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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
I don't feel like I can give this a star rating. I couldn't put it down.
This book is, in one word, amazing. If you have ever had any interest in what actually happened April 20, 1999 in an average high school, this book gives every detail in a non-biased way. This isn't a book that instantly paints Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as monsters; instead, it shows who they were, how they grew into the roles as killers, and what factors played into their ultimate decision. It is scary to see just how much this was planned, and to learn what they had planned, but it is just as scary to see how the police and media destroyed any chance at keeping mass-fear down. Hours went by before bodies or survivors could be rescued, hours went by before the police even entered into the school. Some of the unfortunate were left outside, overnight, to face the environment without even the privacy of a blanket covering them. Families, people, media, and police not only talked of a killing spree at a high school; they hyped it up as a conspiracy, with more dead than in real life, with everything from black nail polish to Marilyn Manson to blame. Reading this made me really realize what happens when a city isn't prepared to handle this magnitude of crime, and I recommend it highly to anyone that has ever held at least a mild interest in this event.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Dave Cullen's thoroughly researched and evenhanded account of the 1999 Columbine High massacre is a superior work of non-fiction. Published to coincide with Columbine's ten-year anniversary and drawing on his six-year old Salon piece "The Depressive and the Psychopath," Cullen weaves together the riveting details of the events surrounding the killings. His telling of the story is decidedly non-linear, and creates a roller coaster-style narrative from the beginning. Just as we settle into a section describing the lives and motivations of the Columbine community, Cullen jerks us back into the world of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris-- forcing readers to confront the fact that no "outsider" committed these crimes.
Cullen's triumph may be in the quiet, matter-of-fact way he debunks the commonly held myths about the events. He cites a wide variety of sources to show readers things like Klebold's hidden, unrequited loves and the girl in the library who professed her faith in God (not Cassie Bernall, as was widely attributed, but Val Schnurr-- who lived to feel guilty about telling the tale).
Perhaps the most pervasive myth Cullen shatters is the conception that these killings occurred through a lack of empathy, of bullying gone overboard. It's very difficult to read the psychiatric analysis of Eric Harris and to understand that his grandiosity and rage was merely symptomatic of a psychopath-- that no loving care could have soothed him because he was detached from the normal range of human emotion.
Readers may not be reassured by Columbine, nor filled with hope or optimism. A quiet sense of loss pervades its pages. Cullen tells the story that begs to be told in its entirety both dispassionately and honestly; who of us could ask for more?
Cullen's triumph may be in the quiet, matter-of-fact way he debunks the commonly held myths about the events. He cites a wide variety of sources to show readers things like Klebold's hidden, unrequited loves and the girl in the library who professed her faith in God (not Cassie Bernall, as was widely attributed, but Val Schnurr-- who lived to feel guilty about telling the tale).
Perhaps the most pervasive myth Cullen shatters is the conception that these killings occurred through a lack of empathy, of bullying gone overboard. It's very difficult to read the psychiatric analysis of Eric Harris and to understand that his grandiosity and rage was merely symptomatic of a psychopath-- that no loving care could have soothed him because he was detached from the normal range of human emotion.
Readers may not be reassured by Columbine, nor filled with hope or optimism. A quiet sense of loss pervades its pages. Cullen tells the story that begs to be told in its entirety both dispassionately and honestly; who of us could ask for more?
I can't remember a book I felt so viscerally. There were moments where I felt ill and moments I cried and moments I wanted to say, "WE ARE COLUMBINE" in unison with the surviving students in support. I hate that I am rating this book a 5 due to the subject of the book, but it was so well written and read (I listened to it) that I can't not give it the praise it deserves. Just when you think you thought you knew everything about the Columbine shooting you recognize there are many more facts that passed through your filter. A commentary on mental health as well it is eye opening and I believe should be a MUST read for anyone who works with adolescents. I know hindsight is 20/20, but there were many signs along the way as well as missed opportunities to stop this horrific event.
Being a teacher, counselor, and parent, the events of Columbine have always intrigued and disturbed me. The teacher in me wonders, "What would I do to protect my students in this situation?" The counselor says, "What was going on in the lives and minds of those children that would make them think this was the thing to do, the move to make?" And the parent in me says, "Oh. My. God." My head was swirling throughout this entire book and it left me with more questions and a bag of mixed emotions. Excellent read.
dark
informative
medium-paced
This is the pinnacle of long-form journalism about a mass casualty event. I have no notes. It gives such painstaking detail you feel you’re in the mind of every single person discussed.
Astonishing. I was concerned at first about the way Cullen seemed to jump around in his chronology, but after a few chapters, it made a lot of sense. He really got into the killers' minds and brushed away the snap conclusions most of us made about this terrible event.
Wow. This was hard to put down, but I forced myself to read it in chunks over a week. I pretty much tuned out all of Columbine after the shootings -- being in Denver it just got to be too much; too much on the TV, on the radio, in the papers. The Columbine tragedy permeated everything so I just shut it out. I didn't want to hear anymore about it.
This book breaks down the "myths" that rose from the conjecture and mis-reporting (from mis-information coming from Jefferson County officials) immediately after the shootings. Cullen skips back and forth -- between the killers and the victims... the book isn't really written in a linear fashion, but it works. It gives you some good with some bad and makes it palatable; otherwise the story would just devastate you.
I enjoyed it -- as much as you can enjoy a book about something so horrible.
This book breaks down the "myths" that rose from the conjecture and mis-reporting (from mis-information coming from Jefferson County officials) immediately after the shootings. Cullen skips back and forth -- between the killers and the victims... the book isn't really written in a linear fashion, but it works. It gives you some good with some bad and makes it palatable; otherwise the story would just devastate you.
I enjoyed it -- as much as you can enjoy a book about something so horrible.
I just closed this book and put it down, with mixed feelings. I feel relieved that I’m finished with the details surrounding the ghastly massacre at Columbine High, but I also feel desperate for more of Dave Cullen’s extraordinary work.
I have to admit that I was one of those media sheep who believed (without researching much at all... shame on me) that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed only their worst enemies. This, among other myths surrounding the shooting, was debunked quickly. Because of Cullen’s beautiful investigative storytelling and constantly shifting points of view, I felt like I truly began to understand this terrible occurrence as I’d been in the school watching when it happened, or a local of Littleton, CO.
It’s hard to explain what makes Cullen’s writing so relatable, maybe because I feel it comes from a variety of techniques. His varied sentence structure makes it easy to keep reading so that one never feels like this book is a bore, even during the brief stints of psychological and legal discussion, and other less “juicy” bits. His empathetic coverage of all the stakeholders in the Columbine story illustrates the power reporters have to either heroize or demonize their characters. (Cullen does neither to anyone... not even, in my opinion, to the killers.) Lastly, Cullen’s sequencing caused the events before and after the shooting to converge at the end of the book. This helped the reader understand why each piece of Eric and Dylan’s fateful actions was important to someone, and why it might not have been as easy as some people believe for someone to stop Columbine from happening.
As a high school journalism adviser, I have to say one of my favorite parts in the book was in the acknowledgements. Cullen credited his high school journalism teacher for his successful completion of this remarkable book. It’s things like that that keep me going.
Thank you, Dave Cullen, for setting the record straight, for being dedicated to good storytelling amidst the obstacles, and for inspiring me to keep raising a generation of responsible young journalists who value the truth and seek to share it.
I have to admit that I was one of those media sheep who believed (without researching much at all... shame on me) that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed only their worst enemies. This, among other myths surrounding the shooting, was debunked quickly. Because of Cullen’s beautiful investigative storytelling and constantly shifting points of view, I felt like I truly began to understand this terrible occurrence as I’d been in the school watching when it happened, or a local of Littleton, CO.
It’s hard to explain what makes Cullen’s writing so relatable, maybe because I feel it comes from a variety of techniques. His varied sentence structure makes it easy to keep reading so that one never feels like this book is a bore, even during the brief stints of psychological and legal discussion, and other less “juicy” bits. His empathetic coverage of all the stakeholders in the Columbine story illustrates the power reporters have to either heroize or demonize their characters. (Cullen does neither to anyone... not even, in my opinion, to the killers.) Lastly, Cullen’s sequencing caused the events before and after the shooting to converge at the end of the book. This helped the reader understand why each piece of Eric and Dylan’s fateful actions was important to someone, and why it might not have been as easy as some people believe for someone to stop Columbine from happening.
As a high school journalism adviser, I have to say one of my favorite parts in the book was in the acknowledgements. Cullen credited his high school journalism teacher for his successful completion of this remarkable book. It’s things like that that keep me going.
Thank you, Dave Cullen, for setting the record straight, for being dedicated to good storytelling amidst the obstacles, and for inspiring me to keep raising a generation of responsible young journalists who value the truth and seek to share it.