ABRIR 3.2. La adolescencia - Biblioteca de la Universidad ...

Ficción y Realidad en la obra de Truman Capote
Capote son parte conjunta de sus obras y, además, parte importante para
nuestra tesis, ya vimos su importancia, por ejemplo, con motivo del estudio
de su obra 0/her Voices, Other J?ooms.
En el caso que nos ocupa ahora, ya las dos primeras líneas de su
introducción son otro dato autobiográfico fiel a la realidad. Así dice que
“My life -as an artist, at least- can be charted as precisel>’ as fever: the
highs and lows, the ver>’ definite cycles.” (Capote 1980:xi). Una gran
definición de su vida personal y de su vida profesional que, como él mismo
reconoce, fue un puro altibajo. Por otro lado, las líneas siguientes de ese
“preface” confirman todo lo explicado con anterioridad en las lineas
precedentes y que él reconoce así
“1 started writing when 1 was eight- out of the blue,
uninspired by any example. I’d never known anyone who
wrote; indeed, 1 knew few people who read. But the fact
was the oní>’ four things that interested me were: reading
books, going to the movies, tap dancing, and drawing
pictures. ‘[hen one da>’ 1 started writing, not knowing that 1
had chained myselffor life to a noble but merciless master.
When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and
the whip is intended solely for self-flagelation.
But of course 1 didn’t know that. 1 wrote adventure
stories, murder mysteries, comedy skits, tales that had been
told me by former síaves and Civil War veterans. It was a
lot of fun - at first. It stopped being fun when 1 discovered
the diffrence between good writing and bad, and then made
an even more alarmíng discover>’, the difference between
ver>’ good writing and true art; it is subtle, but savage. And
afer that the whip came down!” (Capote 1980:xi-xii)
Página 52?