IN COLD BLOOD

TRUMAN CAPOTE - IN COLD BLOOD

Like so many other readers of books, I have to buy books, read them and stock them in my apartment; throwing away a book is in my opinion a sin, especially if you enjoyed reading it. Over the years I have created a sense of which books I actually like to read and I must say I almost never buy a book that I dislike. And if so, bad luck - I can not dump the book anyway.

Modern literature by young male writers I enjoy most; not that female writers can't write but if I look through my library there are hundreds of books, but only about 3 or 4 by female writers. I suppose the subjects or style of the books do not suit me - for example I would never buy a book on illnesses or other tear-jerkers.

There is only one book I read cover to cover in one go: "In cold blood" by Truman Capote. Although the storyline was known beforehand I never read anything as catchy and fascinating as this novel based on an article in the New York Times on the murder of a family of four in the tiny village of Holcombe in Kansas in 1959, so 50 years ago.

Truman Capote started to write just days after the tragic event happened and had many talks with the actual murderers, who were caught after a hunt down of several months and sentenced to the electric chair. It seems that the flamboyant Truman Capote was so caught up in this story that he was not able to write another work of importance after "In cold blood" and died as an alcoholic and drug-addict in 1984. The book itself was published after 9 years of research in 1965.

It is fascinating to read about two killers and the family Clutter, who seem to have no connection at all and are doing their own thing. Then you see them physically move towards eachother, which culminates in the actual killing of the family. After that act the lines diverge again and the hunt for the killers starts.

Although you know exactly where the story is heading to (the article in the NY Times is in the introduction of the book), the tension is tangible on every page of the book. A must-read for everyone.

What am I reading now: "A spot of bother" by Mark Haddon - a very enjoyable family history with a lot of subtle humor in it. Maybe on that one later.

BOOKS: DE CEL

After finishing the New York Trilogy by Paul Auster (you have to get yourself adapted to his writing style but once you get the hang of it, it is fascinating: especially the last story "The Locked Room"), I picked up a Dutch thriller: "Cel" by Charles den Tex. Normally I do not read thrillers, but this one got very good reviews and the author won three times the "Gouden Strop" (the Golden Noose) for the best Dutch thriller of the year, including "Cel". According to his website he lives in The Hague - the city of suspense (well, not really).

Michael Bellicher is witness to a mysterious fatal car accident. After being interrogated he is arrested to his own surprise. It is not clear why, but the police is convinced that it is Michael who they should be after. Michael has no clue what it is all about. Everything he says turns out to be against his own interest. He is being transferred to a small police station in a rural area with two ruthless police officers, a bizarre charge, inescapable evidence and even a lawyer who does not believe him. Mistaken identity ?

By the way: that reminds me of another book on mistaken identity: "Talk Talk" (2006) by T.C. Boyle. Great book, I enjoyed every minute of it. If "Cel" only has half of that quality I am already satisfied.

http://www.crime.nl/auteurs/tex.html

BOOKS: THE NEW YORK TRILOGY

What am I reading these days? I plan to keep you up-to-date on the books I am reading. At the moment I have got the time to read and I do like a lot of different styles and genres: literature as well as non-fiction. My favorites are classics and current literature, especially modern American literature.

OK; now I have started reading Paul Auster's "the New York Trilogy", which was publicized in 1987 as a collective of three experimental detective stories: City of Glass (1985), Ghosts (1986) and The locked room (1986). I have not finished it yet, but I can already say that these are not conventional detective stories; they have a deeper meaning that go beyond finding suspects and evidence. It is called a mixture between the detective story and the "nouveau roman". And that is what it is: a detective story with a twist. I still have to get into it, but I am sure the stories will grasp me; usually I do not mistake in choosing books to read. Wikipedia has the following resume of the three stories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Trilogy :

City of Glass
The first story, City of Glass, features a detective-fiction writer-cum-private investigator who descends into madness as he becomes embroiled in a case. It explores layers of identity and reality, from Paul Auster the writer of the novel to the unnamed "author" who reports the events as reality to "Paul Auster the writer", a character in the story, to "Paul Auster the detective", who may or may not exist in the novel, to Peter Stillman the younger to Peter Stillman the elder and, finally, to Daniel Quinn, the protagonist.

Ghosts
The second story, Ghosts, is about a private eye called Blue who is investigating a man named Black for a client named White. Black and White turn out to be the same person, a writer who is writing a story about Blue watching him.

The Locked Room
The Locked Room is the story of a writer who lacks the creativity to produce fiction. Fanshawe, his childhood friend has produced creative work, and when he disappears the writer publishes his work and replaces him in his family. While trying to deal with their relationship, he discovers his creative gift, and it emerges that he is the author of the three stories of the trilogy. The title is a reference to a "locked room mystery", a popular form of early detective fiction.

Other interesting websites on Paul Auster:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jun/10/paulauster
http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/ishikawa/amlit/a/auster21.htm