‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’ by Truman Capote (1948) – 187 pages
In the Books section of The Guardian, they have a regular feature called “Where to Start With” where they discuss the books written by a well-known author. Recently they had “Where To Start With” Truman Capote. The only book I had read before by Truman Capote was ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, and that was a long time ago. The article ended with a section called Capote’s “Masterpiece”, and there they pointed to ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’. So I decided to read it.
‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’ was Truman Capote’s first novel. Quickly I discovered that Capote put his heart and soul and himself into this novel. I find that often a writer’s first work is their finest while they are still trying hard to get first published. I suppose there is professionalism in novel writing, but it is usually in their first works that authors will go for broke with their talents and imaginations. That is what Truman Capote did here.
The main character in ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’ is the thirteen year-old boy Joel Harrison Knox.
“He was too pretty, too delicate, too fair-skinned; each of his features was shaped with a sensitive accuracy, and a girlish tenderness softened his eyes, which were brown and very large.”
His mother has died, and his father who abandoned him as a baby has sent a letter saying he would welcome the boy to come live with him. So the boy Joel travels to rural Mississippi. He arrives at Skully’s Landing which is a large old decrepit mansion on a former plantation. There he meets and comes to know several unusual and strange characters. There is his sullen stepmother Amy and his colorful cousin Randolph who dabbles in art and takes a special interest in Joel. There is also the black maid and cook Missouri, also known as Zoo, who is the household maid and cook. She befriends Joel.
“Shoot, boy, the country’s just fulla folks what knows everythin. And don’t understand nothin, just fullofem.”
The black characters in ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’ are portrayed with dignity and respect and closeness.
Also Joel meets the two white neighbor sisters Idabel and Florabel who are about his age. He develops a special friendship with Idabel. She calls him “sissy britches”. Later Joel will run off to a carnival with Idabel.
“She’s got willful ways, Idabel has. Ask anybody.”
Joel meets all these people, but where is his father?
Truman Capote
As I said before, Truman Capote went all out in writing this novel. It is usually characterized as Southern Gothic, but that phrase does not begin to capture the essence of the writing.
Here is an example of Capote setting a scene:
“Swarms of dragonflies quivered above a slime-covered watertrough; and a scabby hound dog padded back and forth, sniffing the bellies of tied up mules.”
This is a novel of a boy growing up. After all of the new people he has met and the adventures he has had, at the end Joel looks back “at the boy he had left behind”.
Grade: A
Tony's Book World 
Posted by Janakay | YouMightAsWellRead on November 5, 2024 at 7:16 PM
I enjoyed the review very much, Tony — it was an echo from my past. I read this book in my late teens and fell totally under its spell; that dreamy, mysterious atmosphere and those lush descriptions really drew me into the strange world that Capote created in this novel. I do remember being a bit puzzled at times as to what, exactly, was going on! I’ve actually considered re-reading (although my original copy is long gone — I believe it had the author photograph on the back that you’ve used in your post) but was afraid the novel might not hold up. Have you read In Cold Blood? Totally different, of course, but also a masterpiece of its kind (I re-read it about a decade ago & found that it retained its original power). As for Breakfast — it was charming & I liked it, but wasn’t totally wowed. I have a collection of Capote’s short stories, but have only explored one or two; I’m afraid it’s fallen into my “some day” category!
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Posted by Anokatony on November 5, 2024 at 7:45 PM
Hi Janakay,
No, I have not read ‘In Cold Blood’ As you know, fiction is my thing, but I’ve been tempted to read ‘In Cold Blood’ several times, but just haven’t got around to it.
I did notice sometimes where I was puzzled about what was going on. I think that some of that was because Capote had to be necessarily discreet about exactly what was going on between him and his cousin Randolph who took such an obvious interest in him.
I hadn’t heard very much about ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’ until I saw the Guardian article.
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Posted by Janakay | YouMightAsWellRead on November 5, 2024 at 8:01 PM
I think you’re absolutely right regarding the “discrete” areas in Other Voices! As I said, I was very young when I read it! The haunting atmosphere of the book really did linger in my mind. As for Cold Blood — it’s a very novelistic treatment of a crime (I believe there’s been lots of criticism in recent years regarding Capote’s methods and, perhaps, his facts). Like you, I read mostly fiction these days (a big turnaround — my adult reading was almost entirely geared to non-fiction, until my late twenties) but I still enjoyed it. If you ever get around to it (so many, many great things to read) I’ll be curious to read your thoughts!
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Posted by Anokatony on November 5, 2024 at 11:42 PM
I remember when ‘In Cold Blood’ first came out. I was 17 then, and it was quite a sensation about the two murderers of the Clutter family in Kansas. I suppose another reason I didn’t read it was because there were so many articles written about it already.
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Posted by Cathy746books on November 5, 2024 at 8:57 PM
Great review Tony, It’s been a while since i read this one but I remember loving it.
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Posted by Anokatony on November 5, 2024 at 11:44 PM
Hi Cathy,
It took me quite a long while to discover it, but I’m glad I did.
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Posted by My Favorite Fiction I Have Read in 2024 | Tony's Book World on December 10, 2024 at 5:36 PM
[…] ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’ by Truman Capote (1948) – Capote put his heart and soul and himself into this, his first novel. I find that often a writer’s first work is their finest while they are still trying hard to get first published. This is a novel of a boy growing up. After all of the new people he has met and the adventures he has had, at the end Joel looks back “at the boy he had left behind”. […]
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