Name: Columbine
Rating: 4.255813953488372 (129 reviews)
ISBN: 9780446546935

David Cullen

Columbine

chloe rae

One random day, I was watching Ted Talks on YouTube and one popped up by someone named Sue Klebold. It's title: "My son was a Columbine shooter" and I watched it in absolute awe. Her story was so incredibly heartbreaking and shocking; Columbine was something I'd maybe heard about but knew virtually nothing about. Her talk just really stuck with me. So much so, that when I saw this book in the bookstore about a year or so later, I immediately thought of her and wanted to know more. Here was what most consider to be the definitive account of what happened and I suddenly NEEDED to know more.
This book was incredibly hard to read. It was both fascinating and absolutely horrific. I don't read a lot of non-fiction so that definitely has to do with why it took so long to finish this book. However, this book is also A LOT and sometimes I just needed a break. I understand why it took 10 years to write. I'm definitely glad I took my time reading it.
The way Dave told this story, in snippets of information and fact, rolled seamlessly into bits of dialogue and heart, was perfect. He wrote about these people, these ACTUAL PEOPLE, with such empathy and respect. You could tell from his writing that he truly cares about these people so much and was both changed and affected by what happened.
It's hard to rate this book. I really like how Dave presented all the information to us but sometimes the timeline got confusing. I had to keep going back and looking at dates and moments. And there's so many people discussed that it could get overwhelming, which is totally understandable because this involved so many people. There were times I wished it was told completely in chronological order but I don't know if it would've worked.
So much of this book is about what happened BEFORE and AFTER the actual event; not a lot of the book focuses on the shooting (which I was thankful for. Those chapters were very hard to read). One thing it did show me was that MAYBE this could've been avoided. If we'd known what we know now; if certain people and departments had known to take things more seriously or do this/that, would things be different? It blew my MIND how many discrepancies there were in this story.
I also love how Dave didn't get super political. He talked about everything in a factual way, never focusing on something for too long or pointing too many fingers. He just said what happened, and gave all the information to us so we could form our own opinions.
Overall, a deeply moving account of something so terrible and horrendous, yet full of hope and courage. I look forward to reading more from Cullen.

M. Marques

What an emotional rollercoaster.

“(…) we in the media need to see our role as clearly as the perps have. We did not start this, nor have we pulled any triggers. But the killers have made us reliable partners. We supply the audience, they provide the show”

Jeannette Ordas

Wow. This is a fantastically researched book and it's a very good read albeit, as expected, very dark and disturbing (and hello, look at that gorgeous cover design!!). 4.5 stars.

Megan Snodgrass

This book was THOROUGH. Dave Cullen spent years and years researching this book and the labor of his work is evident and so appreciated because I can't imagine that was easy emotionally or physically to collect and understand. He looks at before the event, the event, and what happened after. He looks at the victim's, the killers, the parents, the police, and the aftermath. It's the most comprehensive book on one single event that I've ever read and I truly wish every book on historical (albeit infamous) events was like. It was a truly devastating and heartbreaking event and he writes about it with respect and holds off judgment, simply stating the facts.

Ally Gagliardo

This was a great book. I love thrillers and I love listening to true crime podcasts. This was a perfect mix of the two. It was so gut wrenching and hard to get through at parts because of the subject, but it was truly a great read.

Emma Friedheim

Oof. This book is brilliant and enthralling, but unsurprisingly tough on the soul. Fascinating to read about just how manipulative the media/police were in this tragedy (and to realize just how little I knew about what actually happened), but even more interesting to read the sections about psychopathy...

Caroline Lewicki

I've been meaning to read Dave Cullen's "Columbine" for at least 10 years now and it did not disappoint. His journalistic recounts of the tragedy at Columbine High School lend insight into the massacre that even I had never heard. His focus is not just on the shooters, and actually a great majority is on survivors, victims, and their families. I would be interested to see him write on the subject again, as Sue Klebold has spoken out since the publication of this book and school shootings have seen a spike again in recent years. Overall an obviously thoroughly researched book and so engaging and enthralling. I didn't want to stop listening.

Caitlin Snyder

I really loved the narrative style that Cullen wrote in, it wasn't dry like some nonfictions can be. This was such an interesting book not only on the horrible tragedy that happened at Columbine but also an exploration into how this event changed the student, parents, teachers and families of Littleton.

Dave Cullen

**THE GROUNDBREAKING BESTSELLER AND CLASSIC** 'Excellent . . . amazing how much still comes as a surprise' New York Times Book Review 'Like Capote's In Cold Blood, this tour de force gets below the who and the what of a horrifying incident to lay bare the devastating why' People 'A staggering work of journalism' Washington Post 'The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror...' So begins the epilogue, illustrating how Columbine has become the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It makes the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this flame more urgent than ever. What really happened on April 20th, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we thought we knew was wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths or the Trench Coast Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on the scene, and he spent ten years on this book, the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists , and the killers' own words and drawings - several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.

Jimena Vázquez Oliver

It took me longer than usual to read this book because I NEEDED to take breaks every now and again. I’ve read plenty of gruesome fiction as well as countless true crime, but something about this book affected me more than almost anything else I’ve read so far. Maybe it’s how devastatingly relevant it still is nowadays, over two decades after the original event. Overall, however, it’s an extremely well-written and effective book. I do highly recommend it, but not without warning.

Maytal

A really interesting read on the Columbine school massacre, and how the media got it all wrong - from a reporter who was there since day one. Really well researched and obviously terrifying subject matter.

EXPANDED WITH A NEW EPILOGUE "The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror . . . " So begins a new epilogue, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year. What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.

Kourtney

Wow. What a powerful book. Not only does Columbine take you there when the massacre occurred, it also provides events that led up to the event, both from the killers and the victims. Very chilling, sad, hopeful, and moving story. Have a tissue box handy though - you may need to use it, either to throw or cry into.

Columbine

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