Columbine by Dave Cullen
It’s 432 pages and was launched to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Columbine shooting.
I read this while nursing myself from the flu last weekend. Read the whole book through the kindle my brother gave me.
I am not usually a fan of reading non-fiction books. I actually have just started reading biographies and crime novels.
First of all, I have a very hazy memory of the Columbine shootings. I remember hearing from CNN that the kids did this horrific thing because they were bullied. I remember seeing some tape or another of the kids in trench coats. And that was that.
In 1999, when the shootings happened, i had just graduated college and although I am a journalism major, i honestly did not follow the news that closely.
I was surprised what a good read this book was. The characters were fully formed in my mind. I was morbidly fascinated by the intricate planning of the kids who did this. Although they did not execute their plan all that well, i was horrified at their objectives of “killing them all”.
I thought the story was very round, in the sense that all sides of the story were talked about. I think the motives of the gunmen would make a splendid book in itself, but i understood that all the people touched by the event should have had a voice in this story.
The writing was well-executed. Clean, crisp language.
The book shows us how humans react and interact with each other. That no one is really alone. Something that one person plans will affect other lives through time. I found it interesting how long or how far people can carry their grief or their bitterness. Meaning is all up to the person who has lived it.
All in all, a good read. Well-researched. Well-rounded
