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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
Engrossing, couldn't put it down. Fascinating to learn the details and that the version of events I remember hearing when it happened was often inaccurate.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
This is the best non-fiction book I've ever read.
I don't know exactly what I was expecting to learn about this tragedy or the boys responsible for it, but I can honestly say I've never encountered a more gripping depiction of humanity witnessing inhumanity.
This book includes a comprehensive dissection of how the media corrupted the true story of the tragedy; the communities', victims', and witnesses' struggle to heal in the aftermath; and the most relevant investigations into the the seemingly unanswerable question: Why?
The killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, weren't ostracized by their peers, nor did they target any specific high school clique — the media misunderstood and misrepresented their motives. These two boys, one manic-depressive and the other a fledgling psychopath, believed the world had failed them and that they had failed themselves. In response, they planned to bomb their high school cafeteria, kill hundreds of students inside, and then shoot the escaping survivors in the parking lot just outside. Luckily, their final plan "failed" too.
Cullen's powerful writing is concise, informative, and poignant. And the book's structure (its Before & After format) forces the audience to widen their perspective regarding the tragedy's causes and effects. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to better understand what happened at Columbine High School before, on, and after April 20th 1999. And also to those interested in learning about how human nature can lead us to replace our passions and love with passionate hatred.
I don't know exactly what I was expecting to learn about this tragedy or the boys responsible for it, but I can honestly say I've never encountered a more gripping depiction of humanity witnessing inhumanity.
This book includes a comprehensive dissection of how the media corrupted the true story of the tragedy; the communities', victims', and witnesses' struggle to heal in the aftermath; and the most relevant investigations into the the seemingly unanswerable question: Why?
The killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, weren't ostracized by their peers, nor did they target any specific high school clique — the media misunderstood and misrepresented their motives. These two boys, one manic-depressive and the other a fledgling psychopath, believed the world had failed them and that they had failed themselves. In response, they planned to bomb their high school cafeteria, kill hundreds of students inside, and then shoot the escaping survivors in the parking lot just outside. Luckily, their final plan "failed" too.
Cullen's powerful writing is concise, informative, and poignant. And the book's structure (its Before & After format) forces the audience to widen their perspective regarding the tragedy's causes and effects. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to better understand what happened at Columbine High School before, on, and after April 20th 1999. And also to those interested in learning about how human nature can lead us to replace our passions and love with passionate hatred.
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
More details than you could have ever have wished to know about the Columbine massacre. Cullen approaches the shootings from the perspectives of the murderers, the victims, the parents, and the media. I think what struck me most was just how badly the media covered this story. Nearly all common-knowledge about this attack was fault, starting with the fact that it was a failed bombing and terrorist attack before it was a school shooting. I think a lot of this can be blamed on media jumping with compelling narratives over truth (the Trench Coat Mafia, Cassie and the "She Said Yes" phenomena, the bullying hypothesis--all of which never happened), police incompetence, and white Evangelicals co-opting a tragedy to promote their ideology. I think it's miserable that this was such a horrific event and nothing has honestly changed in the US other than the fact that we've had *worse* school shooting since this happened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced