We need to talk about Kevin!

[MyIronLung]

Has anyone read this? I'm about half way through And I'm struggling to put it down!
It's almost like approaching a car accident and not being able to look away. You know you're going to see something truly awful but can't stop yourself!

What an amazing book.

I found myself looking at my gorgeous 4 yo ds this morning and wondering...this book has truely gotten under my skin.

I'd be interested to hear what others think about it.

[MyIronLung]

I finished it yesterday and I've been processing it. It's certainly one that'll stay with me. I'm normally one to move on to the next book asap but I can't get this out of my mind.
It didn't feel like I was reading fiction. It seemed too terrifyingly real.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, if that's the right word to use about something so horrifying! The subject matter was, as someone up thread said, foul, but I found it so powerful. I also really enjoyed Lionel Shrivers style of writing.

As for the 'twist', I pretty much guessed that Franklin was done for, but it didn't spoil the ending for me in the least.

I'm now going to go back and read the posts that I've been avoiding for fear of spoilers!

[ImaginaryCat]

As a PP mentioned, there was an excellent interview with the mother of one of the Columbine boys, and this book was just so clever at recognising what that woman has gone through without the author actually having lived it. The questions she asked herself, the reaction of others to her, the way she now feels about her son.... so, so difficult to know what the answer is. There is no simple tick list of signs that says a child will turn out that way.

[TenarGriffiths]

I came on this thread to ask if I was the only person who didn't see the twist coming, and it looks like I probably was. I was really shocked by Franklin and Celia's deaths, though it seems obvious thinking back over the book.

I found the book chilling. I didn't expect to be so frightened by it. It was years ago I read it but I remember feeling disturbed by it for a long time afterwards.

[GlitteryShoes]

I too wish I could unread it. I finished it while on a campsite where they had a book exchange, but I couldn't bring myself to donate it. I burned it on the campfire. I think it was excellent, just so dark, and if been going through a very hard time with my foster son. I think they should put a warning in it - to have a reading buddy or someone to offload to when you finish.

[TeamEponine]

I didn't see the twist at all. It really shocked me. The whole book did.

Part of me now wants to read it again, but I'm not sure I can. I read it pre-DD and I think I'd find it even more difficult now.

[Bluelilies]

I didn't see the twist coming either. It's just one of the bits where it feels like she's twisting the knife in you really. How much more grim can it get?

[DickDewy]

I read it but it left me with a very bad taste and I wished I hadn't read it.

It was a really unpleasant book.

[maamalady]

How much more grim can it get? You should try reading A Clockwork Orange. That is a superb book, I love it, but the subject matter (the treatment as well as the crimes) is uncomfortable reading.

Regarding the twist; I am hopeless at predicting books, so the deaths of his dad and sister were a bit of a shock, but not surprising, given who Kevin is. It made the story more powerful, as did the bow - all of the murders felt much more personal than if he'd used a gun.

[weaselwords]

I find this book stays with me. I did struggle with the letter format to start with but soon got used to it.

It made me really rethink how I was mothering my two boys. I was struggling with a lot of resentment and not thinking of the impact on the kids. I changed hugely!

I couldn't watch the film. I knew the ending.

[bunique]

I didn't find it unpleasant compared to say, American Psycho, which is unrelenting.

[Destinysdaughter]

There was an interview with the mother of one of the Columbine killers on Newsnight this week, she's just written a book about it. Her biggest regret is that she didn't listen more and spent too much time, in her own words, 'lecturing'.

[ProfGrammaticus]

I didn't see the twist coming, I read it very fast and didn't think hard about it until after I'd finished.

[MyIronLung]

The bit that shocked me and definitely didn't see coming was that Eva had another child! Why on earth would she risk the chance of having 2 Kevin's?!

Weasle I have a 4yo ds and this book has definitely made me think about how I parent him.

This may sound weird considering everything, but I've taken something good from this book. The fact that, after everything Kevin inflicted on Eva, she realised that she loved him too little too late maybe and she would be there for him no matter what.

I keep thinking about the 'nature V nurture' question and, unfortunately, due to the format of this book, it's impossible to even guess at that question because it's so one sided. I've been wondering what Franklins letters/diary would look like.

[Movingonmymind]

I heard the mother on R4, Destiny and was unexpectedly full of admiration for her. She was frank, ashamed and reflective and is donating all the book proceeds to MH charities.
I read Kevin years ago and thought it was fantastic and thought-provoking but feels bit too close to home to revisit right now.

[Binkermum29]

I have a very strong memory of reading somewhere that LS wrote this ages before it was actually published. Her problem was that she couldn't get an agent or a publisher because of her subject matter: the concept that mothers don't automatically love their children, however much they may want to. Unconditional mother love is not a given. Apparently. And publishers feared for their sales if they promoted this heresy. Thier fears were clearly groundless.

I might have made all of this up. My memory doesn't always work well.

[SucksFake]

WNTTAK is one of the few books that I have read twice and changed my mind upon the second reading. The first time I read it, I had not yet had kids. I completely empathised with Eva, and thought Kevin was always destined to be evil.
The second time I read it, I had had 3 of my 5 children. I decided that Eva was a dreadful mother; very cold and emotionally unavailable, blaming a little child for actions that were developmentally beyond him. I found myself with the uncomfortable realisation that I was now empathising with a spree killer.

The fact that my opinion shifted so hugely, I think, demonstrates how amazingly well the book is written.

I have heard that none of LS's other books are as well written, so haven't read any of them yet.

[Wardrobespierre]

I thought it was turgid, psychologically inaccurate and predictable and Shriver's dislike of children almost palpable.

[Lorinda]

To me, the mother of a ds with Asperger's syndrome, this book is a masterpiece but also rather too close to the bone. Kevin's strange behaviour mirrored my son's in so many ways it was terrifying. I cannot comprehend how Lionel Shriver could write so knowledgably about living with a boy like Kevin without having first-hand experience. I

[Cheesecakefan]

Hated it and really wish I could unread it.

[Movingonmymind]

I know what you mean, it's one of the most disturbing books I've ever read. Still thought it was good though.

[GlitteryShoes]

Wardrobespierre, I am surprised you found it psychologically inaccurate - it was a perfect description of attachment disorder and was very close to home for me with one of my foster children.

[Wardrobespierre]

Child psychological development is my specialism. Lots and lots of the behaviour described you will absolutely see reflected in attachment disorders. And vice versa. It's not just the portrayal of Kevin though.

I don't want to write an essay on it (done that oddly enough), but it's the manipulation of tropes to fit the narrative. It does become predictable and exploitative. That's the trouble with telling stories though. I can absolutely see why people love it but I found elements too clunky. The sister and the husband for example. They were like plot devices with arms and legs.

[GlitteryShoes]

It's not a textbook, it's a novel.

[maamalady]

I think if you're knowledgeable about a subject then reading about that subject in a work of fiction is always jarring. It is rare that an author really knows what they're talking about - it doesn't matter for those of us who are blissfully ignorant, but I can see why someone like wardrobespierre would be irritated by inaccuracies. I get the same thing with genetics - I read the "genetic explanation" in The Time-Traveler's Wife with the literary equivalent of my fingers in my ears going lalalalala.

[HelenF35]

It's an amazing book. The film is crap though. Although I may have liked the film more if I hadn't read the book first.