Book Recommendation: In Cold Blood

Those of you who read the Creative and Critical Writing summer reading books should agree that Truman Capote's masterpiece In Cold Blood was definitely worth reading.  Although it is a work of non-fiction, when I read it I almost forgot that the events described in it had actually happened.  It almost became its own story.

There were countless reasons why I enjoyed In Cold Blood, but the aspect of the book that I enjoyed the most was the plot development.  The changes in point of view and the flashbacks into the characters' pasts makes the plot non-linear, which helps any story resemble real life more than with a linear construction.  Capote was almost forced to write his book this way since it was a work of non-fiction, meaning that it was based on a true story.  As I was reading, I nearly forgot that there actually was a Clutter family in the Midwest that were the victims of a heinous crime.

An important element of the story that played a significant role in the story's plot development was point of view.  Capote marks new "chapters" by shifting the story's focus from one group of characters to another.  In this way, one event can be shown from many different angles, giving it a three-dimensional aspect.  I felt like I could watch the story unfold from a birds-eye view.

The most obvious device that Capote used to masterfully craft the plot of the story was to me irony, specifically of the situational and dramatic kind.  The dramatic irony is clearly more important in that since the story was based on true events, one can conclude that those who committed the crime against the Clutter family were caught.  This implies that there would not be many plot twists, but there are some.  I do not want to spoil the ending.  Dramatic irony shows up in the form of complacency, meaning that certain characters believe something so whole-heartedly that they do not realize that it is false information.  Shakespeare's plays are successes partly due to this type of irony.

I believe that In Cold Blood is a must-read.  It may seem boring in the beginning, but it gets really good after all of the set-up is finished.  In other words, it may be slow-moving in certain parts, but that does not take away from its greatness.