The Book Vipers discussion

Hooray my library came up trumps and I was able to collect this this morning. Realised at once that it would be what some of you have described as "selfconsciously literary" as this Large Print version is published by Clipper, and they always seem to publish books of that sort! I have given up on some Clipper books when I have wanted a lighter read.

I'm on page 54, and (view spoiler)[ do not see as yet why the main character has struck some as so unlikeable. A bit self-obsessed certainly, but isn't that natural given what we are told has happened?

Also, yes, writing letters in this style and at such length would be unusual. But isn't it more of an expression than a communication? Isn't it a cathartic purging?

There is one thing I do find hard to believe, and that is the described perceptions of a professional middle-class US woman of her time. She is considering reasons for having a child, and is drawn to a convoluted masochistic reason. Yet in all the detail she has never once considered the question of overpopulation. At this time Ehrlich's book about the population explosion was very popular. To me this shouts that a younger author (Shriver) has not accurately assessed the cultural mores of her character. (hide spoiler)]

But it's early as yet. I'll give it longer!

I finished this book in about 3 days total, although not consecutive. It's really interesting to see how many people found it dense and generally tough going; indeed it was long, but to me it was more of a page-turner. I got quickly fascinated by the characters and felt it was extremely well-written, as well as well-constructed.

I'm not so sure that it is hard to believe that Kevin was so "different" from the beginning -- I imagine that this type of kid WOULD be different.

However, after reading the (now seemingly mild) American psycho-drama in The Silver Linings Playbook and the overwhelming American psycho-drama in "Kevin", I am ready for something more light-hearted, so the Greek island theme is appealing!

Finally finished and it didn't really get any better as far as I am concerned. There was a surprise at the end although not the one you expect, but is that enough for me to recommend it to others? Not really.

I finished this a couple of days ago. A 4-day read, even though it was a long book. Not sure whether that's because I found it a page-turner or just that the weather's so gorgeous and conducive to sitting in the garden reading.....

Anyway, have posted a review.

Finished this Sunday morning 30 mins before my holiday started! I enjoyed it although I had seen the movie so knew what was going on.

I found myself thinking of Jodi Picoult's nineteen minutes though.

Jen wrote: "Finished this Sunday morning 30 mins before my holiday started! I enjoyed it although I had seen the movie so knew what was going on.

I found myself thinking of Jodi Picoult's nineteen minutes th..."

I thought of 19 Minutes too, but ultimately felt they only had the subject matter in common. The approach to "Kevin" is constructed so differently; also I found it much more disturbing than 19 Minutes.

I finished this today. I found it slow to get into but I was eager to get finished and I had guessed the big surprise of the story by half way through. I didn't really enjoy it, but I did want to keep reading to find out if I was right.

I found it surprisingly easy to connect with Eva, even though she's cold and distant. Maybe that says more about me than I want to analyse right now, and I had no problems believing how "different" or odd Kevin was right from being a tiny tot. Some kids ARE odd from the start, some kids DO have a strange character and can flip from one personality to another depending on circumstances.

It was just too grim for me. I hated the eye part of the plot. Hated it.

It was clever and thought-provoking. But I didn't like it.

Finished it last night. A grim read

I think that Shriver has written the characters that seem normal at first, but then start to grate. The book asks the question when these horrific incidents take place, is it the fault of the
i) child
ii) the parents
iii) society,

but she doesn’t answer it and leaves it up to the reader to form their own opinion.

Did you think that was a cop-out on her part Paul? Most people have an opinion on the nature versus nurture debate so I wonder why she didn't express it.

Lionel Shriver may have an opinion on the Nature/Nurture debate, but it's such a complex issue that surely a novel isn't the place to debate it.

I certainly didn't expect an author to express judgement, or the viewpoint character (Eva) either - and I think the novel is far better for not having a "reason why" jammed down our throat. It's more thought-provoking that way.

The denouement of the novel was to be expected, I thought, though. I've said more about this in my review.

No I don't, because which ever side she came down on she would have been berated for. She also avoided the gun lobby wrath by giving him a crossbow.

Paul - I hadn't spotted that as an ulterior motive (view spoiler)[ for giving Kevin a crossbow (hide spoiler)] though I agree that probably is true for the US market.

And there I was believing Kevin's attributed reason that he didn't want to be considered part of any social sub-group or type.

She talked about the gun lobby in the book as well. I'm sure Eva would never have allowed him to have a gun, because she described some of the arguments she'd had with Franklin about needing tighter gun restrictions. She didn't really want him to have a crossbow, but at least that was associated with Archery, a legitimate sport in her eyes.

I understand the reasons why the debate may not have been included. However, I do find the fact that it is not mentioned is unrealistic. When these tragedies occur the debate is always wheeled out. I also thought that the bow was brought in to avoid the gun debate.

Maybe I'm just being too negative about the book because I didn't like it at all.

I have only just managed to get started on this book, so doubt I will be finished by the end of the month. I am intrigued by the differences of opinion it has provoked so far. I am about 30 pages in at the moment and not sure if I am going to love or hate it, but I am finding it quite an easy read so far. It's early days!

I read this book ages ago, and agree with the comment above about it being a fun one given that it tends to polarise (Anglicised given that this forum seems to be made up of mostly Brits!) people. The humorous common thread is how poncey the writing style is. For some reason, I didn't find it to be that way when I read it, but I recently started her new one (Big Brother) and was instantly turned off by how hard she seemed to be trying. As for Kevin, I found certain aspects of it very intriguing. The idea that not every mother is automagically transformed into the perfect caregiver is typically not explored. The possibility that a child could inherently know that and become a monster in reaction to it is a bit too much in the nurture (or lack thereof) camp of the ages old argument, but I found it compelling nonetheless.

I just finished today. Kevin mesmerized me as did his relationship with Eva. Otherwise the book was a slow read for me. I did not care too much for the.writing style and the characters.

Yesterday I finished reading "We need to talk about Kevin". I actually like it very much after page 100.
Are we going to talk about the book?

There are lots of comments above! Feel free to add to them, or reply as necessary.

What in particular did you like about it after P100? And what did you dislike before?

I'm a month behind, but I had to wait for this book at the library and then once I finished reading it I had to think about it even longer. While reading this book I was so ANGRY. How could so many people miss so many warning signs with Kevin, how could there never be any help? I was constantly thinking of the nature/nurture, with Kevin it seemed to be mixed. Yes, he had some oddities as a small child, but was it him or was it because he could feel him Mom not connected with him? If he did know his Mom loved him, would the issues have been as bad?
I enjoyed the writing, I liked how Shriver had told the story through letters that Eva was writing to her husband. Was she only remembering all of the bad things that happened? Was Paul really as clueless as he seemed? I had a hard time finding sympathy for any of the characters.

Only after about 100 pages when Eva visited her in-laws I realized that Franklin was out of the picture, then the book became more interesting. Even I like the book, I think is a bit unrealistic. As I was reading I was expecting Eva to do something about Kevin specially with the amount of money she was making and with the resources that this country has. Unfortunately we had seen several real life cases were the parents did not want to see the true about their children and themselves and even worse they never have the time.

One other thought, based on the discovery at the end of the book. When Eva found Kevin at the school and he seemed to be searching her for a reaction made me think that so much if what he had done was tied to getting a response from her.

Very interesting thoughts Tony. I agree that Kevin was just searching for a reaction and some kind of affection from his mother, which he didn't have all of his life. I think this really showed when his sister was born and she bonded with her, which pushed Kevin out even further.

Yes Gemma, very true. Obviously it wasn't that Eva couldn't feel maternal love, since she did with his sister.