Library Blog

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a nonfiction book about the murder of the Clutter family; however, it is not completely factual. The murders of four members of the Clutter family take place in Holcomb, Kansas. This novel holds special value to me as I learned that this novel changed Capote's life, and he was never the same after it. While telling the story of the murders of Herb, Bonnie, and their two kids, Capote switches off between different perspectives. Capote tells the story through the perspective of the murderers and follows the story through investigations as well. The interesting thing about In Cold Blood is that the audience knows who the murderers are throughout the whole novel. Capote focuses on the murderers and their backstory, almost as if he were justifying their actions.

I personally was very intrigued by the plot of the story before I picked up the book. I think that while the story is interesting, it is a heavy read. I feel that the novel is packed with extra information and lots of long paragraphs of details and background information. I would give this novel a 6/10, just because it was easy for me to drift off and lose attention while reading it. The overall story is interesting, and I like the structure of the novel. It was also fun to analyze Capote's intentions while writing his book and see events through different perspectives.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

Reviewed by Saimah

Catcher in the Rye revolves around a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield, who is narrating from a hospital and recounting what happened to him in the week before Christmas break. This book explores the mind of a depressed teenager and the events that led up to him realizing he needed help. He is being expelled by Pency Prep, one of many private schools he's been kicked out of, and instead of going home to disappoint his parents he takes a secret trip to New York. There his condition becomes worse as he realizes what state he is in mentally at the moment. Through his thoughts and actions we learn many things about him, his life, and the reason he is depressed. There are many life lessons woven into the story and the reader is left to reflect on the idea that many things we take for granted, like our parents' love, mean a lot.

Overall I really liked the book. The book keeps you engaged, wanting to know from the beginning how Holden got into the hospital. We go through his adventures and see his downfall over time. Sometimes though, Holden got on my nerves as you could clearly see he was not making any effort to make his life better and turning away good opportunities. Holden Caulfield was a very realistic teenage character, but to the extreme, and that was because he was depressed. This book does have swearing in it and some intimacy, so I would recommend this book for high schoolers and above.