Columbine by Dave Cullen
From Goodreads
What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we “know” is wrong. It wasn’t about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world’s leading forensic psychologists, and the killers’ own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.
★★★★☆
I don’t know if I can say I enjoyed this book, per se, given the topic, but it was definitely informative, well-written and interesting.
Going into this book, all I knew about Columbine was that it was a school shooting, with two shooters, and one of the first big ones. Other than that, I went in fairly blind. Cullen did a great job explaining everything.
Cullen has clearly done a ton of research. This book felt very thoroughly researched and I didn’t have any leftover questions in the end. He does a great job covering all topics relevant to the Columbine shootings.
I thought Cullen did a great job, too, describing everything that happened in a very facts-driven way. He doesn’t pass judgement, he just presents that facts and you can draw your own conclusions. The book didn’t idolize or victimize or celebrate the shooters, but it also didn’t present them as horrible, monstrous people. It gave enough background that you could make your own decisions about the shooters. It also wasn’t graphic at all, if that’s something that bothers you.
I only had two complaints:
- There was a bit too much background on some of the victims. I think it was great we knew them, but I didn’t need two chapters of teacher’s divorces or what they did in their spare time, you know?
- I wish Cullen had one sentence at the beginning essentially saying “hey, this many people got shot” because I didn’t know that and it would’ve been useful at some points.
All in all, this was a good, well-written, informative book on the Columbine shootings. If it’s something that interests you, I’d definitely recommend it.
Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? Do you plan on it? Let me know!
Ally xx
Great review! I’d forgotten all about this title, was keen on reading it around release so many years ago but it kind of fell through the cracks. Glad to hear that it was a worthwhile read and so thorough.
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Thank you, Kitty! It’s definitely worth the read if it’s something you find interesting
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Love your review! I recently saw a documentary about the Columbine shooting and have been meaning to read about it, so I’m definitely going to pick up this one now
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Oooh interesting, I’ve heard there are a couple of good documentaries on the topic (I think a couple are mentioned in the book, too!). I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!
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I always struggle with how to phrase enjoying? appreciating? a well written book about a sad subject. I’m not happy to read it, per se, but I don’t know any positive words for “this was good but the subject matter was unhappy but I liked reading it so I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it?”
Columbine sounds interesting, although I think I’d need to be in a very particular frame of mind before I can tackle it
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Yes, exactly! Did I enjoy reading about a school shooting? No. But was it a well-written, informative book? Yes. I also feel weird using the word entertaining, because nothing about it was entertaining. I feel like appreciating is a good word, though!
That’s fair! It took me forever to get through because I was struggling with it not depressing me lmao
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