Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Columbine by Dave Cullen


I thought a long time before reading Columbine, by Dave Cullen because I wasn't sure I wanted to know the gory details of that horrific event. I read numerous reviews of the book first because although I was curious to see the analysis ten years out, I didn't want to read about it if it wasn't well written. All the reviews I saw were positive, in terms of writing, reporting, balanced, interesting, etc., but they were all also like this post, cautious, pensive, a lot not said. There is much to learn from Mr. Cullen's book about Columbine, and it certainly provided much better information than gleaned from news reports, but it still felt like something I didn't want to know. Like, both of the kids that committed the murders were raised in good homes with no apparent reasons for why they did what they did. Like, the police had plenty of information in advance to stop the slaughter before it happened. I don't even want to talk about it anymore, but I am glad that I read the book.

I'm going to go have a glass of wine and try to forget about Columbine (the event) and The Shack (the book).

SueAnn