Sunday 13 November 2011

we need to talk about kevin (book) - lionel shriver


As l am planning on going to the cinema to see 'We need to talk about Kevin', l thought l would read the book first, to see what all the fuss is about and so l could assess how much the movie adhered to it. The book is in (very long and precise) letter form, from Kevin's mother Eve, to her husband Franklin, after Kevin has killed some pupils at his school. It is also in the form of a thriller, references other high school killings, and questions nature v nurture. The book was really good, but it could have been shorter, as Eve didn't half ramble on a lot. I would have got out of that relationship pretty damn sharpish, or at least encouraged her to go on more of her foreign fact finding trips. According to the narrative of the letters, l think both of the parents were wrong in their childrearing approaches, but Kevin also just sounds like a little git of the highest (or lowest) order. I did think that Kevin should have remained impassive at the end, rather than becoming scared or unsure of himself. To me, that just seemed a bit of a cop out for a happier and hopeful ending. Then again, l am not a million selling author, just a stinking hippie.

toodle pip

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