I think Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is one of the most compelling books

[book_worm]

I've ever read and went a long way towards making me oppose the death penalty, even though Capote doesn't sugar cake what those two murderers did nearly fifty years ago in Holcomb, KS. Isn't it also one of the first non-fiction books written in the style of a novel?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. One of my favorites.

Have you seen the movie?

[rusty_parts2001]

2. It was a very chilling movie which I saw as a kid.

[Hobarticus]

3. Scared the living crap outta me as a kid...

When you realize for the first time that sometimes people get killed in their beds for no good reason....yeesh, the world is a scary place.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

15. Well, it was scary to me for far different reasons. Your choice of sigline is fascinating.

What brought you to that?

I'll tell about my avatar. :-)

[book_worm]

5. Yep, one of the best movie adaptations of a book I've seen

but of course it still isn't as good as the novel.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

7. I loved the irony of Robert Blake as one of the killers.

:D

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

4. Well, if this can be in GD, cool. That book instructed me so much in the ways of

people, especially those on the fringes of society. He didn't write another novel again, but he compiled short stories in "Answered Prayers" over 20 years later, about 20 years ago.

[SeattleGirl]

6. That book is awesome, scary good.

And I thought the movie was also well-done.

[Warpy]

8. The book went into detail that was only glossed over by the film

that came out afterward. The film "Capote" does go into detail of what happened to Capote during and after the writing of the book.

He broke new ground by writing a partially fictionalized account of a true event, filling in some of the blanks left by two murderers in order to make the crimes more real to the readers.

It took so much out of him he permanently crawled into a bottle and never wrote again.

[noel711]

9. I read that book the summer of the '68 convention....

Both of them changed my life completely...

The book terrified me.. I would not under any circumstances be alone...
And I was 20 years old!

AND
what happened in Chicago made me realize that we have to take control
of our lives...

I guess it morphed me into a more existential view of life...
take charge, or be a victim..

[joeybee12]

10. Did you see the movie "Capote" or "Infamous"???

Both deal with his writing of the book at the time and his relationship with the killers. Not great movies, either one, but somewhat interesting look into Capote's psyche. Anyway, the movie version of In Cold Blood--one of the greatest adapations of book to screen.

[book_worm]

12. I did see 'Capote' great performance by Hoffman

and it did give insights into the writing of the book and also (which I found interesting) the role of Harper Lee.

[joeybee12]

13. It's a better movie than Infamous, but the actor in Infamous is good...

plays Capote as a more amusing character...witty instead of just odd.

[housewolf]

17. I enjoyed both movies

They have both been playing on cable recently so I've had the opportunity to view both a number of times. I like both. It's interesting to see the same peice of Truman Capote's life portrayed in 2 different ways. The character of Truman Capote as portrayed in "Infamous", to me, is much more charming and likeable that the character portrayed in "Capote". Unfortunately I don't remember much about the "real" Truman Capote, although I'm sure I saw him on the Tonight show at some point while he was alive.

The book, as I remember it, was quite compelling. Capote initiated a whole new genre of literature, nothing like "In Cold Blood" has been published prior to his book. But writing it, and his relationship with the book and the killers, brought him to ruin.

According to my cable guide, the film adaptation of "In Cold Blood" will be showing on MSNBC on 5/3 and 5/4. Catch it if you can.

[Skittles]

11. poignant pic of the Clutter family

includes their two older surviving girls:

[Journeyman]

14. Harper Lee, author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," collaborated with Capote on "In Cold Blood" . . .

Childhood friends, Harper and Truman had a lifelong, ofttimes strained relationship. Without Lee's assistance, Capote might not have written his first masterpiece, as Harper was instrumental in getting normally reticent Kansans to open up to an admittedly "different" outsider.

The story of their collaboration is a fascinating tale of how a brilliant account of a very disturbing crime was researched and came to be written. The tale is told in Charle's Shield's recent New York Times bestselling biography, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee.

[SeattleGirl]

16. I never knew that!

Thanks for the info, Journeyman.

[Jack_DeLeon]

18. Why does it make you want to oppose the death penalty?

Curious how that works out?