Finished!

I finished In Cold Blood last night.

One of the things I find most fascinating about the book is that, the picture it paints, the overall sense of empathy you feel for all parties involved (often including the killers), is so fleshed out and fully realized that it’s amazing to think this was really the first book of its type, that Capote did not have a blueprint to follow here and that he was, in essence, creating a genre all his own. The funny thing is that In Cold Blood is written at such a high standard that it really shames (and that might be being a little lenient with my criticism) other subsequent entries in the true crime genre. In that sense it’s like Capote set the bar extraordinarily high and then watched as the genre devolved into what it is today, rather than watching the genre evolve into something more amazing than he imagined while creating his meticulously researched, gloriously composed novel.

That the novel was so meticulously researched but still managed to be thrilling and engaging at the same time, accessible to nearly anyone really, is one of its best selling points. I wouldn’t think a reader would have to be particularly interested in the murders or Truman Capote to pick up In Cold Blood and get engaged with the material. This is one of those novels that can be read differently depending on what you’re looking to take out of it. If you just want a gory, eerie true crime novel, you’ll probably be content. If you want a study on criminal psychology this book is for you. If you want to ruminate on the death of the American Dream in the 1960’s and the beginning of the decline in American values and social behavior (because you’re a big dork or whatever) you can pick up In Cold Blood and be more than satisfied. It’s not too short, not too long, and keeps up a pretty good pace, even in the final acts when not much is going on in real time.

I actually thought the last third of the book that focused on the killers awaiting trial was interesting, in part, because it allowed a reader of my age (under 30) to see a legal system that functioned differently than the one I’ve grown up with. Specifically I’m talking about the different rules governing the all too familiar “insanity defense”, and the general abuse of civil liberties (abuse, at least, as it would be perceived today) that took place in the mid-60’s (at least in Kansas). It was really the only part of the book that did not necessarily feel almost timeless to me but was really interesting and enlightening.

Basically, I thought the book was great and couldn’t be happier that I read it for the book club. It’s definitely the kind of novel that will stick with me for awhile.