Skip to main content

COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen

In Columbine, author Dave Cullen seeks to tell the story of the 1999 Columbine school shootings as accurately as possible. He does this after spending 10 years on research; going through interviews, reviewing 25,000 pages worth of documentations and journals, and even going through the video tapes and diaries of the killers. All that effort was culminated into this book that depicts the incident, and everything leading up to it, with great and alarming detail.

I first heard about this book from Slapinions and after his glowing review of the book, I decided I'd be interested in such a reading. I hunted the book down at the library and I'm glad that I did. This was a good read.

Cullen takes a great unbiased look at the incident, neither condemning or blessing any sides. Rather, he throws the facts out there and just allows the reader to envelope themselves in the situation. Cullen has this great way of painting the scenes in such a way that we can know and feel as much as possible. In telling the story he also dispels a lot of the myths that were generally accepted about the whole tragedy.

We learn about the two killers from about two years prior to the shootings, and how the two evolved from young average high schoolers to cold blooded killers. He gives the same treatment to some of the victims; stories which inspire a sense of hope. We also learn about the various people surrounding the community such as parents, church leaders, detectives and so forth. For me, perhaps what was most interesting was learning about the character of the school and community as well as some of the devastating aftershocks after the shootings.

Cullen does a great job of keeping the reader hooked with each chapter. Interestingly, on the back cover of the book, the description compares it to In Cold Blood and Helter Skelter. Now, I haven't read the former, but I read the latter a few years ago and I disagree with the comparison, except for the fact that both books are based on murders. In Helter Skelter each chapter had this kind of a hook to get you to read on further, by tempting you either with more mystery or previewing a revelation. I think Columbine was written better and more enjoyable because it avoided doing this. Instead, the stories are told and resolved more naturally than using some bait to get you to read further on.

It is a painful look at the whole incident yet at the same time, captivating. This is a great read and I definitely recommend it even if you have a speck of interest or memory of the incident. Til next time, later geeks.

Comments

Dave Cullen said…
Thanks, Lam. Very nice write-up, which I greatly appreciate.

I was glad to see you mention Slapinions, too. It's great to see word of mouth carry a book from one person to the next. That's one of the most gratifying parts of writing one, at least for me.

There's lots more info at my Columbine site.

I just created a Students Page, several videos and a Discussion Board. For schools and book clubs, I'm going to offer to skype in for 20-30 minutes this fall/summer.

Thanks.
The Lam said…
I'm humbled by your visit. Thanks for writing this book, it was definitely a great and revealing read.
starviego said…
The big secret about Columbine is that there were more involved than just Harris and Klebold. Don’t believe me? Just ask the eyewitnesses:

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/columbineeight.php

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW HAIKUS!!!! (#3)

It's time for another edition of Review Haikus; a feature I like to write when I'm too lazy to write out full reviews~!!! The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 Tony Scott schlockfest~! All his movies seem the same. A needless remake. Denzel's a bad-ass. Given up on Travolta. 1 of 2 ain't bad. Public Enemies Well? Disappointed. I expected more from Mann. The pacing felt off. Acting was good though. Man-crush on Depp and Bale. 5 more syllables! Saw VI Yes, another Saw. Harder to tell them apart. Blood, guts, bad story. Why more Saw movies? Each movie makes less and less. End this series now. ====== Later geeks!

Sam Raimi's Dragging Someone To Hell!!!

It's great to see Sam Raimi back in his form with his latest entry Drag Me To Hell . Simply glorious, it is a horror geek's dream. This is the Sam we all know and love from Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness , before he got all caught up in the comic book geek universe of Spider-Man . After 10 years (from the first time I watched Evil Dead 2 ), he has remained my favourite film director... although he did try my patience with Spider-Man 3 . I know this euphoria that I'm feeling now will be short lived, as even as I type this review, Raimi is already at work on the pre-production of Spider-Man 4 (yay?). So what is there to say about Drag Me To Hell ? This is the way a summer movie should be, touching on all those senses that make movie going an actual experience. There were thrills, chills, laughs and cheers; the way things should be! Drag Me To Hell tells a story of a young loan officer named Christine, who in an effort to advance her own career, has to turn down an

Lt. Aldo Raine wants his scalps!!!!!!!!!!!!

I missed The Inglorious Basterds during its theatrical run and it's a shame too because I'm a fool for Tarantino movies. But I finally got to see it this weekend and I'm happy to say that I mostly enjoyed it. I don't think it's his best movie, but it was damned entertaining. The Inglorious Basterds takes place during World War II and tells its story by following three different groups of characters: from Lt. Aldo Raine and his squad of soldiers infamously known as the Basterds, Col. Hans Landa, a Nazi colonel better known as "The Jew Hunter", and from a young Jewish girl named Shosanna, who had her family murdered by Col. Landa. We follow the Basterds in their Nazi killing business (and business is good) as they lay out a plan to take out several high ranking officials all at once. We follow Shosanna as she operates her theater and lays down her own plans in exacting revenge on the Nazis. And of course, the "Jew Hunter" is hot on their trail