In Cold Blood
Ratings412
Average rating4.1
It's scary what people can do.
Added to listEvery Chapter Book I've Ever Finished Ranked!with 18 books.
I certainly have my issues. For one thing, I think way too much time is dedicated to these killers. I understand that this book was one of the first ever true crime novels, but that doesn’t really excuse it from falling into the common pitfalls of the genre.
That being said, this is truly the best of said genre. In Cold Blood mainly works for me because of part one. An entire third of this book is dedicated to the lives of The Cutters. Parts 2-4 would not work at all without that first part, and while the book does get worse after that, I think it’s overall paced incredibly well.
True Crime as a genre is one of my darkest vices when it comes to art. I know how exploitative it is, I know that it humanizes people who frankly don’t deserve humanization, and I know that it melodramatizes real tragedies. But sometimes, it can be great and respectful.
I heavily doubt anything in the True Crime genre will ever top this. Capote’s dialogue is so expertly written and endlessly layered. The omniscience adds a genuinely chilling atmosphere to the entirety of the aftermath.
I’m overstating my issues with the book because it really is an incredible work of genre-bending nonfiction. Almost perfectly paced and deeply empathetic, even if sometimes to its own detriment.
True Crime will probably never reach these heights again.
I certainly have my issues. For one thing, I think way too much time is dedicated to these killers. I understand that this book was one of the first ever true crime novels, but that doesn’t really excuse it from falling into the common pitfalls of the genre.
That being said, this is truly the best of said genre. In Cold Blood mainly works for me because of part one. An entire third of this book is dedicated to the lives of The Cutters. Parts 2-4 would not work at all without that first part, and while the book does get worse after that, I think it’s overall paced incredibly well.
True Crime as a genre is one of my darkest vices when it comes to art. I know how exploitative it is, I know that it humanizes people who frankly don’t deserve humanization, and I know that it melodramatizes real tragedies. But sometimes, it can be great and respectful.
I heavily doubt anything in the True Crime genre will ever top this. Capote’s dialogue is so expertly written and endlessly layered. The omniscience adds a genuinely chilling atmosphere to the entirety of the aftermath.
I’m overstating my issues with the book because it really is an incredible work of genre-bending nonfiction. Almost perfectly paced and deeply empathetic, even if sometimes to its own detriment.
True Crime will probably never reach these heights again.
Added to listBooks Read Before Watching The Filmwith 80 books.
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Added to listEvery Chapter Book I've Ever Finished Ranked!with 18 books.
A microscopic examination of a criminal act through multiple prisms, including the victims'. Then, almost as an afterthought, similar acts are described with less and less detail, 'zooming-out' and showing how a one-sentence summary of a crime often can be accurate and – at the same time – a colossal oversimplification. Masterful.
A microscopic examination of a criminal act through multiple prisms, including the victims'. Then, almost as an afterthought, similar acts are described with less and less detail, 'zooming-out' and showing how a one-sentence summary of a crime often can be accurate and – at the same time – a colossal oversimplification. Masterful.