I’m on a Truman Capote binge lately. I’ve been re-reading a couple of his novels as well as discovering some of the ones new to me. The more of Capote’s work I read, the more I appreciate this man’s incredible writing. He truly was a literary genius but a tortured one in his private life, at least in the last few years of his life.
I’ve just finished re-reading In Cold Blood and am now working on Music For Chameleons. I’ve lifted a few notable Capote quotes from these two brilliant books:
But I’m not a saint yet. I’m an alcoholic. I’m a drug addict. I’m homosexual. I’m a genius.
– Music for Chameleons
The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call “out there”.
– In Cold Blood
Then starting home, he walked toward the trees, and under them, leaving behind him the big sky, the whisper of wind voices in the wind-bent wheat.
– In Cold Blood
It is no shame to have a dirty face- the shame comes when you keep it dirty.
– In Cold Blood
Strange where our passions carry us, floggingly pursue us, forcing upon us unwanted dreams, unwelcome destinies.
– Music for Chameleons
Just remember: If one bird carried every grain of sand, grain by grain, across the ocean, by the time he got them all on the other side, that would only be the beginning of eternity.
– In Cold Blood
Imagination, of course, can open any door – turn the key and let terror walk right in.
– In Cold Blood
We all, sometimes, leave each other there under the skies, and we never understand why.
– Music for Chameleons
Some cities, like wrapped boxes under Christmas trees, conceal unexpected gifts, secret delights. Some cities will always remain wrapped boxes, containers of riddles never to be solved, nor even to be seen by vacationing visitors, or, for that matter, the most inquisitive, persistent travelers.
– Music for Chameleons
It is easy to ignore the rain if you have a raincoat.
– In Cold Blood
