre defining and also forces the reader to challenge their own beliefs and place them in an uncomfortable position. Excellent use of syntax. Makes you think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

kemorrell's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual assault and War

milliemillz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Suicide

kwojtk's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts