In cold blood

I just finished reading Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. I haven't seen the movie Capote yet, and actually hadn't heard anything about the movie or this book. I just picked it up due to a recommendation from a friend.

The most interesting thing to me in this book is how the criminals in this book are humanized. They committed horrific crimes, but Capote also goes into great detail describing the personalities and histories of the two criminals. In most fiction, the bad guys are presented as 100% evil. But here, even though the criminals are still evil, we also see them partaking in daily activities along with everyone else. It's a chilling feeling to think about how the world is not all clear cut as most fiction makes it out to be, and to think that sometimes horrible things happen to completely innocent people, and that sometimes the people committing these horrible acts are humans too.

I believe this was the first "true crime" book I have ever read (which may be appropriate as this one is credited with starting the genre), but it'll probably be awhile before I pick up another. While Capote's writing was amazing, and the story very captivating, knowing in my mind that everything in this book actually happened made it difficult to get through.

I do question how Capote was able to obtain so much research in writing this book, but maybe the movie will help to answer that question.