Helpful Score: 8
This book was utterly disturbing. I have been fascinated by the Columbine tragedy since that day in April of 1999. I think my fascination has always related to the question of "why did this happen?". The author tries his best to answer that question, although we will never truly understand why these two kids committed these atrocious acts. The author spent ten years researching information for this book, which was quite a feat considering the length of time it took for the police to finally release their investigation report (under court order), the covering up of information, and the initial media blunders in reporting incorrect information which took hold as fact.
I would recommend this book if you want the most concise account of what really happened that day. But I will warn you that reading the details of the killers rampage is difficult. It creeped me out and caused me to have difficulty being in dark rooms where I would invision Eric and Dylan in the corner with guns strapped to their bodies. Not for the emotional or faint of heart. Honestly, I am glad I have finished this book and can now move on to some lighter, less depressing reading.
I would recommend this book if you want the most concise account of what really happened that day. But I will warn you that reading the details of the killers rampage is difficult. It creeped me out and caused me to have difficulty being in dark rooms where I would invision Eric and Dylan in the corner with guns strapped to their bodies. Not for the emotional or faint of heart. Honestly, I am glad I have finished this book and can now move on to some lighter, less depressing reading.
Helpful Score: 4
Could not get enough of this book. I could have read another 400 pages. I confess to being oddly intrigued by these sorts of true life stories -- and especially this one, since it retells an event tragically relevant to my own generation. This is the best non fiction I've read since In Cold Blood, and it certainly borrows from Capote's narrative style. The details are riveting, and I basically discovered that everything I thought I knew about Columbine was utterly incorrect. Since starting this, I've been campaigning to get each of my family members to read it, because I desperately want to talk about it. Five stars.
Helpful Score: 2
As a new high school student in 1999, this event defined those four years for me. Security on campus increased; several students were suspended for wearing trench coats within days of the massacre. I started writing "Massacre in May," a fictional story with heavy Columbine influences, in order to try to comprehend the thought processes of both sides of something so traumatic and powerful as this.
Dave Cullen's book answered every question I had. Eric Harris, who in photos looked handsome and charming, was as such in real-life - but only to further his sociopathic goals. Dylan Klebold, the shy boy with a warm smile, was hiding thoughts of suicide. Three-quarters of the way through this work, I had trouble falling asleep because there were still some unanswered questions. By the end, they'd been answered. Cullen's journalistic style is just as the cover states: Capote would be proud.
To anyone who experienced this national tragedy, I highly recommend this book. To anyone who didn't, read it and understand. Compassion, understanding, and alertness to any warning signs are the ways to prevent a repeat of this type of horror.
Dave Cullen's book answered every question I had. Eric Harris, who in photos looked handsome and charming, was as such in real-life - but only to further his sociopathic goals. Dylan Klebold, the shy boy with a warm smile, was hiding thoughts of suicide. Three-quarters of the way through this work, I had trouble falling asleep because there were still some unanswered questions. By the end, they'd been answered. Cullen's journalistic style is just as the cover states: Capote would be proud.
To anyone who experienced this national tragedy, I highly recommend this book. To anyone who didn't, read it and understand. Compassion, understanding, and alertness to any warning signs are the ways to prevent a repeat of this type of horror.
Helpful Score: 2
I was utterly taken aback by how in depth this novel went into the events of Columbine. Whether you are a fan of the author or looking for more information into the situation, this novel will add a new light to the entire events that passed over 10 years ago.
Helpful Score: 1
Fascinating and disturbing inquest into the Columbine High school massacre and the events leading up to it. The author leaves no stone unturned and exposes a number of details previously unknown to the public. The author also discusses several myths that have arisen from the tragedy and dispels them. A good, necessary book to read.
This book is a fast read though it contains a lot of facts regarding this horrible event. It contained many interesting details, which I had never heard of, condensed into one book. It definitely makes you think about the events and how people can band together against something whether it is right or wrong. It was tough to follow the author in the beginning until I got used to his writing style. The chapters don't flow all that well as he goes back and forth from after the attack to before the attack back to after the attack. Otherwise, if you're interested in learning what actually occurred from the people who witnessed it, then this is an excellent book.
This is a darn good book! It kept me so interested I couldnt put it down, even though its almost 500 pgs. But it gives all the facts and back stories of really happened that tragic day. It was amazing. I feel so sorry for all those families. Great Book!
A haunting story. Very well written and very informative. I could not put this book down and looked for any opportunity to read it. However, the book affected me emotionally while reading it. I would recommend this book, great read!
This book is a first rate read! I could not put it down once I had picked it up....I carried it around so every spare moment I could pick it up and read some more until the finish. I was shocked once again at how the media totally reported the wrong information as to what really happened and the background of the killers. The boys that killed were not loaners or outcasts or of the "goth" set and were not being bullied. The author presents all the information in such a way that by the time you are finished you feel satisfied that you know mostly all there is to know about this shooting. I would definitely recommend this book and look for more that this author writes in the future.
Fascinating, compelling explanation of the Columbine tragedy and the two boys who created it.
A 360 degree overview of the events of Columbine. I felt as though I had been deceived all of this time by the media. Really made me think about the twists/spins the public hears about. Startling, and very interesting.
I discovered this book after reading Jodi Picoult's "Nineteen Minutes" and Jay Asher's "Thirteen Reasons Why". I was looking for a book that could help me to better understand how and why suicide and school shootings could happen in such a horrific way without someone knowing about it, particularly their parents.
My Take
Two completely different, yet highly intelligent high school boys- both depressed and unhappy. One is a leader, the other is a follower. A perfect match for a horrific disaster.
Dave Cullen did an incredible job researching, investigating and uncovering the why, how, and what was really going on in Eric and Dylan's minds. What caused them to want to blow up their school and end their lives. Both Eric and Dylan left behind journals spanning 1 1/2 years leading up to the shootings, consisting of their plans and the depressed and downward spirals that had engulfed their minds and lives.
This book is primarily told in Eric's and Dylan's point of view. Eric is the leader behind it all. Although he had been in legal trouble, he was going to face consequences, and his parents had been trying to set limits for him. Making him follow those limits was another story. He was a sweet-talking lier. His parents had taken him to a physician for psychiatric help. Even the psychiatrist was fooled and never saw it coming.
Dylan on the other hand, never let on that he was so severely depressed. Sure he had bad days, and there were times towards the end that his behavior was out of character. But nothing that would have clued anyone into such devastation that was about to take place. The only trouble Dylan had been in, was when he and Eric were together. His parents had forbid Dylan to spend time with Eric outside of school. They had only recently allowed them to spend time together again. Unknown to them, Dylan and Eric had been spending time together plotting the event that would end life as we know it.
Dave Cullen did an enormous amount of research into all of the information left behind by both Eric and Dylan. Eric specifically left details behind that he knew would be found. And he encouraged Dylan to do the same. As the pages come to life with their plans and their actions, you feel as though you are right in the middle of the planning, the events immediately leading up to the shootings, and the shootings themselves. Different situations are verified and explained by cameras recently installed in the school, and by the lucky survivors that lived to tell about it. Several of the students who survived sustained "life-changing" injuries. Their lives will never, ever be the same. Most of their dreams are gone. They are now faced with a lifetime of depression and memories, and fight everyday to go on.
Dave's 10 years of research focuses on the injured students, the survivors, and the families of those students and one teacher who were lost in the shootings, and how the whole community began to heal. With the shooters dead, who is to blame? The parents? School officials? The police? (who didn't follow up on a situation and warning sign prior to the shootings), The physician? How did everyone miss this?
It's easy to blame the parents of Eric and Dylan, but after reading this book, it's hard not to feel compassion for them too. Mental illness isn't an exact science, and hippa laws cut the parents off after the child turns 18. Both sets of parents also lost a child, along with having to face the fact that their children are murderers. I can't even imagine the guilt that has consumed them. Good parents sometimes raise sick, twisted children. But when "mental illness" is the cause, who do you blame?
My Take
Two completely different, yet highly intelligent high school boys- both depressed and unhappy. One is a leader, the other is a follower. A perfect match for a horrific disaster.
Dave Cullen did an incredible job researching, investigating and uncovering the why, how, and what was really going on in Eric and Dylan's minds. What caused them to want to blow up their school and end their lives. Both Eric and Dylan left behind journals spanning 1 1/2 years leading up to the shootings, consisting of their plans and the depressed and downward spirals that had engulfed their minds and lives.
This book is primarily told in Eric's and Dylan's point of view. Eric is the leader behind it all. Although he had been in legal trouble, he was going to face consequences, and his parents had been trying to set limits for him. Making him follow those limits was another story. He was a sweet-talking lier. His parents had taken him to a physician for psychiatric help. Even the psychiatrist was fooled and never saw it coming.
Dylan on the other hand, never let on that he was so severely depressed. Sure he had bad days, and there were times towards the end that his behavior was out of character. But nothing that would have clued anyone into such devastation that was about to take place. The only trouble Dylan had been in, was when he and Eric were together. His parents had forbid Dylan to spend time with Eric outside of school. They had only recently allowed them to spend time together again. Unknown to them, Dylan and Eric had been spending time together plotting the event that would end life as we know it.
Dave Cullen did an enormous amount of research into all of the information left behind by both Eric and Dylan. Eric specifically left details behind that he knew would be found. And he encouraged Dylan to do the same. As the pages come to life with their plans and their actions, you feel as though you are right in the middle of the planning, the events immediately leading up to the shootings, and the shootings themselves. Different situations are verified and explained by cameras recently installed in the school, and by the lucky survivors that lived to tell about it. Several of the students who survived sustained "life-changing" injuries. Their lives will never, ever be the same. Most of their dreams are gone. They are now faced with a lifetime of depression and memories, and fight everyday to go on.
Dave's 10 years of research focuses on the injured students, the survivors, and the families of those students and one teacher who were lost in the shootings, and how the whole community began to heal. With the shooters dead, who is to blame? The parents? School officials? The police? (who didn't follow up on a situation and warning sign prior to the shootings), The physician? How did everyone miss this?
It's easy to blame the parents of Eric and Dylan, but after reading this book, it's hard not to feel compassion for them too. Mental illness isn't an exact science, and hippa laws cut the parents off after the child turns 18. Both sets of parents also lost a child, along with having to face the fact that their children are murderers. I can't even imagine the guilt that has consumed them. Good parents sometimes raise sick, twisted children. But when "mental illness" is the cause, who do you blame?
In this book Dave Cullen examines Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the backgrounds of the two teenage shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the victims and survivors.
I was very taken by the book but found it difficult to digest at times so decided to digest it chapterwise.
Thoughtful he painted a more understandable picture of what happened on this day that ended with 13 death and multiple people wounded. The book seems very well researched, focusing a lot on how the massacre was planned a year in advance.
In a very classic way the reader won't find a single picture in the whole book.
But do I believe everything I've read ? No I don't and never will be able to. There are always voices or statements telling the opposite disregarding or even disproving an authors biases but I do believe that's pretty normal. For me who hasn't read a book about the shootings ever and missed the media coverage completely, the book is enough. I don't need to read more about the massacre, don't want to dive into the minds of these particular murderers. Others might think differently.
In the end we'll probably never know what really was going on prior and on this terrible day.
I was very taken by the book but found it difficult to digest at times so decided to digest it chapterwise.
Thoughtful he painted a more understandable picture of what happened on this day that ended with 13 death and multiple people wounded. The book seems very well researched, focusing a lot on how the massacre was planned a year in advance.
In a very classic way the reader won't find a single picture in the whole book.
But do I believe everything I've read ? No I don't and never will be able to. There are always voices or statements telling the opposite disregarding or even disproving an authors biases but I do believe that's pretty normal. For me who hasn't read a book about the shootings ever and missed the media coverage completely, the book is enough. I don't need to read more about the massacre, don't want to dive into the minds of these particular murderers. Others might think differently.
In the end we'll probably never know what really was going on prior and on this terrible day.
Great book, I couldn't put it down. Very informative, and really cleared up a lot of myths for me.
Amazing detail, yet chilling at the same time. Getting into the minds of two HS kids shows the confusion and altered state they lived under. The notes left behind and pieced together by the author are frighting. This is the act of two kids, at the end of their rope and believing violence is the answer. How many more kids feel the same way right now?
Columbine was a tragedy without a doubt. But the reader learns that instead of 12-14 deaths, had the full plan worked, there's not doubt that the community would have had to bury 3-4 times that number. Distrubing story but recommended for the author's ability to bring detail and clarity to a very sad situation.
Columbine was a tragedy without a doubt. But the reader learns that instead of 12-14 deaths, had the full plan worked, there's not doubt that the community would have had to bury 3-4 times that number. Distrubing story but recommended for the author's ability to bring detail and clarity to a very sad situation.
I really wanted to read this after the devastating massacre of children and administrators in Newtown, CT. I thought that maybe something would stand out and help me understand the severity of these attacks by individuals.
Dave Cullen has done such a wonderful job of researching this book. What is so alarming is that we really did see something like this happening with at least one of the individuals, Eric. Dylan seems to be sort of a follower.
I don't condone any actions by either of them, it just seems that Eric was the one who was not the stable one. Dave Cullen has designated Eric as a psycopath, and the more that you read into the tragedy, you can really see that is the fact.
I can't help but feel sorry for the parents of these two boys. Understandably, the blame was being put on their shoulders, only because nobody had anyone else to blame, the two boys were gone. The police were certainly not blameless with the way that they handled things, not releasing any information until well past the time when people should have been able to put a close on things and try to start carrying on with their lives.
I sure hope that these tragedies will make people think twice about what they are witnessing, but not start watching too closely. We have to learn to talk to people and help them with their fears, anguish, hormonal imbalances, etc.
I would rate this book a 4 because it helped to answer at least some questions about the actions of Eric and Dylan and made them seem more human than I would have thought plausible. This world is a scary place and we should be able to help stop some of this with the right decisions about getting people some help when we feel that they need it.
Dave Cullen has done such a wonderful job of researching this book. What is so alarming is that we really did see something like this happening with at least one of the individuals, Eric. Dylan seems to be sort of a follower.
I don't condone any actions by either of them, it just seems that Eric was the one who was not the stable one. Dave Cullen has designated Eric as a psycopath, and the more that you read into the tragedy, you can really see that is the fact.
I can't help but feel sorry for the parents of these two boys. Understandably, the blame was being put on their shoulders, only because nobody had anyone else to blame, the two boys were gone. The police were certainly not blameless with the way that they handled things, not releasing any information until well past the time when people should have been able to put a close on things and try to start carrying on with their lives.
I sure hope that these tragedies will make people think twice about what they are witnessing, but not start watching too closely. We have to learn to talk to people and help them with their fears, anguish, hormonal imbalances, etc.
I would rate this book a 4 because it helped to answer at least some questions about the actions of Eric and Dylan and made them seem more human than I would have thought plausible. This world is a scary place and we should be able to help stop some of this with the right decisions about getting people some help when we feel that they need it.
This is a very readable story about the tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999. It took almost 10 years to write and it shows through meticulous research and many, many interviews with students, parents, newspaper writers, law enforcement, etc. I was so happy to see Mr. Cullen shred the wild hypothesizes of Goths, jocks, bullying, and the Trench Coat Mafia. While reading the book, be sure to keep a place in the Notes section (at the back of the book); the author explains some of his reasoning or expounds further on a fact. Eventually, I read the chapter Notes before reading the chapter, it just seemed to make things clearer from the beginning.
While talking about Eric Harris' pathological behavior, Cullen made the most enlightening statement, "Eric was an injustice collector." (p. 256) Every time someone was unkind to him or treated him in a negative way, Eric saved up the memory and knew he would get revenge for that injustice.
After the Columbine tragedy, everyone seemed to be looking at the parents of the two murderers. What did they know and when did they know it? How could they be clueless about such an atrocity? Cullen was careful in how he addressed the situation. He mentions that when both boys got in trouble with the law, both parents of each child came to court and to apply for the Diversion program (to avoid felony sentencing). He also mentions that both mothers wrote letters to each of the dead children's families and to the injured. Because both sets of parents stayed out of the limelight, this book was an important addition to understanding those parents' thoughts. The author shares some of the conversations between the parents (Eric and Dylan's parents) and the individual parents (of deceased children) they met with over the years.
Dave Cullen discussed every aspect of the case that I could imagine. He even raked over the coals the TV stations for their 24/7 repetition of shootings. He said that Anderson Cooper has taken to only mentioning the shooter(s) once and emphasizing the victims. Cullen asks the other anchors to do the same thing. One of the most interesting (and undoubtedly true) conclusions was made by Mark Juergensmeyer, who called Columbine "performance violence." Eric and Dylan created the spectacle murder. Spectacle murder is all about TV. Do not miss the Epilogue; it is the culmination of all the ideas brought up in the book.
Because the author talked briefly about many of the deceased and injured, I found myself going to www.AColumbineSite.com to find out more about each individual physically wounded/killed by the Columbine shooters. That's how I found out that Lauren Townsend (one of the 13 victims) was to have been valedictorian in the May graduation. I also wondered how the students finished the year; it is explained on that website.
COLUMBINE won an incredible number of awards, including the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Barnes & Noble's Discover Award and the Goodreads Choice Award. It was declared the Top Education Book of 2009 and one of the best books of the decade by the American School Board Journal. After reading this book, I agree heartily.
While talking about Eric Harris' pathological behavior, Cullen made the most enlightening statement, "Eric was an injustice collector." (p. 256) Every time someone was unkind to him or treated him in a negative way, Eric saved up the memory and knew he would get revenge for that injustice.
After the Columbine tragedy, everyone seemed to be looking at the parents of the two murderers. What did they know and when did they know it? How could they be clueless about such an atrocity? Cullen was careful in how he addressed the situation. He mentions that when both boys got in trouble with the law, both parents of each child came to court and to apply for the Diversion program (to avoid felony sentencing). He also mentions that both mothers wrote letters to each of the dead children's families and to the injured. Because both sets of parents stayed out of the limelight, this book was an important addition to understanding those parents' thoughts. The author shares some of the conversations between the parents (Eric and Dylan's parents) and the individual parents (of deceased children) they met with over the years.
Dave Cullen discussed every aspect of the case that I could imagine. He even raked over the coals the TV stations for their 24/7 repetition of shootings. He said that Anderson Cooper has taken to only mentioning the shooter(s) once and emphasizing the victims. Cullen asks the other anchors to do the same thing. One of the most interesting (and undoubtedly true) conclusions was made by Mark Juergensmeyer, who called Columbine "performance violence." Eric and Dylan created the spectacle murder. Spectacle murder is all about TV. Do not miss the Epilogue; it is the culmination of all the ideas brought up in the book.
Because the author talked briefly about many of the deceased and injured, I found myself going to www.AColumbineSite.com to find out more about each individual physically wounded/killed by the Columbine shooters. That's how I found out that Lauren Townsend (one of the 13 victims) was to have been valedictorian in the May graduation. I also wondered how the students finished the year; it is explained on that website.
COLUMBINE won an incredible number of awards, including the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Barnes & Noble's Discover Award and the Goodreads Choice Award. It was declared the Top Education Book of 2009 and one of the best books of the decade by the American School Board Journal. After reading this book, I agree heartily.
This book is the truth about what happened. I know there are many out there who was wrote that simply is not the truth. highly suggest you read this book.
The writing is excellent, and the book is overall good. However, there are some factual errors and Cullen tries to spread the "Depressive and the Psychopath" theory (which is not really true for Klebold and Harris).
