Book Twelve: In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote



There is a very good reason why I refuse to watch horror movies. That reason is that after I watch them I will be petrified for weeks, months even, unable to go to sleep or be alone in our house at night or go to the basement to do the laundry. I am especially disturbed by movies about serial killers. For some reason I can easily imagine some disturbed sociopath creeping into my house and raping or slaughtering me in the most horrifying way possible. Heck, I can't even watch trailers for horror movies without wanting to hide my eyes and cry. I remember having to sit through the trailer for Haute tension, and even with my head buried in my arms the whole time I am still totally freaked out when I think of it now. And so now after reading In Cold Blood, I should probably add books about mass murderers to my list of things to avoid, since this totally had the same effect on me. I did find it fascinating and wonderfully written, and yet every time I picked it up I had palpitations and had to double check the locks on the doors and windows. I haven't seen Capote or Infamous, though now I'd be interested to see how they both reflect the book. Of course, only if they don't also scare the shit out of me. Seriously, I think sometimes scary movies might make me literally poop my pants.

This book was read for my book club, and now that I think about it, I was the one who advocated for us to read it. I had already checked it out from the library and when someone else suggested it, I jumped all over it. So the moral is, I only have myself to blame. We talked a little bit at book club about the controversy surrounding the possible fabrications in the book, though, to be honest, that kind of thing doesn't really bother me. I mean, Capote himself even referred to it as a "non-fiction novel," which says to me that maybe he's admitting that there are parts that aren't 100% accurate (such as the last scene around the grave with the detective or some of the "facts" about Hickock). There's some good information about it on Capote's wikipedia entry that's worth reading. But honestly, this book is so freaking well-written, so interesting and absorbing, with developed characters and an interesting plot structure, that I don't mind the bits that may have been manipulated to make it a better read.