Other Voices, Other Rooms

What is the author's style in Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote?

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Capote is well known for his beautifully descriptive language and this novel follows that pattern. Capote wants the reader to not only understand the plot but also the feelings and emotions that surround the story's actions. For example, when Capote describes Joel's waking in his bedroom on his first morning at Skully's Landing, he writes, "falling... Falling... FALLING! a knifelike shaft, an underground corridor, and he was spinning like a fan blade through metal spirals; at the bottom a yawning-jawed crocodile followed his downward whirl with hooded eyes: as always, rescue came with wakefulness. The crocodile exploded in sunshine. Joel blinked and tasted his tongue and did not move; the bed, an immense four-poster with different rosewood fruits carved crudely on its high headboard, was suffocatingly soft and his body had sunk deep in its feathery center. Chapter 2, Page 40 This is a much more evocative way to tell how Joel awakens from a deep sleep to take in his environment for the very first time. Capote masterfully uses this style during the descriptions of Joel's hallucinations and dreams where he utilizes imaginary characters in absurd situations to escape his realities.