Letters: Kudos for a true crime story
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Re “A double killing, a vengeful plan, a wave of fear,” Dec. 8, and “A deadly threat ripples through the LAPD,” Dec. 10
I was intrigued by the literary treatment of the first two installments of The Times’ five-part series on the search this year for ex-L.A. police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner. They crossed the line from straight journalism to something like a novel and were similar to what Truman Capote accomplished with “In Cold Blood.”
One of the guilty pleasures of fiction is that you can allow yourself to savor the events and be a thrilled spectator while knowing that it’s all pretend; this isn’t the case here.
At first, The Times’ approach made me uneasy. But soon enough I came around to the notion that the paper’s attempt to draw us in may show greater compassion for Dorner’s victims than you would get from an objective journalistic presentation.
At any rate, I look forward to the upcoming installments.
Evalon Witt
Culver City
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