We Need to Talk About Kevin: A Novel
"Impossible to put down. . . . Who, in the end, needs to talk about Kevin? Maybe we all do." -- Boston Globe
Acclaimed author Lionel Shriver's gripping international bestseller about motherhood gone awry
Shriver's resonant story of a mother's unsettling quest to understand her teenage son's deadly violence, her own ambivalence toward motherhood, and the explosive link between them reverberates with the haunting power of high hopes shattered by dark realities.
Eva never really wanted to be a mother--and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin's horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.
Like Shriver's charged and incisive later novels, including So Much for That and The Post-Birthday World, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a piercing, unforgettable, and penetrating exploration of violence, family ties, and responsibility.
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Community Reviews
This book was full of unlikeable characters, who were well characterized. The premise of the book - letters written by the mother of a high school mass murderer to her husband about her life since the murders (ominously listed as 'that Thursday' throughout the book) and her discomfiture at parenting this difficult child - was at once compelling and repellant. Not a single happy thought survives for long in this gloomy epistolary novel. The idea I took most powerfully from the writing is, quite frankly,something I'd never given much thought before: what are the familial after-effects of such a killing rampage? The writing was gloriously rich and full of strong words, but even that didn't redeem the book from my perspective. Couldn't Kevin have had some remorse? Couldn't someone have experienced love that transcended all?
Thank you to all the previous review writers - it was your descriptions that allowed me to stick it out and finish the book. I couldn't have endured the meandering letters without the promise that some questions would be answered by the end - like where is the husband? what really happened? I felt like a driver rubbernecking at the sight of the highway crash, but I needed the closure of knowing.
Thank you to all the previous review writers - it was your descriptions that allowed me to stick it out and finish the book. I couldn't have endured the meandering letters without the promise that some questions would be answered by the end - like where is the husband? what really happened? I felt like a driver rubbernecking at the sight of the highway crash, but I needed the closure of knowing.
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This is an extremely long enduring read but very good. It is from the view of the mother and the very real struggle to love her child and guilt she felt.
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Definitely goes to my favourite books list. I loved the main character Eva. She was so witty and brutally honest with herself, I was sad to let her go at the end of the book. Can't wait to get back to it
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We need to talk about [b:We Need to Talk About Kevin|80660|We Need to Talk About Kevin|Lionel Shriver|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327865017s/80660.jpg|3106720].
I'm going to start with what would usually be the end, the rating. I am giving it 4.5 stars simply because I can't stop thinking about it, and I will certainly never forget it.
There were a couple things that kept me from a 5 star rating. It was slow going. The first 300 pages of the book are a very sloooooooow build. I didn't rush home to pick it up or read it at every red light (hey, sometimes a book is just that good!). I spent the first 100 pages bored and thoroughly annoyed by the language (more on that in a minute). Somewhere after that, I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it - while driving, while at work, while trying to fall asleep. Oddly enough, when I would finally find time to pick it back up, it still wasn't a page turner and could still be a little tedious to slog through.
I was quite irritated with much of the vocabulary in the book that seemed to be straight out of the thesaurus. I noticed this dwindle as the book progressed, however, which left me wondering if it wasn't intentional. That didn't make it any less annoying. I was actually writing down words and page numbers for awhile, but it became so frequent that I gave up. And then I lost the list I had been keeping. Here is one example I found later:
In fact, as I foisted on the boy the very salt-laden cheesies and whizzies previously meted out in one-ounce rations, my solicitation soon got on his nerves.
Upon reading other reviews, I discovered that this was a common annoyance. I understand the use of this language to an extent - Eva was cultural, a world traveler now bound to her home by a motherhood she hadn't really wanted. As I mentioned, it was still annoying and quite distracting. It made me step away from the book a few times.
Despite these "issues," there were so many things I found really captivating and impressive.
Eva. The development of Eva really pulled me in. This is a character that I found to be so unlikable, so irritating, so selfish, so arrogant. She was someone I could not identify with at all. She is an ambitious jet setting travel nut. I prefer curling up on a cozy couch with a book on my lap. Somehow my empathy for her started to grow page by page. I felt for her as a woman and even more importantly, as a mother. While I am not the same type of mother Eva is, there were moments where I connected with her feelings of wanting to do the best, of feeling out of place when you don't feel like you are loving your child as much as you should be. Here is a horrifying confession - when my daughter was born, I did not feel an instant, overwhelming love for her. And it FREAKED ME OUT. I didn't feel the way I thought I was supposed to. But it grew moment by moment as I let everything sink in. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter more than anything in the world, but for those first minutes, I just felt exhausted and not much else.
Of course, my daughter is nothing like Kevin. There was not a moment when I felt that Eva's "detachment" from Kevin had caused him to go on a killing spree. Honestly, I didn't think this detachment was very extreme. She was at least trying. Her commitment to him peeks through repeatedly - the visits to jail, the very last page (I won't spoil that), the career pause, etc. She was too hard on herself. And her husband was just as hard on her (we'll get to him very soon). There was even a moment when I laughed out loud:
I'm sorry, but what else can I boast about now? I'm getting old, and I look it. I work for a travel agency, and my son is a killer.
I really liked her character. And my goodness, can you even imagine being in her shoes? I can't.
On to the husband, Franklin (or as the back of the book says - Franklyn?). Eva's letters are exclusively to Franklin and make up the whole book. There were times when I wondered why he needed a recap on everything, but I wasn't too bothered by this because it gave me a background on their relationship that was (mostly) relevant. I loved the idea of this all-American man with only good intentions trying so hard to bond with a son he can't even begin to understand (really to very little fault of his own because Kevin is...well, we'll get to Kevin, too).
POTENTIAL SPOILER
POTENTIAL SPOILER
POTENTIAL SPOILER
POTENTIAL SPOILER
There were many times I wondered where he was. What was the situation? Were they separated? Divorced? Was he...deceased? From reviews, it seems like too many people focused on this as being the "big mystery" and were ticked off that they "knew" too early on what the situation was. I don't think this was meant to be concealed. It is more like a very slow build. There were many hints, but I think my definite moment was when Eva said she had no way of knowing he would keep Celia as well. And then again when his truck was parked in the garage. I don't think anyone is so naive that they were surprised by the outcome. No...I think what it is is that you just keep hoping and praying that you are wrong. You want so, so badly to be 100% wrong.
It is a slow punch to the gut.
I felt like I had to go through the terrible experience of Kevin's massacre and certainly didn't feel like I could handle much more. And when I finally felt the full force impact, I couldn't breathe. I curled up on my side in bed and sobbed. And sobbed. And then I sobbed some more.
Kevin. I recall reading [b:Tampa|17225311|Tampa|Alissa Nutting|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1364845637s/17225311.jpg|23731028] and thinking I would never find a character quite so despicable. Until now. I could not empathize with Kevin. I couldn't feel anything but utter disgust for his character. He repulsed me. I thought him to be truly evil.
He was, however, a much needed glimpse into what can be. A wake up call that not all humans feel the same way I do or the way I believe people should. There are people who have something...missing. It was interesting to see how someone of that nature may act from early childhood on. And even when there was a glimpse or two of something "underneath" all those terrible layers, I couldn't find it in my heart to forgive him. But then again, I'm not his mother. And how intriguing that at the end of the day, the one who took the most blame, the one who was pinned to have the least amount of interest in him, was the only one still there.
This book is not a page turner. You will probably struggle to keep reading. To give up or not to give up, that is the question. I recommend not giving up. It may be a long, hard ride (and trust me, there is no silver lining...this isn't sunshine and rainbows, Sweetheart), but I think it's well worth it.
I'm going to start with what would usually be the end, the rating. I am giving it 4.5 stars simply because I can't stop thinking about it, and I will certainly never forget it.
There were a couple things that kept me from a 5 star rating. It was slow going. The first 300 pages of the book are a very sloooooooow build. I didn't rush home to pick it up or read it at every red light (hey, sometimes a book is just that good!). I spent the first 100 pages bored and thoroughly annoyed by the language (more on that in a minute). Somewhere after that, I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it - while driving, while at work, while trying to fall asleep. Oddly enough, when I would finally find time to pick it back up, it still wasn't a page turner and could still be a little tedious to slog through.
I was quite irritated with much of the vocabulary in the book that seemed to be straight out of the thesaurus. I noticed this dwindle as the book progressed, however, which left me wondering if it wasn't intentional. That didn't make it any less annoying. I was actually writing down words and page numbers for awhile, but it became so frequent that I gave up. And then I lost the list I had been keeping. Here is one example I found later:
In fact, as I foisted on the boy the very salt-laden cheesies and whizzies previously meted out in one-ounce rations, my solicitation soon got on his nerves.
Upon reading other reviews, I discovered that this was a common annoyance. I understand the use of this language to an extent - Eva was cultural, a world traveler now bound to her home by a motherhood she hadn't really wanted. As I mentioned, it was still annoying and quite distracting. It made me step away from the book a few times.
Despite these "issues," there were so many things I found really captivating and impressive.
Eva. The development of Eva really pulled me in. This is a character that I found to be so unlikable, so irritating, so selfish, so arrogant. She was someone I could not identify with at all. She is an ambitious jet setting travel nut. I prefer curling up on a cozy couch with a book on my lap. Somehow my empathy for her started to grow page by page. I felt for her as a woman and even more importantly, as a mother. While I am not the same type of mother Eva is, there were moments where I connected with her feelings of wanting to do the best, of feeling out of place when you don't feel like you are loving your child as much as you should be. Here is a horrifying confession - when my daughter was born, I did not feel an instant, overwhelming love for her. And it FREAKED ME OUT. I didn't feel the way I thought I was supposed to. But it grew moment by moment as I let everything sink in. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter more than anything in the world, but for those first minutes, I just felt exhausted and not much else.
Of course, my daughter is nothing like Kevin. There was not a moment when I felt that Eva's "detachment" from Kevin had caused him to go on a killing spree. Honestly, I didn't think this detachment was very extreme. She was at least trying. Her commitment to him peeks through repeatedly - the visits to jail, the very last page (I won't spoil that), the career pause, etc. She was too hard on herself. And her husband was just as hard on her (we'll get to him very soon). There was even a moment when I laughed out loud:
I'm sorry, but what else can I boast about now? I'm getting old, and I look it. I work for a travel agency, and my son is a killer.
I really liked her character. And my goodness, can you even imagine being in her shoes? I can't.
On to the husband, Franklin (or as the back of the book says - Franklyn?). Eva's letters are exclusively to Franklin and make up the whole book. There were times when I wondered why he needed a recap on everything, but I wasn't too bothered by this because it gave me a background on their relationship that was (mostly) relevant. I loved the idea of this all-American man with only good intentions trying so hard to bond with a son he can't even begin to understand (really to very little fault of his own because Kevin is...well, we'll get to Kevin, too).
POTENTIAL SPOILER
POTENTIAL SPOILER
POTENTIAL SPOILER
POTENTIAL SPOILER
There were many times I wondered where he was. What was the situation? Were they separated? Divorced? Was he...deceased? From reviews, it seems like too many people focused on this as being the "big mystery" and were ticked off that they "knew" too early on what the situation was. I don't think this was meant to be concealed. It is more like a very slow build. There were many hints, but I think my definite moment was when Eva said she had no way of knowing he would keep Celia as well. And then again when his truck was parked in the garage. I don't think anyone is so naive that they were surprised by the outcome. No...I think what it is is that you just keep hoping and praying that you are wrong. You want so, so badly to be 100% wrong.
It is a slow punch to the gut.
I felt like I had to go through the terrible experience of Kevin's massacre and certainly didn't feel like I could handle much more. And when I finally felt the full force impact, I couldn't breathe. I curled up on my side in bed and sobbed. And sobbed. And then I sobbed some more.
Kevin. I recall reading [b:Tampa|17225311|Tampa|Alissa Nutting|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1364845637s/17225311.jpg|23731028] and thinking I would never find a character quite so despicable. Until now. I could not empathize with Kevin. I couldn't feel anything but utter disgust for his character. He repulsed me. I thought him to be truly evil.
He was, however, a much needed glimpse into what can be. A wake up call that not all humans feel the same way I do or the way I believe people should. There are people who have something...missing. It was interesting to see how someone of that nature may act from early childhood on. And even when there was a glimpse or two of something "underneath" all those terrible layers, I couldn't find it in my heart to forgive him. But then again, I'm not his mother. And how intriguing that at the end of the day, the one who took the most blame, the one who was pinned to have the least amount of interest in him, was the only one still there.
This book is not a page turner. You will probably struggle to keep reading. To give up or not to give up, that is the question. I recommend not giving up. It may be a long, hard ride (and trust me, there is no silver lining...this isn't sunshine and rainbows, Sweetheart), but I think it's well worth it.
Show more
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