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A review by djrylo
Columbine by Dave Cullen
5.0
This is the best non-fiction book I've ever read.
I don't know exactly what I was expecting to learn about this tragedy or the boys responsible for it, but I can honestly say I've never encountered a more gripping depiction of humanity witnessing inhumanity.
This book includes a comprehensive dissection of how the media corrupted the true story of the tragedy; the communities', victims', and witnesses' struggle to heal in the aftermath; and the most relevant investigations into the the seemingly unanswerable question: Why?
The killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, weren't ostracized by their peers, nor did they target any specific high school clique — the media misunderstood and misrepresented their motives. These two boys, one manic-depressive and the other a fledgling psychopath, believed the world had failed them and that they had failed themselves. In response, they planned to bomb their high school cafeteria, kill hundreds of students inside, and then shoot the escaping survivors in the parking lot just outside. Luckily, their final plan "failed" too.
Cullen's powerful writing is concise, informative, and poignant. And the book's structure (its Before & After format) forces the audience to widen their perspective regarding the tragedy's causes and effects. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to better understand what happened at Columbine High School before, on, and after April 20th 1999. And also to those interested in learning about how human nature can lead us to replace our passions and love with passionate hatred.
I don't know exactly what I was expecting to learn about this tragedy or the boys responsible for it, but I can honestly say I've never encountered a more gripping depiction of humanity witnessing inhumanity.
This book includes a comprehensive dissection of how the media corrupted the true story of the tragedy; the communities', victims', and witnesses' struggle to heal in the aftermath; and the most relevant investigations into the the seemingly unanswerable question: Why?
The killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, weren't ostracized by their peers, nor did they target any specific high school clique — the media misunderstood and misrepresented their motives. These two boys, one manic-depressive and the other a fledgling psychopath, believed the world had failed them and that they had failed themselves. In response, they planned to bomb their high school cafeteria, kill hundreds of students inside, and then shoot the escaping survivors in the parking lot just outside. Luckily, their final plan "failed" too.
Cullen's powerful writing is concise, informative, and poignant. And the book's structure (its Before & After format) forces the audience to widen their perspective regarding the tragedy's causes and effects. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to better understand what happened at Columbine High School before, on, and after April 20th 1999. And also to those interested in learning about how human nature can lead us to replace our passions and love with passionate hatred.