Rating: 
Summary: Born Bad?
Review: Shriver's brilliant novel explores the depth of a couple's journey into parenthood through letters written by Eva Khatchadourian to her husband. Such a limited form could prove tiresome in lesser hands, but Shriver excells by giving life to Eva in uncompromisingly full dimension, revealing her faults and virtues in full measure.
While the themes of reluctant motherhood and high school mass murder and their possible relationship are central to the plot and handled masterfully, the author has a rare gift of understanding of the inner self that literally puts the reader inside Eva's mind.
This level of insight extends to illuminate the dark side in the person of Eva's son Kevin while at the same time offering no easy explanation of what may have contributed decisively to the creation of his utterly evil persona.
There are many layers in Shriver's writing and each sentence is packed tightly with content and resonant truth. So compelling are the moment to moment revelations that one is temporarily suspended from the story. But when things really heat up in the last third of the book it becomes impossible to put it down.
One of the finest writers I've come across.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Read in Spite of Itself
Review: I have to address this book on two levels.The first concerns the writing and the story. Shriver builds the interest by teasing us with offhand facts that later come to bear. Some of the story didn't make much sense until a few or a lot of pages later. Although you think you know the story (since it is written both as a current narrative and as a recap of past events through Eva's letters to her husband), it doesn't play out at you think it will.
Other reviewers say that it is slow-going at the beginning, but this is merely because Shriver is laying the groundwork.
This book is un-put-down-able because of the numerous Oh-my-God moments that happen in the story. What cost this book its fifth star is that I simply could not believe that Eva and Franklin could let things escalate as they have. Am I the only one who thinks that Eva and Franklin forgot early on that they were the parents and that Kevin was the child? If I had pulled even a quarter of the stuff Kevin does, I would have felt consequences in no uncertain terms, and swiftly. Maybe things have changed since I was a kid, and when I was a parent too fifteen or so years ago. Do they still have military school these days for six-year-olds? Also, Eva is the kind of person that just invites being taken down a peg or two. From the first page I was dreading having to read a whole bookful of her pretentious dialogue. Shriver's masterful turn at constructing the narrative makes it bearable (see, it's rubbing off on me!). Once you apply a little extra suspension-of-belief, you will be in for a very gratifying and disturbing read.
Rating:
Summary: Holy cow.
Review: This was a great book. I couldn't stop talking about this book with my friends (we're teachers) while I was reading it. I was intrigued, but at times the book seemed a bit long. I had read some of these reviews and expected one part of the twist, and midway through pretty easily figured out the other part of the twist. The main character is somewhat self absorbed, but she realizes it, which is actually endearing. I was intrigued to find out what Kevin was going to pull next. Eva continues to try to express her misgivings about her son, but her husband Franklin thinks she is paranoid against him. As the reader, I wanted to pick him up and shake him; look at your child! Notice what he's doing! HELLO?!?!?!?! This book was tremendous. I hope you enjoy it too.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Seed, Good Read
Review: This book would be more accurately titled "We need to talk about the Antichrist." Practically from the moment of his birth, the eponymous brat is an evil, manipulative creature more ripped from a third-rate slasher flick than the headlines. It's surprising that the author bothered to craft such an intricate superstructure around such a hollow and one-dimensional character. That said, what a structure! The book, and each chapter within it, practically nails you to the page. Trains were missed, meals were skipped and calls were ignored as I sped through this book. Too bad the payoff in each chapter is a very predictable: With a soulless monster in the house, what do you think happens to the cute pet, sweet little sister, and bottle of drain opener? In addition, the "surprise twist" will be a surprise to only a near-comatose reader and the author's sadistic embellishments to the crime at the novel's center make me worry for her mental health. Come on, Ms. Shriver, use your considerable talent to create some believable situations next time, and don't try to be Stephen King-one is enough. Now where did I put that bottle of Drano...
Rating: 
Summary: born bad?
Review: What I found lacking in this book was Eva and Franklin's role as parent. Kevin was obviouly sick, very sick, yet neither parent seemed to feel therapy was justified? I am thinking, though, Kevin was born bad and therapy would be useless. But Eva's biggest failure is in being Celia's parent. She knew Kevin was guilty of harming her in such a terrible fashion yet she does what to protect Celia in the future? She stays and puts her child in danger. For that crime, and it is a crime, she should bear the guilt.
Rating:
Summary: Layers of underlying meaning
Review: With "...Kevin," Lionel Shriver creates a seemingly one-dimensional "bad seed" character that, upon deeper study, reveals some startling truths about American culture and the teen angst it spawns. Ritalin...Columbine... You can write off a modern adolescent as a "bad seed" if you want, but we need to take a closer look in the mirror and ask, "Why didn't we see this kind of thing 30, 40, 50 years ago?" If you're intriuged by this theme, then there's a new writer you should check out: Greg Ippolito. His new novel, "Zero Station," is absolutely terrific -- a shredding exploration of restless-to-the-point-of-dangerous teens in the early 1990s. An excerpt is available for FREE. He's still a relative unknown (a friend turned me onto his work)...but this is a must-read. You can check him out and read the excerpt at: www.ZERO-STATION.net. Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: one REALLY bad seed
Review: After reading the first couple dozen pages, I thought this novel was going nowhere. I was almost ready to toss it aside, but all the positive reviews here kept me reading, to which I am thankful for, as this is one of the most chilling examinations of the psychopathic mind that you are ever likely to come across in fiction. Aside from this slow start, the only other fault I had with the novel was that the dad seemed totally clueless and constantly explained away his son's acts in one way or another, though I suppose this may be the wickedly humorous part that some reviews alluded to. One may debate whether the etiology of Kevin's behavior as portrayed in the novel is accurate or not, but it certainly is miles ahead of Gus Van Zant's critically acclaimed (!!!) pseudo-documentary about the Columbine massacre, ELEPHANT. This book makes a good companion piece to Putsata Reang's DEADLY SECRETS, a true crime book about two high school buddies who massacre an entire family.
Rating:
Summary: Nature vs. Nuture?
Review: This book is specifically touching to me, as I was in high school during most if not all of the school massacres mentioned in this book. The writer attempts to find answers and/or purge guilts about motherhood through letters written to her estranged husband. She admits her faults but also scratches the surface of the old argument of nature vs. nuture. Was her son a hate filled person from the womb or could it have been something in how he was raised? This is a haunting novel which will stay with you for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: An absent woman becomes present, at great cost to others
Review: This book is riveting and will haunt you for days, maybe weeks after you read it. It upset me for one big reason: I blamed the mother, Eva. After a very long period of intellectualizing, Eva gives birth to a son, "feels nothing", and from moment one of his life attaches meanings to his behaviors that may or may not be accurate. She interprets his reluctance to nurse as repulsion and distaste for her, but we all know: babies don't always nurse well the first try. As time goes by, Eva can only be described as profoundly cold, a robotic mother, shockingly self-absorbed, contemptuous, and superior. However, she is very bright and verbal. Her very intelligent child probably intuited early on that to be a normal child would only earn his mother's scorn and contempt. I think he somehow chose to beat her at her own game in order to win her acceptance. Yes, this kid goes bad (really bad), and yes, Eva sees right through him. But I started to get the feeling "it takes one to know one." In the face of a troubled child and an endangered marriage, Eva chooses to lie to her husband (for an entire year) and conceives a second child, a little experiment in which she hopes to learn something about HERSELF. This child fares no better with Eva for a mother. Sweet and trusting, she is described as clingy and stupid. Eva predicts for Celia a lifetime as a doormat. What kind of mother assumes the worst for her kids?! When Celia meets her inevitable fate (and here the books goes into Stephen King territory), her mother walks right by her ("Celia could wait") and goes to search for her "beloved" husband. At the end, Eva gives up her fight and becomes "present" to her son. The price paid by others is too damned high.
Rating:
Summary: FRIGHTENING, TIMELY, AND ALL TOO REAL
Review: I originally decided to read this book because I have found myself morbidly fascinated by the violent behavior growing exponentially among the young people of this country. I have raised two children, now adults, who managed to grow up as loving, compassionate young women. This book appealed to me because it appeared to address what makes these violent youth tick. Make no mistake - this is not some remake of "The Bad Seed", although Kevin, the young man who commits unspeakable violence, seems to fit that description. The book's style is so unique, written as letters from Kevin's mother Eva to her ex-husband Franklin, in journal form, allowing the reader to view her innermost thoughts and feelings. It gives this book a deeply personal feel to it. The story is about an unremarkable upper-middle class couple who, after agonizing over the issue, finally decide to have a child. From the very beginning, Eva has a difficult time connecting with Kevin, while Franklin sees him as his little man who can do no wrong. As he grows older, Kevin becomes more and more strange and frightening, and the horrible events that unfold are inevitable. The temptation is to think that Kevin's behavior and almost evil personality is exaggerated for literary effect. But one only needs to read a basic primer on the psychopathic personality to know that, whether we like or not, people like Kevin DO exist, and they often come from normal and happy families. They don't have horns on their heads or a sign on their foreheads that says "I am going to kill someone". Certainly Eva does not present herself or Franklin as perfect parents, but rather is brutally honest about their shortcomings. Still, one would never assume that they would raise a rage-filled, violent child. Kevin scares us so much because his upbringing is, if not perfect, at least very normal. His behavior comes from beyond external influences. I firmly believe that some people are evil from conception. Studies have shown differences in brain chemistry among psychopaths. Although this book is fiction, it is based in fact, and although it is society's habit to heap blame on parents for the bad acts of their children, it is blame placed unfairly. This book will frighten and disturb, but it is blade-sharp in its brutal honesty and accuracy. No one wants to believe in "bad seeds", but they are there, and this book makes this fact impossible to ignore. I couldn't put it down, and I doubt most readers will be able to either.
|
