This book is a very solid piece of investigative journalism that sheds light on what really happened in Columbine as opposed to what the media reported.

In many ways, the reality is even more sad and tragic than the press version. As a parent of a teenage boy, I couldn't help but feel terribly sorry for the parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Their sons truly managed to ruin their lives as well as their own. It's hard to put a lot in a review about the book without spoiling, but I loved the way the author gave perspective from the killers, the killers' parents, and the victims in this case. I also think it was extremely revealing (and somewhat disturbing) in how it portrays our justice system and how some things just get "swept under the rug" or dismissed.

I'll leave it up to future readers to decide for themselves whether or not this crime was preventable, but the evidence makes it hard not to draw a conclusion. It proves that a charming surface can totally mask a criminal who lacks an iota of empathy. And that's a pretty scary thought! ( )

Coinvolgente e ben scritto, il lavoro di ricerca fatto da Cullen è notevole. I capitoli, come le storie personali, procedono con continui flashback e salti in avanti, si accavallano per poi convergere definitivamente nel finale. Il soggetto è controverso ma l'autore riesce a mantere una certa imparzialità fino almeno all'epilogo della vicenda, dove il filtro culturale, l'esigenza di parlare ad un pubblico statunitense o l'influenza delle fonti utilizzate non permettono di mettere a fuoco alcuni fattori ambientali importanti. Esemplare a tal proposito la descrizione dei raduni religiosi e degli scontri tra congregazioni per accaparrarsi i fedeli, con immagini che rasentano la psicosi di massa, liquidate bonariamente come realtà pittoresche ma in fondo positive per il tessuto sociale. Con un po' più di coraggio e di arguzia si potevano ipotizzare invece delle concause, più credibili di quelle contraddittorie esposte da esperti e non, e riportate dall'autore. Manca un'analisi seria e imparziale dei tessuti familiari, purtroppo, anche in questo caso, vige la ricerca del male assoluto di cristiana memoria, poco importa che venga declinata alle scienze psicologiche (la presunta psicopatia senza cause di uno dei killer). Anche in presenza di indizi macroscopici come l'autoritarismo militare tossico e le manie di controllo presenti in casa Harris, il tutto passa come niente di più che sana educazione al vivere civile (ma nell'ottica di chi?); i continui cambi di residenza, il conformismo provinciale soffocante, tutto buttato sotto il tappeto o minimizzato in una sorta di assoluzione plenaria delle figure genitoriali e "adulte" che si muovono sullo sfondo ma che in realtà influenzano direttamente gli eventi. Dalla stessa prospettiva generazionale, l'interpretazione delle dinamiche adolescenziali e scolastiche è sufficientemente ingenua nel sovrastimare i fattori protettivi (le frequentazioni sentimentali) e sottostimare l'esclusione e l'ostracismo prodotti da un certo tipo di società livellante, perdendo quindi di vista le differenze individuali.

Nel complesso un ottimo punto di partenza per lo studio del caso, esaustivo per quanto riguarda la cronaca pura, eccessivamente cauto e parziale quando si tratta di andare a fondo, con un'analisi psicologica piuttosto superficiale e a tratti banale, legittimata dalla qualifica di esperti clinici e forensi, in realtà quasi tutti impiegati nelle forze dell'ordine e formati su campi molto diversi.

"Michael Moore : If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?

Marilyn Manson : I wouldn't say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did."

(Bowling For Columbine, 2002) ( )

NA ( )

The Columbine shooting happened five years after I graduated high school, when I wouldn’t feel the tangible “school shooting panic” but was close enough in age to identify with the students and with the story being spun in the media. I hadn’t understood that the attacks on Columbine weren’t as portrayed; these weren’t intentional shootings targeting “jocks” or the popular kids. It wasn’t about bullying or being bullied. This was an attempted bombing targeting everyone.

I picked up Dave Cullen’s Columbine in preparation for reading Sue Klebold’s autobiography. I needed to understand what happened so I could put her feelings into context, to be able to absolutely say that she isn’t a mother in denial of what her son did, and that her story has some credibility.

Dylan Klebold’s name is invoked (maybe even first) as the perpetrator of the Columbine attack, but Eric Harris was clearly the instigator; a mentally ill teen bent on destruction and indiscriminant annihilation. Dylan only wanted to be dead. That doesn’t excuse him, but illustrates the damage caused by his and Eric’s friendship. There’s an inherent sadness that comes from realizing a suicidal teen engaged in this behavior at the behest of a certifiable psychopath.

Dylan could have easily been any friend I ever had. Stories like Columbine and those about the West Memphis Three resonate because I hadn’t fit into the high school mold; rather I enjoyed not fitting in. I knew a suicide. I understood his desperation. I’m sad for the Klebold family, and having parented teens, understand how they could’ve seen Dylan’s behavior as teen angst from which he would recover.

Reading the survivor stories, including (and maybe especially) those of the victims’ families, makes it hard not to be angry with someone, though. I sympathize with their need to place blame. The book states several times that people couldn’t be angry with Dylan and Eric because of their suicides, leaving their parents to absorb the hatred. Neither boy was raised in a bad home. They did get into trouble, and were punished accordingly. If there’s blame to place for not keeping a closer eye it would be on Eric’s parents (whose denial of their son’s mental illness was apparently stronger than the repeated warnings that something terrible was about to happen). Eric reportedly bought the supplies, the guns, and assembled and hid the bombs. He made public threats against several people and engaged in the kind of behavior that, in hindsight, makes his motive (pure destruction) the easier of the two to explain. Dylan’s compulsion remains less clear.

Realizing how much planning led up to this really does make one question if the single useful thing to come out of Columbine (and we do have to learn from tragic events to prevent future similar occurrences) was the decision to take teen threats seriously. As early as two years before the attacks, Eric had begun planning. There were plenty of warning signs, all chalked up to and excused as teen foolishness. Dave Cullen’s Columbine forces deep thought on all aspects of what happened in 1999, and respectfully remembers those lost and those who have since fought every day to survive. An impactful, concise account from all angles, it’s clear why his is the definitive work on the subject.
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An amazing book about a horrific subject. Cullen really knows his subject matter and delves into the minds of these killers in a way that I found riveting. Highly recommended. ( )