In Cold Blood by Vintage

	Title: In Cold Blood Purchase Item Manufacturer: Vintage List Price: $14.00 Our Price: $5.34
Customer Reviews:
In Cold Blood by Vintage typographical bloodletting
Step into the murmuring heart of tragedy, the intoxicating effects of American crime--Capote envelops the reader in a suffocating, looming fear like no one else can. He paints such a vivid picture with his descriptive prowess. He pulls you in closely to the innocent lives that were wiped away so coldly that fall day in Holcolm, Kansas. With masterful precision he helps paint the dark picture of the utmost evil, forcing you to become emotionally attached to some complete strangers. And ultimately, you'll feel a piece of the pain this entire small town felt back in 1959. I have seen the movie Capote, and was aware of the effect this writing project had on Capote himself. It illustates the hopelessness that followed the brutal, random murders. Clues, leads, everything but ideas were scant surrounding this crime. It needed a miracle to be solved. This really is such a perfect book. It even pulls you in close to the killers, makes you wonder how humanity can fall so far down. This book develops at such a determined, controlled pace. It can make you anxious and nervous, even though you already know the outcome. Capote delves so deep into the case, he won't let you escape. It's harrrowing, heart-breaking, and even a fascinating read. A nonfiction account of the epitome of evil, the alarming magnitude of personal suffering, and even the extent of compassion.
In Cold Blood by Vintage Still Haunting 43 Year Later
Strange to think how, in this post-Manson, post-9/11 world, Capote's account of murder in rural Kansas can still have such emotional resonance and power. Where to begin with praise for this work. The writing is sublime. Capote's style is economical yet profoundly evocative. He manages to convey so much of the people, the places, the events and the emotions without an excess of prose. Having leaned some of the back story thanks to biographies and recent films, I am amazed at Capote's light touch - how he allowed the characters and events to bring out the story. True, an author always leads the reader's eyes to particular events and impressions. But Capote's deft compositional choices deepen the narrative and bring forth greater complexity and emotional facets. In some instances, he seems to share only portions of what he knows or suspects leaving the rest to the reader's intelligence and imagination. Given today's seemingly insatiable desire to be shown every lurid outrageous detail, I doubt that a contemporary "true crime" author would have written this story with the same level of restraint. Of course, the most fascinating, and the most controversial, aspect of In Cold Blood is the characterization of the murderers: Perry Smith and Richard Hickock . Were they brutal killers? Without question. Were they complex human beings as well? Yes. And that is the most disturbing aspect of this book for many readers - being shown the faces of evil and feeling empathy as well as horror. I've read criticisms that take Capote to task for being sympathetic towards the murderers or for having an anti-capital punishment bias. There may be some truth in that, but I believe that readers are given ample opportunity to make up their own minds. Smith and Hickock's human sides are often brought forth, but they are even more frightening and monstrous for that. With the executions, Capote notes some of the troubling and ambiguous aspects that are inevitably part of the process when the state puts an individual to death. Of course, hanging over the tragedy of the story is the tragedy of it's writing. In the opening chapter, Capote notes "four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives". He couldn't have known that he would also become a victim as his obsession with the project and more specifically with Perry Smith would precipitate an early end to his literary career and a downward spiral into self destruction.
In Cold Blood by Vintage the book that turned me on to reading
i feel like the people who gave it one star totally misunderstood what the book was supposed to do. its kind of hard to explain what capote's intention was with the book- as it is with a lot of his writings and that is what makes his storytelling so addictive to me- the details that go unnoticed by everyone else matter or make a difference to him. i picked this book up one day while i was sitting bored at my mom's kitchen table looking through the sunday ads at around noon when i looked over at her book case and there this book was. i ended up staying at the table reading the book until the sun went down! page after page!! i don't know where other 1 star reviewers got that he "humanized" the murderers- whatever that means..criminals- even barbaric ones are still human- and one person actually said the characters weren't interesting enough. i feel like they missed it completely- nancy embodied simplicity. there was no complexity to her. complexity of characters does not always equal a good book. she was a small town girl- with an honest hard working family- this book made me feel like i knew the clutter family personally-i felt like i had heard mr clutter talk before- and at the end of the book- i had several tears in my eyes- and im not an emotional bookreader- i actually said a prayer for the family-what they went through was brutal and capote painted the scenes for me with words in a way, i feel, no other author could... read the book.
In Cold Blood by Vintage Masterpiece
Without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read. Engrossing, compelling, and expertly written, Capote completely engulfs the reader into the world of the two killers, the innocent family they killed, and the town that lived through it. At some points I couldn't put the book down. A definite masterpiece and classic.
In Cold Blood by Vintage Capote
This book was received before the cut off date. It came in good condition and I would do business again with this person.
In Cold Blood by Vintage Product Description
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
In Cold Blood by Vintage Amazon.com
"Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans--in fact, few Kansans--had ever heard of Holcomb. Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there." If all Truman Capote did was invent a new genre--journalism written with the language and structure of literature--this "nonfiction novel" about the brutal slaying of the Clutter family by two would-be robbers would be remembered as a trail-blazing experiment that has influenced countless writers. But Capote achieved more than that. He wrote a true masterpiece of creative nonfiction. The images of this tale continue to resonate in our minds: 16-year-old Nancy Clutter teaching a friend how to bake a cherry pie, Dick Hickock's black '49 Chevrolet sedan, Perry Smith's Gibson guitar and his dreams of gold in a tropical paradise--the blood on the walls and the final "thud-snap" of the rope-broken necks.