Columbine in Reading with Style

Jul 20, 2015 Kazen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My husband is Japanese and the same age as the Columbine shooters so I asked him, what do you know about the shooting? What news made it over to Japan? His answer - two guys, revenge at jocks, Trench Coat Mafia, killed a girl for believing in God.

It turns out only the first two words of that answer are true.

"It is an axiom of journalism that disaster stories begin in confusion and grow clearer over time. Facts rush in, the fog lifts, an accurate picture solidifies. The public accepts this. But t

My husband is Japanese and the same age as the Columbine shooters so I asked him, what do you know about the shooting? What news made it over to Japan? His answer - two guys, revenge at jocks, Trench Coat Mafia, killed a girl for believing in God.

It turns out only the first two words of that answer are true.

"It is an axiom of journalism that disaster stories begin in confusion and grow clearer over time. Facts rush in, the fog lifts, an accurate picture solidifies. The public accepts this. But the final portrait is often furthest from the truth."

We all watched Columbine unfold on TV but how many of us followed the investigation in the many months and years after? What we learned during those first few days stuck. We never bothered to update our mental map of the massacre, but Cullen did. He was at the school in the first days after the attack and stayed with the story for ten years.

The most masterful part of this book is the structure. Often books about a disaster talk about all the exciting stuff that happened the day of, then spend the remaining 70% rehashing legal battles and roads to recovery. It's chronologically accurate but increasingly tedious. In Columbine Cullen starts with the very basics of the attack, introducing us to key survivors and victims. He keeps that story rolling forward while interspersing it with Dylan and Eric's life and actions leading up to their own deaths. The tension between the two story lines keeps the narrative gripping throughout, and the transitions are mostly smooth.

Myths are busted left and right, from bullying to the idea that something made Eric and Dylan "snap". We get a fascinating deep look at the killers' psyches and, thanks to their journals and video tapes, what they were thinking and planning.

I read an updated edition that includes a map of the school, pages from said journals, and a detailed timeline of events. There are no photographs on purpose; the rationale is explained in the introduction. I'm not sure what I would do but I respect the decision. (And really, if you want to see that sort of thing the internet is here for you.)

The main part of the book is pure journalism and very well done. In 2016 Cullen added an additional epilogue with his personal reflections and I'm not sure how I feel about it. There are some interesting passages but I usually like keeping the author and the work separate.

All in all Columbine is an intriguing look at what actually happened. It was recommended to me as an excellent example of journalism and I wholeheartedly agree. ...more

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Feb 17, 2016 gam s (Haveyouread.bkk) rated it liked it

Shelves: disturbing-as-hell, true-story, non-fiction, food-for-thought, cover-to-die-for

3.5/5

Interesting insight into Columbine Massacre occurred in the late 90s. I was just in 10th grade back then, but it was all over the news even right here in Thailand where people are living in a different time zone. It was devastated.

There was/is no such thing as school shooting in the life and society I'm growing up into. It's a terror beyond our imagination here, at least in the Bangkokian life I've known so well. I can't possibly imagine such fear, of being attacked violently by a familia 3.5/5

Interesting insight into Columbine Massacre occurred in the late 90s. I was just in 10th grade back then, but it was all over the news even right here in Thailand where people are living in a different time zone. It was devastated.

There was/is no such thing as school shooting in the life and society I'm growing up into. It's a terror beyond our imagination here, at least in the Bangkokian life I've known so well. I can't possibly imagine such fear, of being attacked violently by a familiar face, not to mention by friends whom I've known since forever. Almost 20 years passed by and I've seen CNN flashes Breaking News of such horrendous event one after another; Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Aurora...I mean, I've read somewhere that statistically last year alone school shooting in the US happened at least once a day. For the country that's been idolized as the best place on earth, land of freedom and opportunity, all man's recipe to happiness, it's so hard to believe that such thing ever happened like, at all.

In the end it all comes down to the question of "why?". I love America, I really do. As much as it could be for a person who's never been to the US and only know this country from endless hours spent on movies, music and books like myself. I always wonder why? What's up with these violence? What makes kids turn psychopaths? Why it sounds extremely easy to purchase guns there? Why? Why? Why?

Columbine was a well written non-fiction that gave a clear insight of what's really happening in Columbine on one of its most infamous day in he history. The author has drawn out the event chronologically, separated into chapters that focused on the two proprietors, some of the victims and the investigating teams.

For some reason I skipped most of the part about Cassie Bernal and her questionable matyrdom. I felt uncomfortable reading about how people can believe just about anything to cope with their loss. It's too personal, I guess. It doesn't feel right to glorify someone's death and create something out of nothing. 13 people killed and only one was praised to the state of saint-like? Why? What makes her different from others? Weren't they all teenagers? Didn't they strongly believe in something just like her?

As I advanced through the book, I had this feeling, more than once, that the book was probably 100 pages too long. Some sections are redundant and repetitive. By the last chapter I completely lost interest in whatever happened to Eric and Dylan and their plot against humanity. Quality-wise, the author did an absolutely great job in terms of research. The book is rich in information with facts and insights. The writing style is neither assuming nor judgmental; just pure facts, leaving the reader to decide what how and why things turned out the way it was.

All in all, this book gave me a buffet line for thought. Columbine wasn't just about violent. It was about human connection within oneself and community and the worst that could happen when such connection is destroyed.

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