Came Good in the End

Whilst my first impressions of the book aligned with Jess' synopsis- it failed to engage me- somewhere around the middle I got really into it! I'm not sure if my failure to engage was due to the story itself or the way in which I had been reading it-in an ad hoc, divided attention sort of way. Anyway, I began to become genuinely interested in these characters of Dick & Perry, particularly their motivations. And I guess this is what drew me in to the story, as Pete found too- the exploration of these guys' psychology(ies). Which I found intriguing. How is it that the majority of the population finds senseless murder repulsive whilst some individuals can not only undertake said acts but not experience guilt/remorse/self-disgust? Its hardly a new query I know, but I thought Capote's exploration of this theme was done really quite well as was his exploration of the morality of capital punishment.

I found Dick's comments near the end very interesting, about not being against capital punishment, that in fact he supported people's right to get revenge- he was just against the idea of himself being killed (from the point of view of self-preservation, not any claimed innocence). To me, this captured the world view of both Perry & Dick who failed to ever display any notions of empathy towards others yet had infinite wells of understanding towards themselves. The statement was also brutally honest- Dick wasn't going to say he was against state murder in an attempt to gain the moral high ground but obviously had no desire to die himself and saw this view as logical and acceptable. He seemed to acknowledge there is a moral code ( murder is wrong & therefore avenging deaths is ok) but didn't feel any need to obey this moral code or a duty to accept punishment as a result of transgressing it. Self-interest all the way and a pathological ability to put your own whims, needs and flippant desires above everything else....

And on the writing. Well, I think this kind of storytelling, weaving perspectives from various characters, painting a strong sense of place whilst following a sequence of chronological events is much harder than it appears. In fact, I think telling a story like this requires considerable skill. I don't agree with Paul about Capote's voice being condescending at all. Having seen the film (and in light of the title), I was expecting to find Capote's tone to be a tad sensational and maybe expoitative too. But I actually thought that he displayed a fair amount of understanding and sympathy towards the lads, painting them to be human without minimsing what they had done. He devoted alot of narrative to Perry's early life experiences etc. One thing that I found curious though was Capote as 'nuetral observer,' he never placed himself in the story that was Dick & Perry's life, despite being a significant figure in their last years in jail. However, I think the technique of the author declaring their own positioning and relationship to subject, is perhaps a po-mo era device?

Yep, well I have to say I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this modest book. But then I've always been a bit of a voyuer, hence my appetite for reality TV & doco's. The drawcard for me was definitely the psychological study of the two main characters and their impossible lack of conscience.