The Gilmore Girls Challenge-In Cold Blood

 

So many books, so little time.

                                     Frank Zappa

I finally checked a few titles off of my perpetually lengthening "to read" list and managed to read a book for the Rory Gilmore challenge.

So, Truman Capote is one of those renowned authors whom I had read about, but had not actually read.There have been several biographical films about the flamboyant author who was known for throwing wild parties and hobnobbing with celebrities. The late Philip Seymore Hoffman won an Oscar for playing Capote in 2006 and his performance was truly spectacular, but I love Hoffman in all of his roles.

 
Side Note:  If you are a mystery buff I recommend the movie, Murder by Death, in which Capote makes his one and only acting appearance. It is a ridiculous spoof featuring all of literature's most famous detectives (Miss Marple, Nick and Nora Charles, Charlie Chan, Philip Marlowe, etc.) brought together on a stormy night in a musty mansion to solve a mystery.

Many of you may not be aware that Capote wrote the novella, Breakfast at Tiffany's, which I have not read, but I love the movie starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard! Yes, George Peppard played Hannibal in the original A-Team! Who knew that he had a romantic side?

According to Capote's 1984 obituary in The New York Times  '...the book that perhaps edified his claim to literary fame was In Cold Blood, his detailed, painstakingly researched and chilling account of the 1959 slaying of a Kansas farm family and the capture, trial and execution of the two killers."
When In Cold Blood was published in 1966 no one had ever read anything quite like it. Although it is considered a nonfiction book, In Cold Blood reads like a fiction novel and many literary critics consider Capote to be the pioneer of the "nonfiction novel" and the entire "true crime" genre. There are just as many critics, however, that challenge the complete veracity of In Cold Blood despite Capote's claims that his book was "immaculately factual".

Before I get into the book here is a brief account of the horrific events that led to the writing and publishing of In Cold Blood.
In Holcomb, Kansas on November 15, 1959  two ex-convicts on parole from the Kansas State Penitentiary broke into the home of Herb Clutter and murdered him, his wife, Bonnie, and their two teenaged children; Nancy and Kenyon. One of the parolees, Dick Hickock, had learned from a former cellmate that Herb Clutter was an extremely wealthy farmer who had a safe full of cash in his home.Believing he had found "the perfect score" Hickock enlisted the aid of another former inmate, Perry Smith, to rob the Clutter home and abscond to Mexico.  Tragically, Herb Clutter had never had a safe and in fact was well known for never paying for anything with cash. Hickock and Smith callously murdered four people for less than $30. Although, the two ex-cons did make it to Mexico, they returned to Kansas within weeks and were arrested in Las Vegas on December 30, 1959. After a one week trial the jury took 45 minutes to convict Hickock and Smith and the two were sentenced to death. Hickock and Smith remained on death row for five years until they were executed by hanging on April 14, 1965.

Personally, I do not doubt that Capote took some literary license with certain events and scenes in his book.  Even though Capote did a tremendous amount of research and conducted countless interviews, turning those notes and facts into a compelling narrative would require some imagination.

Whether or not In Cold Blood is completely factual there is no denying that it is superbly written. I think the fact that it was such a gripping read is what made me feel so sick at heart by the time that I finished it. Because In Cold Blood reads so much like a novel the people involved in the Holcomb tragedy become characters and the events become remote and unreal.

Also there is just something salacious about taking serious and tragic events and transforming them into a best-selling, page-turner. In Cold Blood and all of the true crime novels to follow turn us into the ghoulish kind of people that stand on the side of the road watching the aftermath of a car accident.

What  bothered me the most about In Cold Blood, though, was that Capote casts the Clutter family in the role of supporting characters to Hickock and Smith. Unfortunately this seems to be the case with most deplorable crimes. It is the criminals like Ted Bundy or Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris who garner the attention and interest of the public, not the victims. 

Certainly, Capote had time to interview and get to know Hickock and Smith, whereas his knowledge of the Clutters could only be gained through hearsay. This lack of intimacy and familiarity with the Clutters is apparent when Capote describes them in the opening chapters of the book. Herb Clutter, his wife Bonnie, 16 year old daughter, Nancy, and 15 year old son, Kenyon, come across as wooden and too perfect, too good, too conservative, too wealthy. Capote, known for being different (especially from small town, conservative Kansas farmers) and somewhat of an outcast, clearly identifies and sympathizes with Perry Smith.  In Cold Blood tries to transfer the reader's outrage from the helpless and innocent Clutters to the poor, abused, sensitive, and artistic Perry Smith who just craves love and recognition. In my opinion, this is an inexcusable travesty.