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lmplovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This was an amazing book, a true testament to what real journalism can be as well as a look at what happens when reporting is done quickly and without research.
Most interesting to me were the description of the characteristics of a psychopath.
"Psychopaths are distinguished by two characteristics. The first is a ruthless disregard for others: they will defraud, maim, or kill for the most trivial personal gain. The second is an astonishing gift for disguising the first. It's the deception that makes them so dangerous. Your never see him coming. (It's usually a him--more than 80 percent are male.) Don't look for the oddball creeping you out. Pshychopaths don't at like Hannible Lecter or Norman Bates. They come off like Hugh Grant, in his most adorable role.
In 1941, Dr. Hervey Cleckley revolutionized the understanding of psychopathy with his book The Mask of Sanity. Egocentrism and failure of empathy were the underlying drivers, but Cleckley chose his title to reflect the element that trumped those. If psychopaths were merely evil, they would not be a major threat. They wreak so much havoc that they should be obvious. yet the majority have consistently eluded the law.
Cleckley worried about his title metaphor: psychopathy is not a two-dimensional cover that can be lifted off the face like a Halloween mask. It permeates the offender's personality. Joy, grief, anxiety, or amusement--he can mimic any on cue. He knows the facial expressions, the voice modulation, and the body language. He's not just conning you with a scheme, he's conning you with this life. His entire personality is a fabrication, with the purpose of deceiving suckers like you.
Psychopaths take great personal pride in their deceptions and extract tremendous joy from them. Lies become the psychopath's occupation, and when the truth will work they lie for sport. "I like to con people," one of Hare's subjects told a researcher during an extended interview. "I'm conning your right now."
Lying for amusement is so profound in psychopaths, it stands out as their signature characteristic. "Duping delight," psychologist Paul Ekman dubbed it." pp. 240-41
"Researchers often compare psychopaths to robots or rogue computers, like HAL ... - programmed only to satisfy their own objectives. That's the closest approximation of their behavior, but the metaphor lacks nuance. Psychopaths feel something; Eric seemed to show sadness when his dog was sick, and he occasionally felt twinges of regret toward humans. But the signals come through dimly.
Cleckley described this as a poverty of emotional range. That's a tricky concept, because psychopaths develop a handful of primitive emotions closely related to their own welfare. Three have been identified: anger, frustration, and rage. Psychopaths erupt with ferocious bouts of anger, when can get them labeled "emotional." Look more closely, Cleckley advised: "The conviction dawns on those who observe him carefully that here we deal with a readiness of expression rather than a strength of feeling." No love No grief. Not even sorrow, really ore hope or despair about his own future. Psychopaths feel nothing deep, complex, or sustained. The psychopath was prone to "vexation, spite, quick and labile flashes of quasi-affection, peevish resentment, shallow moods of self-pity, puerile attitudes of vanity, absurd and showy poses of indignation." pp. 242-43
Most interesting to me were the description of the characteristics of a psychopath.
"Psychopaths are distinguished by two characteristics. The first is a ruthless disregard for others: they will defraud, maim, or kill for the most trivial personal gain. The second is an astonishing gift for disguising the first. It's the deception that makes them so dangerous. Your never see him coming. (It's usually a him--more than 80 percent are male.) Don't look for the oddball creeping you out. Pshychopaths don't at like Hannible Lecter or Norman Bates. They come off like Hugh Grant, in his most adorable role.
In 1941, Dr. Hervey Cleckley revolutionized the understanding of psychopathy with his book The Mask of Sanity. Egocentrism and failure of empathy were the underlying drivers, but Cleckley chose his title to reflect the element that trumped those. If psychopaths were merely evil, they would not be a major threat. They wreak so much havoc that they should be obvious. yet the majority have consistently eluded the law.
Cleckley worried about his title metaphor: psychopathy is not a two-dimensional cover that can be lifted off the face like a Halloween mask. It permeates the offender's personality. Joy, grief, anxiety, or amusement--he can mimic any on cue. He knows the facial expressions, the voice modulation, and the body language. He's not just conning you with a scheme, he's conning you with this life. His entire personality is a fabrication, with the purpose of deceiving suckers like you.
Psychopaths take great personal pride in their deceptions and extract tremendous joy from them. Lies become the psychopath's occupation, and when the truth will work they lie for sport. "I like to con people," one of Hare's subjects told a researcher during an extended interview. "I'm conning your right now."
Lying for amusement is so profound in psychopaths, it stands out as their signature characteristic. "Duping delight," psychologist Paul Ekman dubbed it." pp. 240-41
"Researchers often compare psychopaths to robots or rogue computers, like HAL ... - programmed only to satisfy their own objectives. That's the closest approximation of their behavior, but the metaphor lacks nuance. Psychopaths feel something; Eric seemed to show sadness when his dog was sick, and he occasionally felt twinges of regret toward humans. But the signals come through dimly.
Cleckley described this as a poverty of emotional range. That's a tricky concept, because psychopaths develop a handful of primitive emotions closely related to their own welfare. Three have been identified: anger, frustration, and rage. Psychopaths erupt with ferocious bouts of anger, when can get them labeled "emotional." Look more closely, Cleckley advised: "The conviction dawns on those who observe him carefully that here we deal with a readiness of expression rather than a strength of feeling." No love No grief. Not even sorrow, really ore hope or despair about his own future. Psychopaths feel nothing deep, complex, or sustained. The psychopath was prone to "vexation, spite, quick and labile flashes of quasi-affection, peevish resentment, shallow moods of self-pity, puerile attitudes of vanity, absurd and showy poses of indignation." pp. 242-43
russj's review against another edition
4.0
Them Boys were not very nice ! Also the writer has a crush on Dylan Klebold he paints him out as like a tortured soul. Nah man he shot and killed a bunch of people he’s not a nice boy.
courtneyq16's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings
sierradella's review against another edition
4.0
this book is very well written. you can tell that years and years of research went into it. i was born mere days after this tragedy - it shaped my school years growing up. i had to remind myself numerous times while reading this that it is a true story. so sad, but i would highly recommend it to learn more about the events leading up to, during, and after columbine.
sarahweyand's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
This has been on my TBR for a long time and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. A really interesting account of a day that has been mischaracterized and incorrectly recounted by the media and popular culture. The timeline was a little all over the place and I wish we had gotten a better deep dive as to how misinformation was perpetrated by the media during the initial hours of the tragedy.
Overall though I think this was a well-written, tactful story that did justice to the victims and the situation. If you're interested in this day, what happened, why it happened, and its long-lasting events on media and culture, this is the place to start.
Overall though I think this was a well-written, tactful story that did justice to the victims and the situation. If you're interested in this day, what happened, why it happened, and its long-lasting events on media and culture, this is the place to start.
zimmerman21's review against another edition
4.0
One of the hardest books I've read, yet also fascinating and a relief to have so many of the myths we all associate with the Columbine massacre de-bunked.
poofus73's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting information and well put together, but I can't say I actually enjoyed reading this book. Maybe I thought it would be more revealing?
dendrophile's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
kitandcarrow's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
smellykelly's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Centering Columbine in the truth of the facts (rather than the assumptions of the medias first erroneous reports), Cullen does a powerful job of correcting a culture’s mistakes while highlighting the humanity of the victims and survivors. He saves his rage for Eric Harris, a psychopath who failed at every step of his rampage. A hard listen, but a strong one.