بدم بارد

Novel by ترومان كابوتي

Blurb

بدم بارد هي رواية للكاتب الأمريكي ترومان كابوت, نشرت عام 1966. تدور حول جريمة بشعة، راح ضحيتها هربرت كلاتر عام 1959. مزارع ثري من هولكومب. كانساس, هو وعائلته. حين علم كابوت بالحادثة قبل القبض على القتلة, قرر الذهاب لكانساس والكتابة عن القضية. مصطحباً صديقة طفولته وزميلته هاربر لي. معاً قاما بمحاورة المقيمين والمحققين في القضية ودوّنا الكثير من المسودات. تم القبض على القاتلين ريتشارد هكّوك وبيري سميث بعد ارتكاب الجريمة بزمن قصير. وقضى كابوت 6 سنوات يعمل على الكتاب. والذي يعتبر الأصل للرواية الوثائقية وارهاصة للحركة الصحافية الجديدة. رغم أن كتّأباً مثل رودولف والش ألّفوا في هذا المجال من قبل.
الحبكة تأخذ شكل قصة سيكولوجية معقدة حول شابين يرتكبا معاً قتلاً جماعياً. كذلك تدور الرواية حول حياتهما الخاصة وتأثير الحادثة على المجتمع الذي عاشا به.
وقد تم تحويل الرواية إلى فيلم عام 1967 من بطولة روبرت بلايك، وتم ترشيحها لأربعة جوائز أوسكار.

First Published

1965

Member Reviews Write your own review

gringo1980

Gringo1980

A true story that really draws you in like a novel.

0 Responses posted in February
cefab

Cefab

This was my first time reading Capote as well as my introduction to original narrative journalism, and I was blown away. It's easy to see why this book was a sensation in the '60s. The content is amazing—Capote clearly spent immense amounts of time researching the case and conducting interviews—as is the writing itself: vivid, detailed, carefully crafted...at once intimate and removed. The organization of the book is smart, too: first painting a picture of the principals (the Clutter family, the town of Holcomb, Perry and Hickock), recounting the crime, and describing its effects on the survivors; then covering the progress of the investigation and trial. This much I would have expected. What surprised and impressed was the third section, which included research on sociopathology and psychopathology, legal precedents therefor, and other killers like Perry and Hickock. This contextual research lifted me out of the Clutter case and helped me think about the crime in a more holistic way. This is really the only kind of denouement that can resolve the horror and suspense and confusion stirred up by this story. In Cold Blood is not quite fiction and not quite nonfiction (Capote called it a "nonfiction novel"), and it's important to note that there's controversy over whether the work is completely true, as Capote claimed. There's also debate over how much ethical responsibility Capote carried as a journalist and whether he exploited Hickock and Perry by not doing more to save them from execution. It's a lot to think about. In short, I'd recommend In Cold Blood to anyone who likes true crime thrillers and powerful, dense writing. The Modern Library edition has an introduction by Bob Colacello that sketches Capote's career, the advent of narrative journalism, and the work's reception in the '60s—helpful background for the uninitiated such as myself.

0 Responses posted in January
Hoser117

Hoser117

The attention to detail and obvious effort in researching the background of this story is very apparent within the first few pages. Capote has a very dry/factual way of writing here, and given the subject material, gives a very chilling mood to the entire book. I enjoyed how the viewpoints of the two killers was shown without much obvious bias. It somehow humanizes them, and while you never really can sympathize with or forgive them for what they did, you can almost understand how a human being in their shoes could end up doing what they did. By the end of the book you don't see these people as monsters, but simply flawed humans like you or me. My only gripes is the book did tend to drag at points, and was rather slow to start, but I feel like that was simply due to the nature of this book. The attention to detail was required throughout the book, not simply where it was convenient. By the time I had gotten to the second half it was a page turner that I had difficulty putting down.

0 Responses posted in December
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