We need to talk about Kevin

It's a brilliant book. The poor mother ties herself in knots about whether or not it's her fault, but it really isn't. He was just born like that, in my opinion.

I've watched the film, but avoided reading the book on the basis of it being too disturbing.
Maybe I should/ will read it one day.
Same with Room

Room is absolutely brilliant, too. It's the only book I've ever started again as soon as I'd finished it.

Amazing book! I read it a couple of years ago. So brilliantly written. I still find myself thinking about it and interpreting all the layers of fuckuppery. I ought to brave a second read. It's worth it.

Brilliant book. And as pp's have said, part of that brilliance is that it can be interpreted in different ways.
I've never braved re reading it since becoming a mum though.

She had her daughter to counter her miserable life with her son.

Eva was a free spirit who fell dangerously in love with someone who undermined and disrespected her, and she couldn't see him for who he was. She really had no place having children!

Kevin in the book is also exceptionally smart.

What I loved about the book that wasn't so much in the film is that it really shows what a huge part the dad played in Kevin's demise. As a child he was pandered to, the mum was hugely undermined and the dad overlooked SO MANY red flags - in the film it's very much "Oh it's the mums fault she didn't even enjoy pregnancy".

The book is grim but I've read far worse! Lionel Shriver is brilliant I've read a few of her novels

OP, about 1 person in a hundred is a diagnosable sociopath. Basically, they have no empathy or conscience, and are incapable of love. Life is a game to them, and they see other people as objects. There is pretty good evidence that the condition is to a degree hereditary, which would suggest that yes some people are born that way. There is also a condition called "callous and unemotional" in children that is believed to be a precursor of sociopathy. If you google it, there are good explanations of it online.

I think I read that Shriver had a brother she believed to be a sociopath. Not surprising that she was interested in the subject.

“i think kevin was evil from the start. His mother tried so hard with him”

I think the exact opposite - but that’s what I like about the book, that it is very well done so there’s no way you can really decide definitely.

The film... I didn’t like tbh

One of my favourite books! I was gripped throughout, very disturbing but imo well written and interesting. I watched the film afterwards and although I didn't find it as good as the book, I still enjoyed it. Thought provoking and horrifying in equal measure!

I watched the movie and my ovary burst (cyst in it twisted, felt the pain during the movie).

Which was fine as I never wanted to be a mum. And this film reinforces that.

But I enjoyed the movie and book! Nice and dark.

Room is good, until the end. All a bit too convenient and easily rehabilitated.

You have to consider that Kevin is written from the mums POV and isn't actually an accurate portrayal of Kevin. So, there was a rock throwing incident in the book, the mother is absolutely convinced it was Kevin, and was later proved wrong. So can we trust her narrative?

Yes I remember that from back in the 80s, it was called frigid mother syndrome or something similar .

i can remember when autism was blamed on mothers being too distant, not affectionate, not loving enough with the child.
experts noticed that autistic children did not make eye contact and had communication problems, therefore they said that must be because the mother has failed to make eye contact, not bonded properly etc.
this thinking held sway for quite a while.
some people who suggested it was due to different brain type were dismissed as making excuses for inadequate cold parenting.

some people are different.

I've watched the film, but avoided reading the book on the basis of it being too disturbing.

Maybe I should/ will read it one day.

Same with Room.

I didn’t feel a rush of love for either of my
Children when they were born and had PND.
I thought about this book a lot then and the idea of nature/nurture and what it means to be a mother. Disturbing.
It took a long time for my love to develop and a bond. What if that had never happened?

One of the only books I continue to think about years and years later. Terrifying. It still gives me that weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.
The ending.
I think he was ‘evil’ from the start but also she just couldn’t love him. She never did. Was that because she knew he was evil or she was incapable of love?
Does a lack of maternal love create a monster?
But then she loves the daughter doesn’t she...

It's one of the few books that uses an unreliable narrator brilliantly, rather than as a lazy way of plotting.

It put me off having children for years!

Can a person be pure evil without having some kind of mental illness?

It's a very uncomfortable thought, but I think yes.

I thought it was brilliant though very disturbing played on my mind for ages. Must watch the film I've never seen it.

I remember being unable to put this one down. It is a good book. Might have to pick this up again actually.

I read it while pregnant with DC1. Not a good move.

All of her books are very thought provoking. I especially enjoyed The Mandibles, Big Brother and So much for all that.
None of them are on the same level as Kevin though.