- #WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN BY LIONEL SHRIVER SERIES#
- #WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN BY LIONEL SHRIVER FREE#
Too late, we realise the internal questions within in the novel, the nature of the relationships laid semi-bare, are being echoed by our external reactions to what we're reading. (We can be reasonably sure that she is factually truthful, but there are other kinds of lying: the distortions of interpretation, the distortions of omission.) We don't want to lose faith in her, but as the letters continue, grudgingly we're forced to accept that Eva might have her own reasons for painting her son blacker than he is. Plausible, charming, but not always truthful. Worse, she's that creature beloved of novelists, the unreliable narrator. Little by little we start to realise that Eva – our friend, our co-conspirator – is not necessarily to be trusted. Is it Eva's fault or Franklin's? Was it inevitable? Nature versus nurture, too little maternal love or too much, the old familiar questions. We think we're being asked to decide who's to blame, that there is a moment when all the death and destruction could have been averted.
Even as we're learning the story of Eva and Franklin's relationship, as we meet their son, Kevin, then their daughter, Celia, we believe we are on top of things. This is one of the many ways that Shriver is so skilful, so tricksy. Already, without realising, we are taking sides. Franklin seems duller, more measured, limited by his desire for a domestic life with picket fence and clapperboard dog.
Eva is independent, interesting, someone we might like to know. The tone is chatty, intimate, a dialogue between a woman and her, we assume, estranged husband.
#WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN BY LIONEL SHRIVER SERIES#
The story is told as a series of letters from Eva Khatchadourian, Kevin's mother, to his father, Franklin. Most of all, it's about love and the failure of love, about the black lines we paint around our own silhouettes.
#WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN BY LIONEL SHRIVER FREE#
But poke beneath the surface, and immediately it's clear that "Kevin" is not about that one singular act – or, rather, not only about that Thursday – but actually an immensely complex and subtle layered novel about storytelling and lies, about blame and free will, about the choices we make. The story of a teenage boy who, Columbine style, goes on a rampage, slaughtering classmates, teachers, others. It was published in 2005 and won the Orange Prize for Fiction that year. Cant wait to get onto the next audio, Possibly J.M.Coetzee, now thats a good writer.At first glance, it's an unlikely book to have achieved such acclaim and so quickly. Its just for shock or to confirm already held, rather conservative beliefs about the physical pain of childbirth and the possibility of stuffing up as a parent.Īhhh. I now have to live with the burden of reading this tripe. I disagree, Yes I had an extreme reaction, but that does not make it positive in any form. Some say to me that makes it a good book. It changed my mind as to the passive nature of books, and I will be more careful, from now on as to what I read, for this is now part of me, a cancer to be continually excised. Well, it really made me mad, physically sick, horrified. How could the performance have been better? It may even give an insight into the fathers ambivalence, bordering on ineptitude to the boys psychopathic tendencies. His or even the boys voice could make the book more interesting, more balanced. I feel that the father character had little depth, The book is written from the perspective of the mother, in letter form to the father. What could Lionel Shriver have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you? Interviews with the author after the boos audio confirm that the author wrote the book to explore her own confirmed opinion about childlessness’ in conjunction with an affinity with the mothers of IMHO only for those who want their worst fears about the most horrible things that can happen if you have kids confirmed. I would have stopped if I didn’t have a reason for reading the book. I approached this book in half hour increments for a book club. The second birth is fine and not even explained. Women need positive attitudes when approaching birth, with this book the worst is dredged from the bottom of the steaming pile and laboured on for pages in the first birth. What disappointed you about We Need to Talk About Kevin? Sensationalist: The Ultimate Birth Horror Story
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