When I was reading the book, the events seemed very farfetched, so I was surprised that at the end of the novel, in the epilogue to find out that these events had actually happened and this wasn’t a work of fiction. I thought that the way of communicating the deaths of characters who were killed as if it were from a news report was more of a stylistic choice rather than the fact that it was probably the way that the author himself was able to adapt the story from the actual events. However, learning that the novel was not fiction has not really taken away from the experience I had when reading it, I felt like the changes in giving the characters more depth (by potentially having invented things) benefited the story since we already know the characters are not good people but now they can also be interesting (and still bad of course).
I also sometimes question whether the “true crime” genre should even be a thing, on one hand, they usually succeed in showing us how depraved and messed up the individuals who commit these kinds of acts are but they also show dramatic reenactments of real people being killed whose families may still be coping from the loss. Even though I know the genre can offer more than just entertainment, something feels wrong about being invested in a story like this and consuming this kind of media for enjoyment. The novel sort of explores this, where spectators are gathered around the house that is under siege by the police or watching the events unfold through one of the news broadcasts. Are some of them watching because they are directly affected by the events of the robbery, or do they treat it as some sort of drama (Maybe some do both)?
I also found it quite bizarre that the bystanders and news reporters viewed the burning of the stolen money to be a more deplorable and disgusting act than all of the murders the robbers had committed. I guess you could argue that by burning the money it shows that the members of the gang had killed all those people for essentially nothing, but I mean they were already trapped and facing certain death so it makes sense that they did not want anyone from the police to get any of the money. It also seems like the citizens are unaware of how corrupt the police and the government are, “If they agreed with the police to hand it over to a charitable foundation, everything would have gone differently for them” (170) they believe that the police somehow lack the same greed and motivations that the robbers have when the Argentine police officers were directly involved in the robbery and had also cooperated with the perpetrators.
My question for everyone:
What are your thoughts on the “true crime” genre? Do you view it (favourably/indifferently/ unfavourably)?
Hi Marcus, I also had similar thoughts about the true crime genre while reading this book. The story gave a story to some of the victims which was nice but it also felt strange reading a more sympathetic account of the criminals. As a genre, I view true crime slightly unfavourably; I can understand the fascination with it but something about making crime into entertainment feels morally grey.
ReplyDeleteHi there! I am an avid true crime watcher, but this book wasn't my favorite. It was different as it dived into the side of the criminals more, which you normally don't see in true crime. I am fascinated when it comes to this topic as it gives insight on the human mind.
ReplyDelete- Julia Wouters
Hi Marcus! I don't really like this so-called "true crime". I feel that most fiction or literature can be emotionally resonant in one way or another. But in this kind of novel, it's hard for normal people to empathize with the criminals, and from my personal point of view, I don't really want to know about their brutal methods of committing crimes.
ReplyDeleteHey Marcus, I enjoyed your post a lot, to answer your question, I feel I might be a little biased because I like the genre quite a lot, because I feel like it gives us more insight on things that we usually only hear about quickly but in true crime there tends to be a lot of detail.
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