We need to talk about Kevin - just how bad does it get?

[claudiaschiffer]

Ok so i'm about half way though this book, Celia has just been born and I'm worried that Kevin does something so awful to her, that i'm a bit "eek" about reading on.

Go on, reassure me, surely it can't be as bad as I'm imagining.

I know this all sounds so wussy but I have a really lovely sweet dd whom Celia reminds me of and I really really don't want to read anything horrifying about gruesome Kevin torturing his lovely little sis.

Apart from that I'm LOVING it. It's fab and such an interesting/appalling (in a good way) read. Anyone got any thoughts?

I don't think it says anything important about parenting. Very few people find themselves in that mother's position. Most of us adore our children, or at least like them a bit, so it's not relevant to most of us.
Claudia, how much of a spoiler do you want? i can generalise a bit.

It is worth finishing, it poses a lot of questions. Without giving anything away -it is harrowing and not one that I will read again.

yup I agree MsD, but I think it is at least unusual for a woman to write about having zero maternal feelings for a child, and pretty interesting to do so in such a bold way.

oo lyra, I don't know! I think I want to know that Celia will be ok, but she's not mentioned in any of the earlier letters so I fear for the poor darling.

worth finishing but it only gets worse. I found it compulsive but I didn't think it was a good book. I hated Shriver's rather pretentious use of language as well.
It did keep me reading though.

Oops, x-post

I don't think it's fair to dismiss the book saying 'Oh, but Lionel Shriver's not a mother, what does SHE know?' It's very interesting to read about motherhood from the perspective of a childless/free woman. And we have all had mothers so we are all entitled to an opinion... I think she's said, actually, that she was kind of exploring her ideas about motherhood and confirmed that she didn't want the responsibility because she might be like her anti-heroine.

be afraid for celia, be very afraid.....

Oh no. Really? Little darling Celia?

Don't you think Celia is a bit too much of a contrast to Kevin? She's everything that is good and sweet with absolutely no flaws, whereas Kevin's all bad.

Not just Celia...

Poor Celia

Blood will be shed...

I think she is a loon (she changed her name to Lionel ffs!) who hates kids. Which isn't a very profound thought and really teaches us zilch. I am sure it is a gripping horror story, but I did object to the reviews and articles which implied she has something profound to say about The State of Motherhood Today or some such.

she does have flaws, she's shy, cries at the slightest thing, oversensitive. Maybe she jsut seems flawless cos Kevin's so awful.

It gets worse. And either I am particularly stupid, or it gets worse in a completely unexpected way.

I agree with MsD, i always hated her articles in the guardian.

actually I thought celia was too needy and passive - always after Kevin's approval.

I thought this book was fascinating - a real modern horror, but then I read another of hers about what happened if a woman had an affair with a snooker star (wtf??) or stayed with her dull husband, sliding doors style, and I found it painfully pretentious!

Try Christopher Brookmyre for intelligent and very funny crime fiction?

I have just finished a Richard and Judy (ugh, I know!) thriller called No Time For Goodbye, and it was a cracking good read with a great plot.

Let us know what you pick, and good luck!

You've started it now Claud, you have to finish. It's grim though. I can't decide (and still can't, two years after reading it) whether it has something interesting to say about parenthood, or whether it is simply sadistic and Lionel is a meanie who wants to make us all feel bad. Also, I think you can have a perspective on parenthood without having kids. I mean, she may not have kids and in interviews she comes across as being a painful up-her-own-bum berk (I read one about how wonderful she thought her body and skin were, and how she has is always taken for AT LEAST ten years younger than she is) but she has had PARENTS.

Oops, sort of conflated this with another thread where somone asked for recommendations, didn't mean to tell you what to read next, sorry!

You can tell she doesn't have kids. There was just no bond at all between her and Kevin. Still enjoyed the book though.

I was very put off by reading interviews with her too MsD. I thought that this was a cracking thriller - I wanted to keep on reading - but I didn't find it convincing as a portrayal of a disturbed child. Kevin was, for me, something from an Omen film, rather than a realistic depiction of a disturbed child, and so I wasn't out to blame any of the characters. Just wanted to find out what happens.

I think that you will feel very sick CS, when you get near the end - especially if Claudia is like your little girl

Sorry, i haven't read this book but have heard a lot about it, i thought it was based on a true story? I thought the author was this man's mother that was what i heard - obviously got it wrong...