Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

22 reviews

sticky_soul_sticky_soles's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

herelieshenry's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

Capote’s prose is masterful, but the non-fiction aspect was handled in a way I don’t find responsible, and I think that, as one of the first major modern true crime media “sensations”, In Cold Blood embodies many of the same problems that true crime media, particularly dramatizations, maintains today. I don’t dislike Capote, and in fact I quite like his writing for the most part, but I couldn’t in good conscience give this book a wholly glowing review. There would still be issues if I looked at it the way one looks at fiction, but monumentally less — that said, it is not purely fiction, and I can’t look at this novel & not be acutely aware of the fact that these were real people & the facts were embellished in ways that can’t really be brushed off, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, and War

moraina's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This was a very slow read for me. I appreciate that Truman Capote presented everything as factual and didn’t sensationalize, since these were real people that were affected by an awful crime. However, his lengthy descriptions and tedious run-on sentences sometimes made it difficult to stay engaged. I think he did do a fair job representing the events that happened and provided both commentary from a more outside perspective as well as representing how the community felt during these events, but the writing style did lessen my enjoyment of the book.

The descriptions of Dick and Perry’s capture and subsequent trial really did make me think on what is considered substantial evidence and a fair trial. I think Capote also did a good job delving into the ethics of capital punishment. It is interesting to see how much more religion played a role in these matters, given both the time period and geographic location of the events. Exploring the childhood of Perry, in particular, does end up being rather important for understanding the murders. I found the discussion of childhood abuse and the reasons for “murders with no apparent motive” quite interesting as well (although terrible, of course).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Rape

Minor: Animal death and Terminal illness

mloschi's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A true crime classic for a reason - beautifully well-written, intimately drawn characters and a grappling with violence that doesn’t seem to glorify or pass judgement. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Suicide

lolamosk's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

kcbbooks0125's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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

applesaucecreachur's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense slow-paced

3.0

What made In Cold Blood important is not just its place in history as a leader in modern true crime, but also in its ability to inspire empathy for all involved parties: Victims, killers, the law, and the affected townspeople. Truman Capote was apparently thorough in his collection of accounts. To be sure, this retelling has its problems, not all of which were poorly-aged language; I must wonder about the stories that Capote intentionally or ignorantly omitted. I appreciated this novel for what it was and what it contributes to even, potentially, restorative justice with its empathetic tilt – Alongside its problems, this appears to be an example of thorough journalism. I just don't see myself needing to read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Minor: Fatphobia and Sexism

lilytheravenclaw's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Cursing, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Car accident

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

It would be wrong, in many ways, to say I love this book. So I'm not going to.
Engaging with any type of true crime media, be it audio, visual, or literary, should bring prominent ethical questions to mind. (Believe me, I say this as a lover of all things true crime.) Thoughts of exploitation of the victims, the families, and sometimes the perpetrators, should be seriously considered. The closer the crime, the higher the cost. In this case, a book about a murder in 1959 being read (first sometime around 2013 and then a second time) in 2021 has a much lower feeling of exploitation than a book about a murder in 1959 being published in 1965 does.

In creating In Cold Blood, Capote did just as many things wrong as he did right. Reading this book is a deeply literary experience. Being a piece of history - not to mention a reread - there is considerably less suspense than, say, a brand new fiction novel. But the building sense of dread created in the first act is truly masterful. The audience knows what is going to happen, and yet... I knew exactly what was going to happen. I remembered the murder confessions in fairly explicit detail for reading this almost eight years ago; but I still found myself drawn into the story and carried along by the narrative force. The writing itself is poetic at times and plain at others, but always fitting the story this piece works so hard to tell.

When creating true crime media, I firmly believe that every action taken should be as respectful and ethical as possible in order to respect the dead, at the very least. The legacy of this book is far from spotless. Not only are there allegations that segments of this book were misleading, if not entirely fabricated, and Capote's methods of interview and investigation have been questioned both by contemporary witnesses and other journalists and authors after the fact.
There are times when the story is simply too convenient - elegant moments present themselves for a striking visual or convenient meetings and resonant conversations occur in a way that is particularly rare outside of a piece of fiction. Even while writing this review, I often found myself considering what descriptor to type out - was book or novel actually the word I wanted to use? The controversy of that line is certainly a mark against this book, but only in its ethos, not in its place in literary history or even the American consciousness of crime.

I certainly view this piece much differently than I did when I read this first as a 15-year-old. The way Perry Smith is presented as a particularly sympathetic player is both difficult and powerful. He is at once "the bad guy" and also just misunderstood. I think the first time I struggled to understand how that dichotomy was drawn - teenagers are not exactly known for their understanding of gray morality - but I see it a little better now. I can both condemn these men and understand how they saw themselves - not as the villains but misunderstood heroes. There are many depths to the human mind and it's very easy to misrepresent one's self - especially to one's self. 

I don't research for my reviews, but I did for this one. Partly because I didn't want to misrepresent the controversies around this book, but also, at least a little bit, because I wanted to do what I could to respect the dead as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, Vomit, and Religious bigotry