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A review by thisotherbookaccount
Columbine by Dave Cullen
5.0
In most developed countries of the world, the only things children have to worry about at school are homework, exams and maybe that bully who cannot stop picking on you in between classes. However, the US is not like most developed countries. Here, children also have to worry about gunmen shooting up the school and killing teachers and students. It is a preposterous thing for those living halfway across the world, but that is the reality that American students have to deal with. That is why it is fascinating to read about arguably the most famous school shooting in the history of the United States: the Columbine massacre.
Dave Cullen's book is the definitive book on the events that led up to the infamous school shooting, what went down during the massacre itself, as well as the months and years that followed. And like any good non-fiction book, the tragedy is told from multiple different perspectives, from the students/teachers that were there, the parents of the victims, the parents of the killers, the killers themselves, as well as the local authorities and law enforcement. Everybody gets a point of view in this book, and it is a real deep dive into the horrific event. In fact, the amount of detail in this book is staggering, and you can almost track every pipe bomb made, every gun purchased and every student shot by the second. That is not to say that this book is gratuitous at all. I think it is as violent as it needs to be, because we are talking about a violent event, after all.
As for the gun control debate, as a Singaporean, we don't have that kind of problems here. The only people with guns are law enforcement officers and military personnel. As such, for the longest time, I've always thought it silly for the US to not just ban all guns. I mean, imagine never having to worry about being shot when going to the cinema, or going to school, or going to the supermarket — just like the rest of the world.
However, I think I have come around to the idea that the ship has already sailed for the US. The genie is out of the bottle, and there is no way to ban all guns at this point. Also, reading about the so-called motives for Eric and Dylan, you come to realise that mental health is, in fact, one of the biggest contributors to such massacres. I daresay that every shooter has a history of mental health, and that is the other through line that we can draw between the different cases. Sure, the casualty wouldn't have been as high if they hadn't gotten their hands on the weapons, but I think the more effective intervention method, at this point, is probably more stringent background checks and controls.
Then again, hey, what do I know? It is not a thing that I have to worry about. It is for Americans — especially the survivors of similar shootings — to figure out on their own.
Dave Cullen's book is the definitive book on the events that led up to the infamous school shooting, what went down during the massacre itself, as well as the months and years that followed. And like any good non-fiction book, the tragedy is told from multiple different perspectives, from the students/teachers that were there, the parents of the victims, the parents of the killers, the killers themselves, as well as the local authorities and law enforcement. Everybody gets a point of view in this book, and it is a real deep dive into the horrific event. In fact, the amount of detail in this book is staggering, and you can almost track every pipe bomb made, every gun purchased and every student shot by the second. That is not to say that this book is gratuitous at all. I think it is as violent as it needs to be, because we are talking about a violent event, after all.
As for the gun control debate, as a Singaporean, we don't have that kind of problems here. The only people with guns are law enforcement officers and military personnel. As such, for the longest time, I've always thought it silly for the US to not just ban all guns. I mean, imagine never having to worry about being shot when going to the cinema, or going to school, or going to the supermarket — just like the rest of the world.
However, I think I have come around to the idea that the ship has already sailed for the US. The genie is out of the bottle, and there is no way to ban all guns at this point. Also, reading about the so-called motives for Eric and Dylan, you come to realise that mental health is, in fact, one of the biggest contributors to such massacres. I daresay that every shooter has a history of mental health, and that is the other through line that we can draw between the different cases. Sure, the casualty wouldn't have been as high if they hadn't gotten their hands on the weapons, but I think the more effective intervention method, at this point, is probably more stringent background checks and controls.
Then again, hey, what do I know? It is not a thing that I have to worry about. It is for Americans — especially the survivors of similar shootings — to figure out on their own.