I was thinking about the movie, “Capote” with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener, and the intriguing life of Truman Capote. His thin voice seemed to suit him, his big personality was enjoyed by many and took him far as did his talent. In the movie we see him reading the article about the four murders of a family on a farm in Kansas, and making two decisions then and there: Here is the story for his next book, and to leave for Kansas that very evening. How did he decide so quickly that that is what he wanted to write about? And what went wrong when he got involved in the researching and writing of it?
He went from writing “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” to writing “In Cold Blood”. Quite a change. I’d read about the flamboyant author, his free spirit and, of course, saw the highly publicized and entertaining movie, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Mickey Rooney and Patricia Neal. Who would have thought so much was going on within him while he was writing his next book? On the back of the CD cover for the movie “Capote” is written: “Famed author Truman Capote befriends two murderers while researching his celebrated book, “In Cold Blood” – and finds himself changed to the core.”
On a much smaller scale it makes me think of when we get caught in the clutches of a negative person and the conversation with that person begins to dissipate our energy and leaves us changed a bit, not as upbeat as before. We have to snap out of that feeling before it lingers and lasts longer than it should. Maybe it started unraveling for Truman Capote when he began interviewing and listening to the murderers talk about their lonesome, uncared for childhoods, and of murdering the family of four in cold blood. And when they asked him if he would come to the execution of their death sentences, and he did, the misery, violence and ugliness that was the life of the two murderers got to him.
What would have happened had he not read that story in The New York Times? Perhaps one day I’ll buy the book, “Capote” by Gerald Clark and read more about his interesting and complicated life and what fueled his other books.
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