This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” a classic work of non-fiction credited with creating the true crime genre we’re still obsessed with today.
But the book does more than that. It’s one of my favorite books not only because it deals so thoughtfully with the issues of violence, prisons and the death penalty, but also because it’s a stunning work of storytelling. Capote was a master wordsmith and reporter, and this was his opus.
Several stories this month have revisited Holcomb, Kansas, and the tale of the tragic murders of the Clutter family in 1959. The crime that shook a community, and the book that put the town on the map forever, still resonates in town.
While readers and historians continue to celebrate Capote’s work, some in Holcomb still consider it an unnecessary, sensational and opportunistic book. They wish aloud that the book — and the movies that followed it — hadn’t forced the town to relive the crimes over and over for five decades.
Holcomb residents — and readers around the world — also wonder if the Clutter murders would be so remarkable in 2009 or if they’d fade into the constant stream of violence and crime to which we’ve become accustomed. It’s a valid point.
Writing in the Guardian last month, Ed Pilkington wondered why the book still resonates in an era that violent crime has become so routine:
There are many reasons why In Cold Blood has become so ingrained. There is the precision of Capote’s writing, which resonates from the first sentence: “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there’.” There is the depth of his research, which he carried on to the end as a witness at the killers’ hanging in 1965.
There is also something monumental about the timing of the book. America in 1959 was at a crossroads. It was still bathing in the victory of the second world war and ensuing economic boom. The country was confident and secure, and the body blows of Vietnam still lay ahead.
After the jump, a great 12-minute video posted by Newsweek last week with interviews with many of the key players in the case.
If you haven’t read the book, buy it at Better World Books here. It’s worth it.
Photo via Buffy Holt