In Cold Blood

I just spent a very enjoyable lunch hour discussing this contemporary classic novel with a group up in our campus library. Truman Capote's, In Cold Blood, was chosen by the state of Kansas to be this year's Kansas Reads selection.
I have to admit.....this time, last year, I was less than thrilled to find out that this was their choice. Over thirty years ago, I'd read this as a high school student and vividly remember how deeply disturbed I was by the horror of this family's fate...how sickened I was to realize that psychotic minds plan and carry out such evil.
I wasn't going to participate this year. I couldn't imagine - out of the limited time that I have to choose which book off my towering stacks of books I'm going to read next - re-reading this novel that had made such an impact on me so many years ago.

Nonetheless, as time got closer to the book discussion afternoon...and my friend, Martha, (who was leading the discussion) asked/assumed, "You are coming to the book discussion, aren't you?"...I located my own copy of the original paperback and joined the group.

I'm so glad that I did. Of course, I knew that anything Martha facilitated would be well-worth my time. And, I love sitting in the cozy 'living room' atmosphere of the L.W.Nixon library, with the large, plate-glass window overlooking the campus. So, I settled in for a very nice chat and, certainly, I was not disappointed. Six of us thoroughly enjoyed every tidbit of background and insight that Martha shared about Truman Capote and his experiences writing the book. Each one of us contributed our own reflections...our own connections with the lives of the novel's characters. Once again, I was reminded about how special it is to be literate...to be able to share with others the joy of reading powerful (not necessarily uplifting) literature.