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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
I didn't think I'd be interested in a book about Columbine so many years after the attack. But my wife kept telling me what a great book it was, so I decided to try it, thinking I'd drop it quickly. Turns out, the book was so good I couldn't think of much else and blew through it in days.
It's a fascinating book that busts down all the myths that were taken as fact in the days, weeks, months and years after the killings. Highly recommended.
It's a fascinating book that busts down all the myths that were taken as fact in the days, weeks, months and years after the killings. Highly recommended.
This book gets 5 stars alone on Cullen's extensive knowledge and research of the massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. He has meticulously combed through virtually every piece of evidence: the journals left by the killers themselves, videos, first-person accounts, media coverage, along with his own research and interviews. I was enthralled with Cullen's writing, which is straightforward and poetic all at once. I left with more information than when I began. The most important thing this book does is dispel and clarify all rumors and misconceptions that were and are still rampant and synonymous with the tragedy. The layout of the book is a bit disjointed, but on purpose. He intertwined present with past, beginning, middle, and end out of order, victims', parents', and killers' stories all at once. I did not care for this style, but I understand he did it carefully and purposefully to allow the story to marinate and come to fullness in its own time. A great read for anyone who experienced this tragedy through the media reports over the years.
I’m sorry I waited so long to read this. 24 years after the event, it still offers important lessons - and shows how in some ways, we have learned little in the time since. Important read.
This was well written, fully detailed, and such an eye opener.
The book is written in a narrative style and is easy to read, despite the contents of the story. Cullen humanizes the victims and their families, which I thought was so important, especially for me as someone who was very young in 1999. I also appreciate the look at the aftermath. Particularly the myths and untruthful re-tellings of what happened that day. Highly recommend for anyone who is interested in learning more.
Solid journalistic story telling that sets the record straight on the media fictions (these were not loners; there was no martyr) and policing errors (cops had filed reports on the boys, later covered up), and on the admirable responses of survivors and investigators.
WOW. Cullen has clearly done an immense amount of research into the events leading up to Columbine, the aftermath, and he has craftily pieced together what transpired behind closed doors on that fateful day. He is such a talented and descriptive writer, he places you squarely into the tragedy as it unfolds. What I wasn't prepared for was how that would impact me. It was difficult to read and at times I simply put the book down and wept.
Excellent breakdown of what happened in 99 and more importantly, what led up to it all. Insightful, fascinating, and heartbreaking; Cullen paints a portrait of the boys and the community that helps the reader understand the events of the day.
Columbine High School's story hits home for me in a number of ways: besides watching the whole thing on television during my first year of college (but who didn't, right?), I also now teach at a high school. Our school has protocols in place and gone through drills specifically designed to prepare for an attack. Considering how much time the author spent covering the story from the week it happened until the present day, he presents himself as the best authority and his research is as thorough as anyone could possibly want given the information available.
The strongest aspect of this book is in its construction and layout. It's very easy to look at the events leading up to Harris and Klebold's attack from beginning to end and then examine the aftermath of how people recovered (or failed to recover in some cases). However, Cullen crafts the events into an enthralling narrative that constantly shifts around chronologically, creating a gripping tale that is as heartwarming as it is heart wrenching. There's a sadness in every aspect of the book because of what these two boys did, but there's also a tremendous sense of hope, especially in the tale of Patrick Ireland, the student who managed to crawl out of the library window after being shot in the brain.
Cullen reveals an indictment of the media and how quick they were to cling to the myths created by a student body that itself was fueled on rumor and speculation. Of course, it's also a look into the inner workings of two killers, one a psychopathic leader and the other a desperate and depressed follower. The former is the most frightening, as Eric Harris, through rantings on his website and written journal, shows himself to have been a confident, self-assured, manipulative young man who wasn't bullied or treated as an outcast. In fact, therapists only gave him more tools to hide in plain sight.
I read this book in just over three days, which is no small feat for me. As cliche as it sounds, I couldn't put it down. I also found myself identifying with the principal of the school. He's the kind of administrator I'd want at my school, and I wound up writing him an email to tell him how much his particular story affected me since he's still principal at Columbine.
So...my thesis is read this book because it is good.
The strongest aspect of this book is in its construction and layout. It's very easy to look at the events leading up to Harris and Klebold's attack from beginning to end and then examine the aftermath of how people recovered (or failed to recover in some cases). However, Cullen crafts the events into an enthralling narrative that constantly shifts around chronologically, creating a gripping tale that is as heartwarming as it is heart wrenching. There's a sadness in every aspect of the book because of what these two boys did, but there's also a tremendous sense of hope, especially in the tale of Patrick Ireland, the student who managed to crawl out of the library window after being shot in the brain.
Cullen reveals an indictment of the media and how quick they were to cling to the myths created by a student body that itself was fueled on rumor and speculation. Of course, it's also a look into the inner workings of two killers, one a psychopathic leader and the other a desperate and depressed follower. The former is the most frightening, as Eric Harris, through rantings on his website and written journal, shows himself to have been a confident, self-assured, manipulative young man who wasn't bullied or treated as an outcast. In fact, therapists only gave him more tools to hide in plain sight.
I read this book in just over three days, which is no small feat for me. As cliche as it sounds, I couldn't put it down. I also found myself identifying with the principal of the school. He's the kind of administrator I'd want at my school, and I wound up writing him an email to tell him how much his particular story affected me since he's still principal at Columbine.
So...my thesis is read this book because it is good.
A must read. I never read anything about this tragedy before; it felt like being a ghoul. But I lived with years of misconceptions about the killers. It never fails to amaze me how many people who commit these type of atrocities were actually quite intelligent. They just don't have the right wiring mentally.