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Truman Capote'sIn Cold Blood
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| Truman Capote's most famous work
is his non-fiction, or documentary novel, In Cold Blood.
Chilling and graphic, it recounts with near-horrifying accuracy the
events that shocked and terrified a small mid-western community.
This
novel marked a new form not only for Capote, but for American
literature. His tendency for obsession rearing it's head, Capote
spent
many years investigating, interviewing and writing In Cold Blood. It has been the basis for
many movies, including Richard Brooks's 1967 film
by the same name
(starring
Robert Blake as murderer Perry Smith) which was nominated for four
Academy Awards, and Bennett Miller's 2005
film, "Capote",
which
focuses on the effects on Capote during his writing of the novel. Capote went through various phases in his writing, moving from short stories and novels to film and theater work; but it was an increasing preoccupation with journalism which formed the basis for the bestseller In Cold Blood. The work started from an article in The New York Times. It dealt with the murder of a wealthy family in Holcomb, Kansas. Sponsored by the magazine, Capote interviewed, with good friend and writer Harper Lee, local people to recreate the lives of both the murderers and their victims. During the process he became emotionally attached to both killers. However, this did not prevent him from telling the story with utmost objectivity. The research work and writing took six years to finish. Capote used neither a tape recorder nor note pad, but emptied his interviews and impressions in notebooks at the end of the day. He also recorded last days of the death-obsessed criminals. |
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