If I had to pick the perfect story to describe what creative non fiction journalism is, I would defiantly chose Truman Capote: In cold blood. This piece of writing is extremely creative, establishes characters, and skillfully manipulates the emotions of the reader. But this entry isn't ground breaking for those reasons alone, it's because everything in the story is real! This includes the plot, characters, transitions, and dialogues.
The book is about a family of four murdered by shotguns with no apprent motive. Capote wrote this book by personally heading to the place in Kansas where it took place. With first hand viewpoints of this horrific event Capote describes the people involved and effected by it. Those people included the murderers, the towns men, and even the victims themselves. Furthermore he details the crime, investigation, and the punishment the accused received.
But there are two more astonishing facts about this book that stands out. First is the fact that the reader knows everything that will happen in the book and yet Capote still builds a lot of suspense. Second is that he manged to create a personal relationship with the reader and murderers, thus making you feel sympathetic towards individuals who committed a heinous act.
This book isn't easy and it read like a novel although it's factual. Here are three lines that caught my attention.
“They shared a doom against which virtue was no defense."
“I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.”
“When Smith attacked Mr. Clutter he was under a mental eclipse, deep inside a schizophrenic darkness.”
All of these lines represent the strong character development and writing of this book which I why I liked them. Lastly, I loved it because of it's descriptive nature and that's something that any fan of literature can appreciate.
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