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We Need to Talk About Kevin
 
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We Need to Talk About Kevin [Abridged] [Audiobook] [CD] (Audio CD)

by Lionel Shriver (Author), Lorelei King (Reader)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (265 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.67
Price: £9.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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We Need to Talk About Kevin + The Time Traveler's Wife + The Book Thief
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  • This item: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

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Product details

  • Audio CD
  • Publisher: Orion; Abridged edition edition (4 May 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0752874764
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752874760
  • Product Dimensions: 13.6 x 12.4 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (265 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20,699 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #5 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Shriver, Lionel
    #94 in  Books > Audio CDs > Fiction

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Product Description

Kati Nicholl, DAILY EXPRESS
'an outstanding reading by Lorelei King who captures all the anger, shock, dismay - but never denial - that Eva Khatchadourian experiences when her 15-year-old son slays nine people at his high school. 'Gripping' is an over-used adjective - but not here, as Eva explores her feelings in a series of letters to the husband who hasn't lived with her since the day of the killings.'

Review
'an outstanding reading by Lorelei King who captures all the anger, shock, dismay - but never denial - that Eva Khatchadourian experiences when her 15-year-old son slays nine people at his high school. 'Gripping' is an over-used adjective - but not here, as Eva explores her feelings in a series of letters to the husband who hasn't lived with her since the day of the killings.' (Kati Nicholl DAILY EXPRESS )

'This icily forensic, deeply disturbing story takes the form of letters from the mother of a brilliant, evil, teenage murderer to her husband, recounting her prison visits and remembering the circumstances of his upbringing. Lorelei King is the queen of readers: she brings to this performance sharp intelligence and a perfect, weary restraint, building up to the fearsome denouement that freezes the blood.' (Sue Gaisford INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

'may work better as an abridged audiobook than as a novel. Some critics have said that Shriver overwrites but there doesn't seem to be a wasted word as Lorelei King narrates the harrowing tale of a 15-year-old archer who kills seven of his classmates.' (Christina Hardyment THE TIMES )

'Lorelei King is once again the consummate reader. There is no faulting her performance, as she brings every character to life, making you feel the horror that is central to this story.' (Emma Fisher OTTAKARS (staff review) )

'brilliant, especially Lorelei King's reading.' (Sue Arnold GUARDIAN )

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Customer Reviews

265 Reviews
5 star:
 (160)
4 star:
 (61)
3 star:
 (16)
2 star:
 (8)
1 star:
 (20)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (265 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Skilful, thought-provoking and shocking, 13 Mar 2006
By 100wordreviewer (Kiev) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: We Need to Talk About Kevin (Paperback)
This skilfully constructed novel about high-school killings and parenthood raises a huge range of interesting questions. To what extent are parents responsible for the way their children turn out? Where does evil come from? Why do people commit massacres? Cleverly, Lionel Shriver does not answer these questions, but provides plenty of discussion material, for example by making both parents of the evil-doing Kevin deeply (and sometimes maddeningly) flawed. A gripping, harrowing read.

Downside: don't read this if you're upset by graphic violence.

For another take on some of these issues, try Doris Lessing's excellent - and equally harrowing - "The Fifth Child".

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended as a quality page-turner., 1 Aug 2007
This review is from: We Need To Talk About Kevin (Five Star Paperback) (Paperback)
I read this book, devoured it; was appalled, fascinated and fairly disturbed by it, in as close to one sitting as makes no difference. One of the inside-cover reviewers recommends it as his/her "beach-book" of the year. Not so for me. My advice is: don't go near the beach, the park or any other casually pleasant place to read this book. Stay at home, on close and familiar ground - and prepare to feel very uneasy. But do read it; because this is a work of very obvious intelligence and literary expertise. For me the character of the father sometimes didn't ring quite true; sometimes he seems unreasonably obtuse for a plainly intelligent man. But the extremely impressive quality of the writing never flags for one instant and the sheer abundance of provocative and courageous observations that the narrator makes on the general human predicament is quite amazing and often very courageous inasmuch as a great deal of it could be considered "Category A" on the politically incorrect list - although I found myself agreeing with most of what she had to say. This book is very easy to read not because the writing is simple (it isn't) or because the content is trite (it is not), but because the writing is of virtuoso quality and the content is of relevance to us all. Highly recommended as a quality page-turner.
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56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A complex , frightening and ambiguous creation, 8 Sep 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: We Need to Talk About Kevin (Paperback)
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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the at times difficult effort.
This book is not the most accessible. The first 200 pages are turgid, slow moving and at times annoyingly boring. The author's style, i.e. Read more
Published 8 days ago by noggy1810

5.0 out of 5 stars We need to talk about Kevin
Excellent book - but not one to read if you are thinking about having your first child!!
Published 21 days ago by Avid Reader

3.0 out of 5 stars Nature vs nurture
This is not about nature vs nurture because it can't be. It's not a sociological / anthropological investigation and Lionel Shriver makes no claim to be writing an investigation... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael Martin

1.0 out of 5 stars Only 1 star because I can't give it less
This is nothing more than a very badly written and predictable horror novel. The twist at the end is totally predictable from very early on. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Marc Lyth

5.0 out of 5 stars Kevin
Loved this book, not a format I expected but couldn't wait until I got to the end but when I did I cried, one of the best books I've read in a long time & would make a good film
Published 2 months ago by E. Saunderson

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 out of 5 really..
This book, although not particularly lengthly, could've done to have been shorter in my opinion. The author dragged things out too much unfortunately. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Heidi Summers

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying and incredible
I couldn't put it down. You've got to read it to believe it. Was gobsmacked by the twist at the end.
Published 2 months ago by C. Roberts

3.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing but terrifying
A thoroughly interesting book - uncomfortable, thrilling, dark & scary. Highly recommend but it's not one of those books you want to read aagain & again.
Published 3 months ago by emma_scriptwriter

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking
I cannot find enough words to express how I felt after I finished this book. It is very dark and complicated, exploring a very emotional and disturbing subject. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Roxy Twist

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and complex
My first confession is that for the first one hundred pages I just couldn't understand what all the fuss was about with this book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Charlie Morris

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