In Cold Blood

Capote finds humanity in such a senseless, cruel tragedy of a quadruple homicide of a family in an otherwise innocuous small town in America. From exploring the different perspectives involved in the case - the police, the people, and the perpetrators -he not only weaves a compelling narrative of a seemingly impossible task of capturing murderers with almost no clues, but manages to engender empathy for everyone involved: the criminals included.

Without sensationalizing or glorifying their actions, Capote gives insight into how they came to be through carefully researched documentation and interviews. It is not a way of engendering sympathy for these men, as for every ‘sympathetic' trait Capote includes, he is quick to remind the reader of their depravity - but it is his way of asking the reader to understand what made these men act the way they are, whether it was a stroke of bad luck or the way they are. It is through the inclusion of juxtaposing traits and tragic history that plague these men, that Capote only offers a complex question that has a subjective answer unique to the reader. Are these men born of sin or are in need of guidance? Capote takes no sides, but gives only the facts needed to understand the question asked.

The prose in this novel is so masterful, immersing me in the story almost forgetting that these were not fictional people in a fictional world; filling the environment with so much detail, giving many individuals personalities to flesh out the community that was rocked by such a horrific disaster. The most minute of details are given notice by Capote, with prose that weaves in exposition masterfully within the story. His research is evident, but his passion for the story even more so, as the story pours with detail without feeling overabundant.