Killer Reading

Inspired to read Truman Capote's In Cold Blood by both the movie Capote and VV's research paper, I have found myself in turn captivated and appalled by Capote's true crime novel. Written in compelling prose that reads like fiction, the novel tells of the murder of a family of four in a small town. The rotation between the points-of-view of the family, townsfolk, and murderers, while well-written and engaging, is what forces me to set the book aside. When I remember that this novel captures real events, I have a hard time reading the point-of-view of the murderers because they are so unconscionable and the family who they murder is so real. When I need a break from Capote's book, I head toward a novel by an unexpected author. You might know him as Dr. House, "hero" of sorts of the best show on television (and virtually one of the only ones I watch). The actor, Hugh Laurie, also the dad in the Stuart Little movies, has written a novel that is apparently a spoof on the old spy novel. I haven't read very far, but what I have read has made me laugh, despite touching on the type of violence I find so horrible in In Cold Blood.