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We Need to Talk About Kevin

Lionel Shriver

Discussion: Any Issue 2003/2002

Discussion leader: Lisa Hickman

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Apr 23, 2013 Doreen rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle

I came to this book late; it won the 2005 Orange Prize but I had never heard of it until I came across it as a suggested companion to The Dinner by Herman Koch.

The narrator is Eva Khatchadourian, the mother of a teenage boy who massacred nine people at his high school. The book, an examination of the nature versus nurture debate, has an epistolary structure; in a series of letters to her absent husband, Franklin Plaskett, Eva examines her son’s life and wonders whether there were signs of his so I came to this book late; it won the 2005 Orange Prize but I had never heard of it until I came across it as a suggested companion to The Dinner by Herman Koch.

The narrator is Eva Khatchadourian, the mother of a teenage boy who massacred nine people at his high school. The book, an examination of the nature versus nurture debate, has an epistolary structure; in a series of letters to her absent husband, Franklin Plaskett, Eva examines her son’s life and wonders whether there were signs of his sociopathy since his birth or whether her “empathic deficiency” contributed to Kevin’s actions.

In many ways the book is a character study of both Eva and Kevin. Prior to motherhood, Eva was a spirited, independent-minded, adventurous, ambitious, and successful woman who focused on her career; she founded a company, A Wing and a Prayer, which specializes in guidebooks for budget travelers. She has little maternal instinct and becomes a mother reluctantly. The name of her company best illustrates how she approaches motherhood because she is ill-prepared for her son. From the beginning she is unable to bond with him and her behaviour always seems some sort of rejection of her firstborn. As she describes life with Kevin, she vacillates from self-pity (“for becoming hopelessly trapped in someone else’s story”) to regret (which makes her “determined to accept due responsibility for every wayward thought, every petulance, every selfish moment”). She admits to having flaws like being narcissistic, and she can’t come up with an argument when Kevin offers his sketch of his mother as “spoiled . . . imperious . . . ignorant . . . boasting . . . self-righteous – condescending – and superior.”

Kevin is seen predominantly from his mother’s point of view. She describes him as “sour, secretive, and sarcastic . . . [and] laconic, supercilious, [and] unforthcoming.” He seems pathologically lethargic and develops no interests and has only disdain for “the enthusiasms of others that he liked to despoil.” Eva does admit that Kevin behaves very differently with his father, but she believes his “Partridge-family buoyancy” is fake. Interestingly, Franklin seems totally oblivious to his son’s destructive and malicious nature, and Eva knows her husband thinks “Kevin’s surly, remote pose with [her] was fake, while with [Franklin] he could relax and be his sprightly, chipper self.” Is Franklin wearing rose-coloured glasses or is Eva totally jaded?

The characterization of all three major characters presents some problems. Eva claims to have sensed from the beginning that there was something wrong with Kevin, but she did very little to help him. She becomes apathetic when her husband refuses to acknowledge that there is anything wrong with their child. Even when Kevin’s behaviour escalates to the point of being physically and mentally and emotionally injurious to others, she does not confront him or actively seek a way to change his behaviour. This apathy is such a contrast to her earlier self when she forced herself to do things she didn’t want to do: “My whole life I have been making myself do things.” Franklin’s total blindness to his son’s problems stretches credibility. Kevin behaves consistently until the end when his fear of incarceration in an adult prison and his gift to his mother seem out of step with his character. The final scene between mother and son gives the impression that the author capitulated to a demand to end on a more positive note.

I appreciated the erudite style of the book and the balance with which the author tried to explore a disturbing subject which, unfortunately, needs to be studied in our society.

Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
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Aug 15, 2013 Erika Nerdypants rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2013-reading-challenge, absolute-favourites, parenting

What a beautiful, horrific book to read. Eva, mother of Kevin who brutally murders 7 classmates, a teacher and an unsuspecting cafeteria worker, tries to peel away the layers of family dysfunction through a series of letters to her husband. Central to the story is the age old question, nature vs. nurture. Are sociopaths made or born? As in real life, there are simply no easy answers in this book. Instead, Shriver explores unpopular subjects, exposing the myth that all parents love all their chil ...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Elle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-of

This book is a series of very direct letters written by the mother of Kevin, a teenage boy who open fired on his classmates, to her husband and Kevin’s father. These letters deal candidly with her career, marriage, motherhood and family. I had heard about this book for many years. I postponed reading it as I thought that since I knew Kevin had killed his classmates, that I knew what the book would be about. I had no idea. I enjoyed the unfolding and the way the author really got you to understan ...more

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May 22, 2022 Kirsten rated it really liked it

Wow, heavy, heavy book that I have been wanting to read for a long time. I thought it was excellent, but at some parts had to trudge through. But also overall I could NOT put it down. It was gut-wrenching and reads like a true story. Haunting, and I would say a very icy atmosphere. No easy answers, even in the aftermath. And that's probably how it is in real life. I could empathize with some of the things the mother went through, and also the father, much as they angered me. But Kevin was always ...more

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