We Need To Talk About Kevin (Five Star Paperback) [Paperback]

 

 

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This book is very well written. Contrary to other reviews of this book, I think it is a strength in the novel that Eva does not always inspire empathy in the reader. Eva is a terrifically well rounded, believable and flawed character. The book is in the form of letters to her husband trying to rationalise the tragic killings performed by her son. I think it is in trying to rationalise why Kevin committed such atrocities that Eva questions her role as a mother... is it because she didn't really want a baby, because she couldn't bond with Kevin after he was born, because she wanted a career or was Kevin just born inherently evil?

This book is gripping from beginning to end, thought provoking, funny, scary and sad... well worth a read.

I won't retell the story; it is well known by now.

I have read it twice and think it is one of the most astonishing modern novels I have read. I want all my friends to read it so we can discuss it.

On first reading I thought it powerful and affecting. What makes a good-enough parent? There but for the grace of God etc. I also thought it had its faults; the opposition between Eva and her husband and between Kevin and Celia are a little too schematic.

A second reading revealed greater complexities. We only have Eva's perspective and Eva is clever and clear-sighted but also vain, selfish and judgemental. She is distinctly childish in her relationship with her husband, looking to him to provide an anchor while she goes off to explore the world (her own mother was emotionally absent). And, ccording to her account, her judgement is, in a twisted sort of way, vindicated. Yes, we now know that Kevin is a monster and she was a bad mother. And seeing things clearly, being smart is very important to Eva.

Once I began to question Eva's view, I saw clues scattered through the book that, far from being born a monster, Kevin was a child largely formed by his mother's antipathy towards him that started before he was even born. The account of the apathetic and joyless toddler is deeply sad. Why did she not seek help? When he is ill, she recognises that Kevin's indifference requires huge effort to maintain so why does she think he needed to do it? Did she think that no psychiatrist or psychologist was clever enough to teach her anything? She frequently criticises Kevin for things that are frankly minor - eating before going to a restaurant, for example, which would matter less if she were ever positive. On occasion, Kevin makes tentative efforts to engage with her but is usually greeted with a self-justifying lecture. He tells her she is harsh and he is right. His English teacher asks why he is so full of anger.

A major theme of the book is responsibility and Eva makes much of her sense of guilt. Yet, Eva does not really take responsibility for a relationship between two unequal parties (something else she fails to recognise) that went wrong before it even began. She just accepts its hopeless nature because to do otherwise would require a far more difficult kind of self-examination than the one in which she actually engages.

A rare book to engage such strong feelings and moral examination, beautifully written and crafted.

I read this book after a review piqued my interest and I wasn't disappointed. This is a portrait of a family tearing itself apart, because the parents have a diametrically opposite view of what children, parenting and family are all about.
While Franklin holds the idea of family up as a holy grail, the highest purpose that anyone can have, Eva regards family as being something that you do aswell as everything else rather than a calling.
I was very surprised at the harsh judgement Eva received from reviewers - it's true that Eva's view may not be entirely unbiased, and her actions less than perfect, but she is a human being after all. Being a mother does not make you perfect, as Loretta Greenleaf says. As a woman I found that her feelings, particularly her anxieties during pregnancy, seemed to echo my own worst fears: that her body ceases to be her own, that others will regard her as a vessel for the precious offspring rather than a person in her own right. Except in Eva's case these are realities and not just fears.
We can't help our feelings and though Eva's feelings towards her child may not always be the best desirable, she tries hard to fight against them. She doesn't actively mistreat Kevin, except on the one occasion when she loses her temper - something that many parents understandably do.
I was equally surprised by the fact most people seemed uncondemnatory of Franklin, who seemed to me to share equal guilt over the sad state of affairs. His attitude towards his wife both before, during, and immediately after her pregnancy is astounding in its callousness and inflexibility.
His Holy Grail attitude to family seems to rely on his wife totally sublimating herself and her life to the cause of 'the family' while he continues as normal.
He whinges about Eva having to travel for her job and yet once she is the one stuck at home he is happy to whizz off in his truck and leave her behind. Rather than giving her love and support during the pregnancy, he offers finger-wagging censure over her actions. Expecting her to selflessly submit to every prohibiton, he is judgemental rather than understanding. He fails to appreciate the sacrifices she has made but doesn't expect to have to make any sacrifices of his own.
For instance, what would've been wrong with him staying at home to look after the baby to give his wife a break, if she wasn't coping well? He insists that Kevin needs parental care but when Eva finally becomes ill and has to go into hospital he declines the burden himself, preferring to hire a nanny. It seems he's keen on all this personal parental care as long as it doesn't inconvenience him.
Whilst Eva loves him and accepts him as he is, he is constantly wanting her to change herself to fit into his idealised vision of a wife and mother, and is petulant when she does not. Having married an independant, free-spirited career woman, he seems to imagine that she will automatically morph into a housekeeper cum earthmother once she has had his child.
He also constantly undermines Eva's authority over Kevin by refusing to discipline him or to allow her to do so - any parent will tell you that this is a very bad idea. Whether or not her suppositions about Kevin's motivations are correct, there is no doubt that he is often an extremely difficult child, something which Franklin makes worse by indulging him. If Eva refuses to take reponsibility for her own antipathy towards Kevin - Franklin refuses to take responsibility for Kevin himself. Parenting isn't just about fun and games, sometimes there are unpleasant duties that must be faced for the child's own sake. Allowing a child to grow up as a disagreeble and antisocial brat doesn't do them any favours.
Whether Kevin is indeed a monster from birth or whether he is made the way he is by his upbringing is something that could be debated well into the night, but somehow it seems irrelevant to me. Both his parents are presented as imperfect, flawed but human, struggling to do the right thing as they see it. What more could they do for him?
We all have choices in life. In the same way that some abused children become abusers and some become loving parents, it hardly seems right to lay blame for Kevin's actions at his parents door.
That's not to say I didn't feel sympathy for Kevin. The book left me feeling emotionally exhausted, but the ending is also a hopeful one.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Fab read
Was a little hard to get into but once it gets going I couldn't put it down. Not usually my choice of book but I loved it

Published 10 days ago by Ms. C. L. Goodyer

2.0 out of 5 stars Totally over rated
Really couldn't get into this even tho I kept trying. The prose was completely over the top. Why use one word when you can use 10. Less is more as they say. Read more

Published 13 days ago by HMC52

1.0 out of 5 stars way too much work
i dont recomend this book. I found it really hard to read. I think no one really talks the way she does and if they do they are very annoying. Read more

Published 14 days ago by heidi

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Crafted
Reading some other reviews has made me keen to put my own opinion forward. This novel is amazing. Yes, it leaves you pondering, it also stays with you a long time after you... Read more

Published 17 days ago by Anton Bell

4.0 out of 5 stars Like dense fruit cake, I felt full up before the end.
Have you seen those photos on TV of children and teenagers who have committed the most horrific murders? Read more

Published 21 days ago by smartesthorse

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful. What rubbish
this was awful, self obsessed drivel. Wordy and pretentious. our book club all hated it. some didn`t finish it and others skipped to last couple of chapters. Read more

Published 22 days ago by Bar

2.0 out of 5 stars We should all just stop talking about Kevin
Having just finished reading this book, I feel somewhat let down. I was persevering to get to the not so "twisty" "twist". Read more

Published 23 days ago by Lezer

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling!
Extremely well written, this novel is a compelling read even though thankfully I cannot relate to the main character by comparison of my own life and experiences. Read more

Published 29 days ago by Denise O'Connor

5.0 out of 5 stars One to remember!
I found We Need to Talk About Kevin to be a gripping read that I could not put down. Having studied English Literature to university level, I enjoy reading books that can be... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Kay Ray

5.0 out of 5 stars You need to read about Kevin
Resd this book after seeing the film, and it is immeasurably better, mainly because it is open ended and ambiguous. Read more

Published 1 month ago by barbicandy

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