Blog # 5: Personal Review
I personally enjoyed the book In Cold Blood. Truman Capote’s writing style brought the book to life for me. The way the book was structured and the diction he chose created a sense of suspense. Throughout the book, the suspense grew because of the way the author set up the story. Because he kept switching points of views between the family, killers, and townspeople, the story became unpredictable. When the focus was on Perry and Dick, they never spoke about the murder, so the reader never really knew if they were actually the killers. Also, because Capote didn’t fully describe what happened the night of the murder, the reader doesn’t know what happened. When he finally gives the details, the particulars shock and surprise the reader and add drama. In Cold Blood was beautifully written and skillfully styled.
In Cold Blood was definitely an intriguing book to me as well. I loved the way the author incorporated his unique forms of syntax. The use of certain punctuation, words that were all capitalized, short/long sentence structure, and other distinct forms of writing kept me connected with the story. I agree with your statement that by switching the point of view throughout the novel, the story became "unpredictable," but this is the part I found most interesting. Because the murders were told from so many perspectives, the nonfiction story came to life as the truth was slowly revealed. This helped me sympathize with some of the characters more than others.
ReplyDeleteHowever, even though Capote does not describe Perry and Dick as the murderers right away, you may want to mention that he incorporates hints and clues through the murderer's thoughts and actions. In your review you stated, "the reader never really knew," but the author utilizes the combination of hints, a suspenseful tone, and switching the point of view to lead the reader to the conclusion that Dick and Perry were the masterminds behind the crime. I appreciate that you recognized the mysterious aspect of the novel in the beginning and I believe that it is one of the reasons that I wanted to keep reading.
Overall, I personally agree with your review on the novel. By transforming this true occurrence into a novel, Truman Capote skillfully created a unique version of the story.