Categories: uncategorized
Date: 23 February 2006 18:03:27
Well, I didn't get round to the shopping last night. I think it was my fear of missing Corrie what did it. So I thought I'd blog now before I get sucked into anything else, like reading other blogs. I promise I'll read you all later.
Working at home was also delayed.
When I woke uup this morning I had 35 pages left to read of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I decided to read this as the film Capote is based on his research for this book. I was not disappointed by the quality and its power to grip you. The great loss is that this was his last novel, written 20 years before his death.
I have always been aware of Capote but never got round to reading any of his work, other than the odd magazine article. I have missed a great deal.
The story tells the story of the murder of the Clutter family, in rural Kansas at the end of 1959, and the subsequent hunt for their killers. This looked like a lost cause as there were very few clues for the police to go on.
However the book covers more than just this. It covers the effect on the local community. It shows how the community lost its innocence, trust and old ways of living. It also follows the two perpetrators as they run from the law.
I won't give the game away totally but I truly recommend this as a study of the human condition. It also raises questions about nurture and nature and the death penalty. You maybe amazed at the biblical support that backs up this punishment.
Now I've gone onto much "lighter" reading. A similar treatise on the human condition. This time its the story of an Auschwitz survivor. Nothing odd there then. Apart from the fact its written by someone who worked in the Sonderkommando for nearly 3 years.
The fact he survived is a miracle in itself. Most such people either, died within 3 months, gave up on life or were killed by the Germans prior to the destruction of the crematorium as they retreated.
Maybe I should consider something less "heavy" for my next book.