The End ~ In Cold Blood

Okay, so I have to admit the ending was just eh. The actual last four pages were good, but up until then I just couldn't do it. The last fifty pages of the book took me over an hour to read because they were just so boring. Because it was a nonfiction book, a lot of the story had background information in it. The book had a really slow start because Truman Capote had to fill us in on the lives of the Clutters and the killers and where they were from. There was always either imagery or characterization or just general background information in the book. I mean, if you think about it, it was necessary to have it, but at times it was just incredibly annoying.

The last fifty pages were about the murderers' time on death row before they were hanged. That was all fine and good, but those fifty pages could've (and possibly should have) been condensed into five to ten pages. It just went by very slowly, and I'm sorry, but it was excruciating. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was painfully boring.

So as I predicted, there was nothing at the end of the story that I hadn't already expecting, nothing that caught me off guard. I guess I was okay with that considering it was a true story and it wasn't a story that Truman Capote could twist to make more interesting or surprising. It was a retelling and that was fine, it was what I expected.

For the most part, even though there were certainly slow parts, the book was good. Not great, but good. What came through for me was the very last page of the book. One of the lead detectives on the case runs into one of the victim's friends at the cemetary where the family is burried. The last paragraph reads, "'And nice to have seen you, Sue. Good luck,' he called after her as she disappeared down the path, a pretty girl in a hurry, her smooth hair swinging, shine––just such a young woman as Nancy might have been. Then, starting home, he walked toward the trees, and under them, leaving behind him the big sky, the whisper of wind voices in the wind-bent wheat." I found this ending to be perfectly effective. It helped to elaborate on the ways that people were finally moving on after the deaths of the Clutters. This being six years since the murder, a childhood friend of the family and a lead detective on their case are finally letting go. The weight that has been bearing down on them has finally lifted and they can move on with their life. The hangings of the murderers was the closure they needed after all that time, and even though thoughts of the Clutters are still in their minds, they're no longer at the forefront.

I think I would still recommend this book even though I wasn't completely happy with it. It truly is an interesting story of an interesting case, it was just slow at parts. If you can get past the slow points, the investigation is enthralling.

-Jenna