Excellent passage. Ashamedly, probably because of a brain deficiency like ADD, I have never been a huge reader of books. It’s one of the few that I have read, and one of the still fewer that I’ve read several times. No doubt about it, it’s a classic and it’s written beautifully. Such a frightening tale, but one I was/am drawn to. His writing pulled you right into those worlds.
Thank you and if you don't mind, let me share one more excerpt from In Cold Blood that remains unforgettable:
Imagination, of course, can open any door - turn the key and let terror walk right in. Tuesday, at dawn, a carload of pheasant hunters from Colorado - strangers, ignorant of the local disaster - were startled by what they saw as they crossed the prairies and passed through Holcomb: windows ablaze, almost every window in almost every house, and, in the brightly lit rooms, fully clothed people, even entire families, who had sat the whole night wide awake, watchful, listening. Of what were they frightened? "It might happen again."
I am a voracious reader but murders, mysteries and crime stories have never been (and still aren't) among those near the top of my list. In Cold Blood transcends such categorization, and as is the case with you, it's one that I've read numerous times, and in spite of the Wall Street Journal article that does diminish the book to a degree, I'll likely open it up and read it from start to finish in one night. It really is that compelling.
I just wish that someone other than Truman Capote would have authored it, maybe even Harper Lee. :-) I really do have to momentarily suspend my intolerance and utter disgust for sodomites when I turn the pages of this otherwise captivating book.