The Bowie Book Club discussion

Please, mind the book part you are commenting on in order to avoid spoilers.

As the reading goes on, I would like to know how you feel about Capote's writing style. I have some reservations about it, but I would like to hear from you...

I started it again last night, and I find Capote's writing to be just breathtaking. His prose is beautiful but rarely feels overwrought, and his descriptions of the town and the way he can make even a minor character come alive with a turn of phrase feel masterful.

I also feel a vague, sort of chilling sense of familiarity for Holcomb -- I grew up in Colorado and Wyoming in the '70s and '80s, and had family in Kansas, so even though I never lived in a town as small or isolated as Holcomb, it's the sort of place I drove through a hundred times, or stopped for gas or food. Towns like that always seemed stuck in time, not far removed from what they looked like or how people lived their lives in the '50s.

I started it a few days ago and I didn’t like it that much. It took ages for me to read this first part because I never felt really engaged with the reading. I found myself re-reading the same page over and over and nothing getting processes. I don’t know what exactly about his writing style didn’t captivated me, but nothing really caught my attention in the book so far. Hope it gets better, since so many have talked so well about this book…

Pedro wrote: "I started it a few days ago and I didn’t like it that much. It took ages for me to read this first part because I never felt really engaged with the reading. I found myself re-reading the same page..."

I understand exactly like you feel, Pedro. Even though I adore In Cold Blood, I don't feel attracted to Capote's style. All the things I have read which were written by him, took me time to get used to his writing. What you said about seeming to take ages to read, describe exactly how I feel about it. Until I get in the right mood to absorb his work, sometimes I feel like screaming "why are you taking so long to say what you mean?". The good news, in my opinion, is that you get used to his stylistic choices, and when you reach the end of the book, it feels like it is so good that you understand why he couldn't go for more simple writing.

I love Capote's writing, but I love almost all American Southern literature (though I'm as Northern as they come). To me, it flows so gracefully and is so skilled at capturing the smallest detail and using it to speak volumes. One of the best examples in this chapter is Mrs. Clutter's love of "tiny things." Capote also makes sure we meet the "bad guys" first as fully fleshed out human beings before they're defined by their actions, which in my experience is relatively rare when reading about criminals.

Always interesting to hear others' viewpoints on the matter.

I love the way he depicts all the people's lives - so rich and intense, switching from the Clutter's context to the killers Dick and Perry. It could be only about the crime, and the defendants and the evidence, but Capote really dived into these lives and made an incredible novel. It's remarkable.

A slow start for me. Can't really get into it, but I'm not giving up.

EDIT: Things pick up a bit when the bodies are discovered.