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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I enjoyed this book immensely. I
never knew the details of what
happened that day. I've always
assumed Eric and Dylan were bullied.
How wrong I was.. It reads more
like a well told story which makes
it a page turner.
never knew the details of what
happened that day. I've always
assumed Eric and Dylan were bullied.
How wrong I was.. It reads more
like a well told story which makes
it a page turner.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
I wish I could give it more stars. This book is a masterpiece of journalism, research, and storytelling. Cullen weaves the story and facts together brilliantly. I can't recommend this highly enough.
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
This is an amazing and horrifying book that not only gives an account of the massacre at Columbine High School in '99 but the onset and the aftermath as well. Cullen reported on the tragedy the day of the shooting, but it's taken him nine years to research and compile this book, which is thorough, dispels many myths, and brings to light information that has only recently been released.
I listened to this audio-book, though I want to re-read it in "actual" book format. Cullen doesn't approach the story chronologically and this organization was, at first, frustrating and difficult to tell when he was switching between times and characters; however, once I got to know the ten or so characters he was focusing on, it was much easier, and about a quarter of the way through reading the book I was thankful he organized it that way. It was hard enough--emotionally--to listen to the shot-by-shot account of the massacre, but I don't think I'd have been able to listen to it at all if it had been built up to for seven or thirteen hours and then came at the middle or the end (another reason I want to read the hard copy is so that I can clarify some timeline questions I have but skip some of the more gruesome sections). Also, by breaking up the massacre into bits and splicing them among stories about the planning leading up to the event and the survivors and community dealing with the aftermath, Cullen's story is much richer and I got a very full sense of each character and of the school and community themselves.
Cullen's writing is both poetic and objective. He uses the third person when writing about the media throughout the book, and it feels well removed. Too much--or any--first person would have made it feel overly sentimental and perhaps exploitative. There are still questions left unanswered, but I feel like I've got a handle on what happened and why it happened, which is some small sort of consolation.
This took me a very long time to get through because of the subject matter. It's a tremendously difficult book to read, but it's something that I feel everyone should read.
I listened to this audio-book, though I want to re-read it in "actual" book format. Cullen doesn't approach the story chronologically and this organization was, at first, frustrating and difficult to tell when he was switching between times and characters; however, once I got to know the ten or so characters he was focusing on, it was much easier, and about a quarter of the way through reading the book I was thankful he organized it that way. It was hard enough--emotionally--to listen to the shot-by-shot account of the massacre, but I don't think I'd have been able to listen to it at all if it had been built up to for seven or thirteen hours and then came at the middle or the end (another reason I want to read the hard copy is so that I can clarify some timeline questions I have but skip some of the more gruesome sections). Also, by breaking up the massacre into bits and splicing them among stories about the planning leading up to the event and the survivors and community dealing with the aftermath, Cullen's story is much richer and I got a very full sense of each character and of the school and community themselves.
Cullen's writing is both poetic and objective. He uses the third person when writing about the media throughout the book, and it feels well removed. Too much--or any--first person would have made it feel overly sentimental and perhaps exploitative. There are still questions left unanswered, but I feel like I've got a handle on what happened and why it happened, which is some small sort of consolation.
This took me a very long time to get through because of the subject matter. It's a tremendously difficult book to read, but it's something that I feel everyone should read.
My experience teaching Columbine this semester has been terrific. Not only is it an important book that I'm happy to have had my students read (all 81 of them), but they responded with interesting and insightful comments and discussions. It's a great book for college students because they've got a little perspective on high school, but they're not that far removed from it. My veteran students were also great additions to the discussion when it turned to PTSD and gun control, especially conceal-carry laws. I overheard some students the other week during their small group work saying that this was the first book they've enjoyed reading in college, and although that's kind of a sad statement for them, I was a little--selfishly--pleased as well.
And thank you Dave Cullen, for the excellent teaching materials. I used a lot of them and they were very helpful. I've decided to teach this at least one more semester, possibly more, so I might add a third review. Why not? There's always something new to be found in great books.
And thank you Dave Cullen, for the excellent teaching materials. I used a lot of them and they were very helpful. I've decided to teach this at least one more semester, possibly more, so I might add a third review. Why not? There's always something new to be found in great books.
Everybody thinks they know the facts of the April 1999 Columbine school shooting. This book really challenges that assumption. Writing about one news report written 48 hours after the massacre, Cullen says, "The details were accurate, the conclusions wrong. Most of the media followed. It was accepted as fact." Powerful food for thought. Cullen writes powerfully & beautifully and helps to shed light not only on the events of that day but on the implications of the event. This is a marvelous and important book and I highly recommend it.