Week # 6: Capote

My first thought about the movie Capote is that it is about some deeply flawed human beings both the two criminals and Capote himself.  Capote uses his fame to weasel his way into the lives of the people of Holcomb and the criminal's live himself.  He appears to be there for them and has empathy but is doing so only for his own gain.  He uses the pain of especially Perry to entertain his friends.  It seems like a sick experiment and from what I know about Capote's life after publishing In Cold Blood, I think Capote paid for it with extreme guilt.  

Both Dick and Perry are also deeply flawed.  They committed a horrible murder and end up paying for it with their lives.  It makes me wonder about human nature.  How can people cause each other so much pain and for what?  Money? Fame? Fortune?  Is this the natural consequence of society measuring success in terms of fame and fortune over contributing to the good of humanity?  

I finished reading Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.  Both this novel and the movie Capote are about true crime and a person's journey uncovering the reason why the murders occurred.  In Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI the motivation was greed.  I have read the novel In Cold Blood a few times.  I think one of the motivations was greed but I would not argue it was the main motivation for either Perry Smith or Dick Hickock.  

Word Count: 263

Week # 5: Quote that speaks to you

“Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.” 

― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

The reason this quote resonated with me was because of a podcast I listened to this week.  The episode was You 2.0 Decide Already by NPR's Hidden Brain.  Basically, we learn that humans are the only animal that can use their imaginations to predict the future, and guess what we are terrible at it!  Often what we predict will happen and what actually happens is completely different.  As I was listening to this episode I kept on thinking both how right this premise is and also how I would not be able to understand the ideas presented in this podcast at the same level a few years ago.  I feel that I have enough experience at this point to realize that things do not end up as bad as I predict and are not worth the worry I put into them.  Applying this wisdom in real life is another challenge.

It feels liberating to know that there are scientific studies out that that prove humans suck at predicting their own futures.  I have a tendency to try and overthink a problem in hopes that all that energy will allow me to "out think it."  Instead of actually solving the problem, I end up creating additional fictional problems and what if scenarios that add to the problem.  The only thing thathelps when a worrisome situation comes to fruition is just being present in the moment and dealing with things as they come.  

Word Count (not including the quote): 277

Week # 4: It's all about the plot

So far in my book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, the plot is going slow but I feel like it is going fast.  At this point I think over six Osage Indians have been murdered.  A few were shot in the head, two were blown up in their house, and some were poisoned.  There are some vivid gory details explaining the state of the bodies, which made me second guess reading this before falling asleep.  Despite the gore, I have been nightmare free so I will probably continue to read this before bed.  

The plot itself is slow because there is not much progressing on the case itself other than Tom White, a former Texas Ranger, was put in charge by the F.B.I.  The last 40 pages or so have been about the history of Tom White.  Tom's life is so interesting and full of action that it feels like the book's plot is progressing when it is not.  Tom's dad was the sheriff of Austin, Texas and their house was literally attached to the jail.  Tom witnessed a lot of action in his childhood, including his first hanging at the age of 11 (I think).  Tom's  but I am learning so much about Tom White and his background that it feels like the plot is going faster than in reality.  

Word Count: 232