We need to talk about Kevin

This is a book about a high-school murder by a teenager.

Sounds familiar? Well, it's actually quite different.

'We need to talk about Kevin' is written in the form of letters from a wife to her absent husband. Their son is in jail serving time for killing seven of his classmates, a teacher and a cafeteria worker.

The book is from Eva's point of view starting from the time of his birth to the actual incident. Eva tries to find out what went wrong. Was it the fact that she never wanted to have Kevin in the first place? Or was he just born with a mean evil streak? Or did he somehow learn this? Or was this all just to get his mother's attention?

The book asks the biggest question --- the nature v/s nurture debate.

It also makes you question Kevin's motives. It makes you wonder about him --- he's such a dark character. Why did he do it? He was never bullied. Was he just born this way? It makes you question what is required of parents. It makes you question whether Eva's point of view is the actual truth.

It doesn't answer all of these.

However, it does have a sense of emptiness and leaves a void.

The book is good and well written. However, I would like to caution anyone who is feeling a bit low --- this book will make you depressed. I felt very empty and depressed after reading it.

On that note,

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

Comments

Akansha Agrawal said…

Hmm... sounds like something people would connect with... esp with the scenario we are seeing right now!

I would probably not want to read it though...

March 13, 2009 at 10:10 AM

Legal Alien said…

I saw this at angus & robertson and was thinking about buying it. Seems really good...

June 25, 2009 at 11:41 PM

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