Dieses Buch wollte ich eigentlich schon recht lange lesen, aber irgendwie habe ich mich nie so richtig rangetraut. Immerhin ist es das erste seiner Art und der Vorgänger aller Tatsachenromane und True Crime Geschichten. Und ja, es hat mich tatsächlich beeindruckt.

Besonders interessant finde ich, dass er sich nicht nur auf die Morde und die Motive der Täter beschränkt, sondern auch nachvollziehbar schildert, was eine solche Bluttat mit einer kleinen Gemeinschaft macht, wie verschiedene Personen, die die Opfer oder die Täter gekannt haben, darauf reagieren. Der Aspekt kommt mir leider häufig viel zu kurz. Da könnten sich Autoren von fiktiven Geschichten und Tatsachenberichten gleichermaßen eine Scheibe abschneiden. ( )

OMG -- don't read this if you're young! Like under 60! It is truly chilling. I thought I'd (maybe) try the black and white movie... on a small screen... but no! I stopped the film before it really got started. Just too awful. But one thing I can say: the book is memorable. Wish it wasn't! ( )

although I found the crime interesting, in that I've found quite a few crime stories and shows have taken the main storyline and I'd never known it was a true story, but the author just bogged it down with too many details. It took almost 100 pages for the book to get interesting. Then, just as it was starting to take shape and answer some questions, it hit a slow period again. I just couldn't muster the fascination with the criminals enough to know the smallest details of their lives (and I mean small~ rehashing every memory they had as kids, going over every thought they had in their journals, etc). It just seemed to overwhelm (and bore) the reader and try to redirect the sympathy to the poor childhoods the criminals had or how they were never loved. I didn't want to feel sorry or bad for them. They were bad people, who did an awful crime. I don't care what their favorite flavor of gum is!!! ( )

3.5 stars.

Review to follow. ( )

This book was the first Truman Capote book I have read. I found the description of it compelling enough to finally decide to read it. It is definitely a book that will stay with you and you will never be able to forget the gruesome details and the awful hand that fate dealt to this beloved family of four. Fate in the hands of two true "lost souls" with seemingly no power of empathy, who showed no remorse for their grisly crimes. Though rough life circumstances probably contributed to creating these two cold hearted criminals, it almost seems that some people are just born bad, plain and simple. If so, these two are of that group. I'm not really a believer in capital punishment, but I certainly am not sorry that these two people are gone and am very glad they were not give the chance to kill other innocent people.

As this book will haunt your thoughts, keep that in mind before deciding to read it. It should definitely come with adequate warnings for those who become easily upset or squeamish and should have age restrictions, as well. The book is presented as non-fiction, but of course the author has taken creative liberties, as you would expect. The writing is done extremely well and the case is presented in an unforgettable way, as I have mentioned.

We are introduced the the Clutter family living in a small town, rural community and active and loved within their community: father, mother, teenage daughter and young son. (On a personal note, I have just seen a photograph of the family and was floored to see that the mother could nearly have been an identical twin of my own mother at that time).

We get a glimpse into the lives of the two killers and the circumstances that lead up to these brutal murders. It's hard particularly hard to read the chapter of the story during which the murders take place and the suffering and violence that ensued.

Some of the aftermath is then presented to us during the killers' "getaway", capture and as they await their fates on death row. It would be hard to imagine them garnering sympathy from virtually anyone.

A memorable "true crime" book by the great Capote. ( )