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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
Every time I've told someone I was reading a book about Columbine I got strange looks and typically -- "I would never read something like that." I get it. I don't know why exactly I decided to mark this as to-read forever ago, but I did. It's been on my list for a while and when it became available through the library's Overdrive I downloaded it.
I would hands down recommend it. I was 13 when Columbine happened. I can't remember being aware of school shootings before then but I certainly was after the fact. I watched it live on TV like most Americans. My understanding of that event -- which really is, sadly, a big part of American history -- stops there. And after reading this book, I'm convinced most of us don't know the real story of what happened at Columbine.
It's more than what actually happened, but it's causes, repercussions and the real stories of those involved before and after. This book is a true journalistic tour de force. Dave Cullen, I'm sold, is now one of my favorite reporters. He worked on this book for more than 10 years and you can tell.
I thought at first it would be a book about gun control or mental health care or educational systems. It's not really. There's no preaching -- well, beyond the Evangelicals that came after. It's just the facts of what happened and what factors lead to the tragedy. What's even more telling to me is what happened after and how, although the story of Columbine is known across the country, much we really don't know. The national media (as it does so often) tuned in to a brief period of this story and then turned away.
So, yes, I probably enjoyed this book much more because of its analysis of the news media and news coverage. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, I'm now wondering the same thing. Will we hear this piece of the story and then forget to follow-up?
I'm a news nerd. I still think everyone should read this book. It gives a real understanding of what happened at Columbine and how all of us played a role -- even if it was just tuning in to watch the horrors unfold and then turn the TV off.
"We remember Columbine as a pair of outcast Goths from the Trench Coat Mafia snapping and tearing through their high school hunting down jobs to settle a long-running feud. Almost none of that happened. No Goths, no outcasts, nobody snapping. No targets, no feud, and not Trench Coat Mafia."
I would hands down recommend it. I was 13 when Columbine happened. I can't remember being aware of school shootings before then but I certainly was after the fact. I watched it live on TV like most Americans. My understanding of that event -- which really is, sadly, a big part of American history -- stops there. And after reading this book, I'm convinced most of us don't know the real story of what happened at Columbine.
It's more than what actually happened, but it's causes, repercussions and the real stories of those involved before and after. This book is a true journalistic tour de force. Dave Cullen, I'm sold, is now one of my favorite reporters. He worked on this book for more than 10 years and you can tell.
I thought at first it would be a book about gun control or mental health care or educational systems. It's not really. There's no preaching -- well, beyond the Evangelicals that came after. It's just the facts of what happened and what factors lead to the tragedy. What's even more telling to me is what happened after and how, although the story of Columbine is known across the country, much we really don't know. The national media (as it does so often) tuned in to a brief period of this story and then turned away.
So, yes, I probably enjoyed this book much more because of its analysis of the news media and news coverage. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, I'm now wondering the same thing. Will we hear this piece of the story and then forget to follow-up?
I'm a news nerd. I still think everyone should read this book. It gives a real understanding of what happened at Columbine and how all of us played a role -- even if it was just tuning in to watch the horrors unfold and then turn the TV off.
"We remember Columbine as a pair of outcast Goths from the Trench Coat Mafia snapping and tearing through their high school hunting down jobs to settle a long-running feud. Almost none of that happened. No Goths, no outcasts, nobody snapping. No targets, no feud, and not Trench Coat Mafia."
Absorbing and impeccably researched. We'll never understand it completely, but this is a thorough examination of what happened.
I shouldn't have been surprised by how depressing this book is, and yet.
This was a really great all around case study of the Columbine massacre. It gets a lot of different insights from people affected directly by the tragedy from parents, law enforcement officials and survivors. It also debunks a lot of false rumors and beliefs about the events themselves.
GENRE: Non-Fiction
WHERE: New York, USA
WHEN: 1999
THEMES
Closure and peace, if not understanding.
QUOTES
Dylan saw the worst version of himself.
For Dylan, different was difficult. For Eric, different was good.
It is an axiom of journalism that disaster stories begin in confusion and grow clearer over time. Facts rush in, the fog lifts, an accurate picture solidifies. The public accepts this. But the final portrait is often furthest from the truth.
A ribbon across the entrance was cut, and Patrick Ireland led the student body in.
He quoted Shakespeare: “Good wombs have borne bad sons.”
Dylan wanted to be a good boy, but Eric understood he was evil.
REFLECTIONS
I’m still processing this, and probably will be for quite some time. “Depth & context” at its very finest, if most difficult…Dave Cullen illustrates in one carefully researched and brilliantly presented exploration of the tragedy and rebirth of the community of Columbine High School both why this reader pursued a degree in journalism but didn’t build a career in the field. Well done!
WHERE: New York, USA
WHEN: 1999
THEMES
Closure and peace, if not understanding.
QUOTES
Dylan saw the worst version of himself.
For Dylan, different was difficult. For Eric, different was good.
It is an axiom of journalism that disaster stories begin in confusion and grow clearer over time. Facts rush in, the fog lifts, an accurate picture solidifies. The public accepts this. But the final portrait is often furthest from the truth.
A ribbon across the entrance was cut, and Patrick Ireland led the student body in.
He quoted Shakespeare: “Good wombs have borne bad sons.”
Dylan wanted to be a good boy, but Eric understood he was evil.
REFLECTIONS
I’m still processing this, and probably will be for quite some time. “Depth & context” at its very finest, if most difficult…Dave Cullen illustrates in one carefully researched and brilliantly presented exploration of the tragedy and rebirth of the community of Columbine High School both why this reader pursued a degree in journalism but didn’t build a career in the field. Well done!
Emotionally exhausting. Very very intense. I cried several times while reading this. Had to put it down a few times because it was too hard to keep reading.
Very well-written and obviously extremely well-researched.
I was 19 when the shooting happened, and related to it as a student. Now as a parent, there's a whole different perspective. So much heartbreak, anger, sadness. As an outsider feeling all of that, I can't even imagine what those that went through it all felt, and are still feeling.
I haven't been able to get this out of my head since I started it, and doubt I'll stop thinking about it for a long time.
Very well-written and obviously extremely well-researched.
I was 19 when the shooting happened, and related to it as a student. Now as a parent, there's a whole different perspective. So much heartbreak, anger, sadness. As an outsider feeling all of that, I can't even imagine what those that went through it all felt, and are still feeling.
I haven't been able to get this out of my head since I started it, and doubt I'll stop thinking about it for a long time.
By 2024 I can’t say there’s much meat left on this bone…you’ll prob save time just looking this stuff up on Reddit. This book is written in a People magazine style which gets pretty tiring in a book much longer than a People magazine article. Plus it reminds me of dental waiting rooms.
By the time you finish reading you’ll end up w a long list of ppl/things to loathe before even getting to EH/DK. The county police dept for sleeping on evidence re EH sociopathic tendencies and subsequent coverup; Brian Rohrbough (who makes the my pillow guy look sane by comparison); The Cassie Bernal Marryrdom Lie Cabal; Cassie Bernal’s mom (who makes the mom from Carrie look sane by comparison); parasitic evangelical Christian congregations/pastors; gun control legislation loopholes…
The only non-victim mentioned in this book that has any business sleeping well at night is Judy (mom of Brooks) Brown, the Cassandra of this story.
By the time you finish reading you’ll end up w a long list of ppl/things to loathe before even getting to EH/DK. The county police dept for sleeping on evidence re EH sociopathic tendencies and subsequent coverup; Brian Rohrbough (who makes the my pillow guy look sane by comparison); The Cassie Bernal Marryrdom Lie Cabal; Cassie Bernal’s mom (who makes the mom from Carrie look sane by comparison); parasitic evangelical Christian congregations/pastors; gun control legislation loopholes…
The only non-victim mentioned in this book that has any business sleeping well at night is Judy (mom of Brooks) Brown, the Cassandra of this story.
dark
informative
An engrossing, well-paced, fascinating book. Cullen smartly starts the story with the attack itself, then weaves between Klebold and Harris leading up to the attack and the aftermath. He describes not only the effects on the victims, but how the local police department was involved (and screwed up), the effects on the local religious communities, and really goes into the psychology of Klebold and Harris--who were very different people from each other, and largely from the way they were portrayed in the media. An eye-opening book that was hard to put down, though obviously a fairly upsetting and disturbing read.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced