"We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver is a gripping and emotionally charged story told through letters from a mother to her estranged husband. The narrative delves into the complexities of parenthood, particularly the mother's struggle to understand and come to terms with her son Kevin's heinous act of committing a school shooting. Shriver's writing style captures the raw emotions and introspective thoughts of the protagonist, making the reader question the nature versus nurture debate in the context of a disturbing family tragedy.
unfolds as a haunting exploration of motherhood, marriage, and the aftermath of a school massacre perpetrated by the protagonist's son. Through the letters, the reader gains insight into the protagonist's inner turmoil, self-reflection, and the societal implications of raising a child who turns out to be a murderer. Shriver's narrative skillfully navigates the complexities of familial relationships, societal expectations, and the psychological impact of such a tragic event, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.
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Triggers include discussions of school shootings, mental health issues, violence, maternal ambivalence, and emotional distress.
From The Publisher:
The inspiration for the film starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly, this resonant story of a mother's unsettling quest to understand her teenage son's deadly violence, her own ambivalence toward motherhood, and the explosive link between them remains terrifyingly prescient.
Eva never really wanted to be a mother. And certainly not the mother of a boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher in a school shooting two days before his sixteenth birthday.
Neither nature nor nurture exclusively shapes a child's character. But Eva was always uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood. Did her internalized dislike for her own son shape him into the killer he's become? How much is her fault?
Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with Kevin's horrific rampage, all in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin.
A piercing, unforgettable, and penetrating exploration of violence and responsibility, a book that the Boston Globe describes as "impossible to put down," is a stunning examination of how tragedy affects a town, a marriage, and a family.
Ratings (70)
Incredible (16) | |
Loved It (23) | |
Liked It (18) | |
It Was OK (7) | |
Did Not Like (5) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (159):
Read It (71) | |
Currently Reading (1) | |
Want To Read (56) | |
Did Not Finish (5) | |
Not Interested (26) |
6 comment(s)
3.5 stars. This was a very difficult book to rate, in one hand I loved the story and in one hand I disliked it. The book has no one that can be close to likeble and nowhere in the book is there anything positive moments but the story had me hooked. It's a family drama in the extreme sense. About a mother who never really wanted to be and who disliked her soon too much even long before he ended up shooting people in his school. The question is, did her recentment towards him send him into a ragefull madness? I kinda liked that there wasn't any likeable characters in this might have been more hard to get my mind around it otherwise. Didn't quite like the writing in this and of it hadn't been such an intriguing plot if would have disliked it more.
WOW.
This might be the most emotionally nuanced book I've ever read (and I would have previously said that was
The Remains of the Day). Eva Katchadourian isn't the type to feel her biological clock tick, but she has a baby with her husband anyway. From the start, she "fails" to bond with baby Kevin, and sees in him rage, slyness, and viciousness that her husband adamantly does not see. From the start we know that Kevin will commit mass murder at the age of fifteen, and Eva's letters to her husband are meant to sort out how he got to that moment.
Reading about Kevin's youth, it is impossible not to want to shake some sense into Franklin, his father. But is that because Franklin refuses to see what Eva does, or because Eva is an unreliable narrator? Kevin himself is practically impenetrable, only connecting with his mother in times of physical distress. Is it possible for a baby to purposely scream with rage all day at his mother, until his father comes home and he presents his burbling, darling infant face? Or is that observation due to Eva's untreated post-partum depression and vicious mastitis?
I think what troubles me, and fascinates me, most about the novel is the undeniable connection between Eva and Kevin. By the end of the book it seems that only Eva truly sees Kevin as he is, and that creates a bond between them that Kevin seems unable to form with anyone else. But is it a bond of love? Doubtful.
I agree its dark, but it stays on your mind.
The characters are strong,with a very impressing nature. A perfect family Father,Mother,Son and Daughter.
Father,who thinks love and friendship can turn anything good.
Mother, who understands the white as white and black as black.
Son, with an unnatural intelligence to fake things to those who believed and not to the one who wont believe.
Daughter, a simple and afraid kind of girl.
At the beginning the story gives an idea like the mother is selfish and rude where as dad is understanding and soft. Son was a mess from beginning.
There are some parts that unnecessarily describes some daily stuff,but worth reading.
But i can only conclude that, Eva was a mother and only mother can understand her children like anything.
This book is awful.
The subject matter is awful. The reading experience itself was so awful that multiple times I had to put the book down in horror to take deep breaths or to stop myself from being physically sick or to stop the headache blossoming behind my eyes. Multiple times I had to talk myself into picking it back up. Sometimes I had to stop just to think or because it was too emotionally overwhelming. Now that I am finally done, I still feel awful.
And that is why I rated it 5 stars.
This is no easy read folks. I am a clinical psychologist, and it is basically reading a trauma narrative, presented in the form of letters from a mother to her ex husband, starting at the beginning and ending with her teenaged son being incarcerated for mass murder committed at his school.
There are references to other mass shootings throughout the book, which made it especially difficult for me. I am the same age as the teenage perpetrator, from this generation, and the 1997 shooting at Heath High School in Paducah KY, happened the next town over from me, where I had friends and marching band rivals. I attended their 2001 prom where the victims and shooter would have been seniors, like me. So it is still a traumatic subject for me and the others in my area. People in my town speak with more horror about "Heath" than they do about 9/11, because we really did not believe it would ever happen in small town KY.
This book is awfully realistic. It takes its time. It gets worse as it goes on. But it is powerful. It arouses strong emotions and thoughts in a way I am not sure any other book ever has. I definitely do not remember a book where I have had to stop to *breathe* before! That is good writing. But be warned, it is awful.
3.5 - 3.75??
This was a long read - I usually don't take three weeks to read a book but the initial writing style was just so dense and pretentious. It was a lot to bulldoze through, but as soon as we get to the meat of the novel where it was Eva spiraling, it was very interesting. I feel like this would have been a good novel to reread, dissect and study to appreciate it. I believe that Eva fostered hate in Kevin and she was disillusioned with motherhood since she decided to approach it for the wrong reasons. She was a world traveler and she thought it was a good idea to give birth to a child? Everything he did as a baby and a toddler felt like regular child things, saying I don't like anything, "nyeh nyeh" language, and only favoring Franklin. Just the idea that Eva thought childbirth would fix things by inspiring great emotion sounded so flat and it jaded her experience so in turn it warped her initial years with Kevin.
I really liked the ending. I already knew the "twist" when I was reading it, so that was sort of meh. But the fact that Kevin kept a picture of Eva, his gift, and Eva's desire to mother Kevin after prison? It was intriguing to say the least. What was Kevin trying to achieve? He said he used to know, but not anymore. It's just so interesting to think about why he did it, what was he searching for in his mother that day? The catharsis paid off I think if I focus on the human moments.
What can you read after
We Need to Talk About Kevin?
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