Other Voices, Other Rooms—Truman Capote's first published novel—was critically acclaimed when it was published in 1948, but its popularity has declined in recent years. Perhaps the complex pattern of symbolism and multiple plot layers are confusing to today's readers.

Since the entire narrative is filtered through Joel's consciousness, and much of the action takes place within his mind, the novel is heavily infused with ambiguity, and though its landscape of dream and nightmare may resemble that of modern fantasy literature, its surreal elements can no longer be considered unique or experimental. Readers could profitably analyze this novel in the literary context of its era, noting that its deliberate references to artifice and established constructs show a relationship to both postwar novels and the theater of the absurd. Other themes deserving of such exploration include the isolation of the individual, people's failure to communicate...