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Jenna Hay's Reviews > We Need to Talk About Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin
by Lionel Shriver
by Lionel Shriver
** spoiler alert **
This is the first time I've seen so many GRE words outside of academia. The book is a little dense, but I couldn't put it down. A wife writes letters to her estranged husband after their kid commits a 'Columbine' like attack at his school. Very interesting, how the parents had different experiences raising the same kid in the same house.
Disturbing, dark, nature vs. nurture. UGH, I even had nightmares...the author captures this kid's unsettling personality quite well. To a certain degree, what bothered me more was the deterioration of the trust between spouses.
Spoiler (kind of)!
I devoured this book once I got into it. The book ends of course with a recap of the son killing his schoolmates, no suprise there. The big 'twist' I had figured out in the first few chapters, so that wasn't too exciting. BUT, the last couple pages, mom visits the son in jail. After 400 pages of deliberate detailed set up the son makes three unlikely comments. Okay, sure, maybe the son grew up a little and had time to reflect on life. However, he had such a drastic change of attitude that it didn't feel true to his character. These comments aren't enough to ruin the book for me, but I am disappointed and wonder, why after all this carefully documented account of the kid's life, why did the author 'cop out' and have the kid 'turn good'?
Disturbing, dark, nature vs. nurture. UGH, I even had nightmares...the author captures this kid's unsettling personality quite well. To a certain degree, what bothered me more was the deterioration of the trust between spouses.
Spoiler (kind of)!
I devoured this book once I got into it. The book ends of course with a recap of the son killing his schoolmates, no suprise there. The big 'twist' I had figured out in the first few chapters, so that wasn't too exciting. BUT, the last couple pages, mom visits the son in jail. After 400 pages of deliberate detailed set up the son makes three unlikely comments. Okay, sure, maybe the son grew up a little and had time to reflect on life. However, he had such a drastic change of attitude that it didn't feel true to his character. These comments aren't enough to ruin the book for me, but I am disappointed and wonder, why after all this carefully documented account of the kid's life, why did the author 'cop out' and have the kid 'turn good'?
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You are the third person to say that they've bought it and it has sat on their shelf! It's hard to pick up but then so much harder to put down.GRE words! Words that I've only seen in academia! Words like 'lachrymose' and 'obdurate.' Do you remember bemoaning in school "when will I ever need to use fractions?" I had the same feeling studying vocab to get into grad school---when would I ever need to know what lachrymose meant? How fun to see it in a book!
Yes, I do remember thinking a lot of our vocab study was a waste of time! And now, I LOVE books which introduce me to obscure words! Ever heard Tom Chapin's children's song, "Great Big Words"?! It was/is one of my favorites! LOL!When I was a little kid, a "diminutive juvenile,"
I liked my folks to read to me, I was an "eager bibliophile."
Now I love words for how they sound
And how they "communicate."
Perhaps I should explain myself, that is, "elucidate."
Great big words, I like big words.
Letter by letter, the bigger the better
Great big words. La la la la la la la la la la!
Now maybe you're "adept" at sports or "excellent" at school,
Maybe you're "vainglorious,"
Which means you think you're cool.
But give me a "massive ideogram,"
A big word to make my point.
When you can "verbalize" yourself
You can really rock the joint.
Great big words, I like big words.
I get a thrill out of every syllable
Great big words.
My word of the week last week was "unique."
People thought I was one of a kind.
When my word of the day was "distingue"
People said I was very refined.
But they look at me like I'm an alien
When I say things like "sesquipedalian."
But what, me worry? I can't go wrong
With a word that's a foot and one half long.
Big words are "prodigious terms"
Now don't they sound delicious?
They impress your teachers, confuse your parents
And make your friends suspicious.
But that's okay we'll start a trend
That soon will sweep the nation;
The hyper-linguistic polysyllabic speech association.
Great big words, I like big words.
No extra charge if it's very large, those
Great big words.
Great big words, I like big words.
Letter by letter the bigger the better
Great big words. La la la la la la la la la la !
(Reiterate please!) La la la la la la la la la la !
(Diminuendo.) La la la la la la la la la la !
(Grand finale!) La la la la la la la la la la!
Glad to see someone else found the ending out of step with the rest of the book.That said, I use words like 'lachrymose' and 'obdurate' myself, so I disagree with that part of your review! ;)
I don't really dissagree with the ending and don't find that it's far from Kevin. After all, there is some good in all of us. And as much as he wanted (in indeed is) to be tough and a scally and thug, he's also a kid and does have feelings (shown for example when he says that dad was away yet again on one of those scouting jobs - meaning he did mind dad being away so much). Perhaps it is a bit "Hollywood" but as much as I hate happy endings I did not mind this one at all. Not that the ending is very jolly...
regards, booklady