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In Cold Blood again
Feb. 28th, 2007 06:08 pmTolstoy said that all happy families are alike, but each miserable family is miserable in its own special way. I don't entirely agree; I've known some happy families that were pretty unusual. But there's quite a bit of truth in the statement.
I'd go Tolstoy one further and say that all positive people are alike, but negative people are negative in their own special ways. And that's why we (I dare call myself) writers enjoy them so much. Whether you're talking someone made miserable by circumstances, or by psychological defect, or because they've decided to be miserable; whether you're talking about the self-absorbed who destroy others because they don't notice, or the immature ones who destroy because they won't take responsibility for themselves, or the outright evil who destroy for fun and profit, the less likely it is you'd like to have someone sharing dinner with you (at least in their current circumstances) the better a story they make.
I've heard it said that Truman Capote was in love with the murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. But he makes it clear in his book that Dick was a manipulative bastard who never had a friend he wasn't eager to betray, if there was profit in it. While Perry was damaged goods, a head case with a pathological need to please anyone who would pay any attention to him. A need so great he'd do anything for his current leader.
Either one of them could go from friendly to murdering you in a second. And their smiles wouldn't even slip.
But in another sense, I think Capote did love Hickock and Smith. They were INTERESTING. They made good stories, regardless of how worthless they were.
Writing, too, sometimes borders on a crime done in cold blood.
I'd go Tolstoy one further and say that all positive people are alike, but negative people are negative in their own special ways. And that's why we (I dare call myself) writers enjoy them so much. Whether you're talking someone made miserable by circumstances, or by psychological defect, or because they've decided to be miserable; whether you're talking about the self-absorbed who destroy others because they don't notice, or the immature ones who destroy because they won't take responsibility for themselves, or the outright evil who destroy for fun and profit, the less likely it is you'd like to have someone sharing dinner with you (at least in their current circumstances) the better a story they make.
I've heard it said that Truman Capote was in love with the murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. But he makes it clear in his book that Dick was a manipulative bastard who never had a friend he wasn't eager to betray, if there was profit in it. While Perry was damaged goods, a head case with a pathological need to please anyone who would pay any attention to him. A need so great he'd do anything for his current leader.
Either one of them could go from friendly to murdering you in a second. And their smiles wouldn't even slip.
But in another sense, I think Capote did love Hickock and Smith. They were INTERESTING. They made good stories, regardless of how worthless they were.
Writing, too, sometimes borders on a crime done in cold blood.
