Journal Entry 1 by Crazylilfairy from Witney, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Friday, March 14, 2008

This is a brilliant book, I enjoyed every minute of it. It's very thought provoking and was the winner of the orange prize for fiction in 2005.

I will probably do a book ring in the future for this book, until then if you would like to borrow it, please PM me.

Synopsis
Two years ago, Eva Khatchadourian's son, Kevin, murdered seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker, and a popular algebra teacher. Because he was only fifteen at the time of the killings, he received a lenient sentence and is now in a prison for young offenders in upstate New York. Telling the story of Kevin's upbringing, Eva addresses herself to her estranged husband through a series of letters. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about both motherhood in general and Kevin in particular. How much is her fault? Lionel Shriver tells a compelling, absorbing, and resonant story while framing these horrifying tableaux of teenage carnage as metaphors for the larger tragedy - the tragedy of a country where everything works, nobody starves, and anything can be bought but a sense of purpose.

I'm starting a book Ring for this fab book.

Welcome to We Need to Talk About Kevin International Book Ring.

This is how it works: (Thanks to YokoSpungeon for the book ring guide)

If you wish to be added to the list, please PM me with your details.

We will kick off once we have 5 members.

You will be sending the book to the person who appears after you in the
list, so you need to PM them to get their address!

It's not a race, but please read and send the book on as speedily as you
can, other people are dying to read it too.

Please journal the book once you have received it (so we all know where it
currently is) and again when you have read it (so we know what you
thought of it!)

If you're the last person on the list (i.e. we run out of members) the book
comes back to me until there are more interested parties...

Member/Location

Bookworm76 (Australia) Postage Preference - International
Flossie771 (USA) Postage Preference - International
Lucy-Lemon (UK) Postage Preference - UK/Europe
RonOren (UK) Postage Preference - UK/Europe
IWISHIWAS (UK) Postage Preference - UK/Europe

and back to me Crazylilfairy (UK)

This is the order so far. It's subject to change depending on Postage Preferences. Apologies that it is not in the order you PM'd me, but this is due to postage preferences. I have tried to keep it in the same order as much as I can.

 

Journal Entry 2 by Crazylilfairy at Royal Mail in First person in Bookring - enjoy!, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Friday, May 09, 2008

Released 4 yrs ago (5/7/2008 UTC) at Royal Mail in First person in Bookring - enjoy!, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Bookworm76 to start the bookring off - hope you enjoy it :) 

Journal Entry 3 by bookworm76 from Kedron, Queensland Australia on Tuesday, May 13, 2008

This book made me grateful I don't have children - it really is such a gamble.

I have often entered into arguments about nature vs nurture and I really think it is a bit of both. Certainly I have seen parents who have done everything right only to have their kids go bad, also people have told me that they could tell their child's personality even before they were born.

I really don't blame Eva as I think that being a parent would be really hard. I also thought that Franklin was an idiot - I would have had a rethink after nanny left and the day-care lady had pretty much had enough. Yes you have to love your kids and stand up for them, but seriously if there are people who are experts with children who are saying something is wrong you really need to pay attention.

I decided that I thought the book was good and very confronting. I would recommend it as a read (although not to people who are thinking of having children :-) 

Journal Entry 4 by bookworm76 at Controlled Release in Lutwyche, Queensland Australia on Monday, June 02, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (6/2/2008 UTC) at Controlled Release in Lutwyche, Queensland Australia

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending it on to the next address on the bookring. 

Journal Entry 5 by flossie771 from Villa Rica, Georgia USA on Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I received this book today. I have one book ahead of it and then I will read and pass on.

 

Journal Entry 6 by flossie771 from Villa Rica, Georgia USA on Thursday, June 26, 2008

I finished reading this book today. It was a different book for me. I usually read other types of books, but this one made me really think. I just wonder what went wrong...so sad, for the boy and his mother.
I have the addy for the next person, so this will be mailed tomorrow.


 

Journal Entry 7 by lucy-lemon from Llandudno, Wales United Kingdom on Monday, July 07, 2008

Arrived today, have another book in front of it, but will read asap, as I've heard loads of good things about this book. Thanks for sharing. 

Journal Entry 8 by RonOren from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, August 20, 2008

This arrived about a week ago, but I didn't have the time to journal it yet (sorry!). I'm not quite sure when I'll get to read it either, but I'll try not to be too slow... 

Journal Entry 9 by RonOren from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Thursday, August 28, 2008

Blimey, what a story! I presume it's not based on a real person (or maybe it's based on a combination of persons), but I could really understand how these horrible shooting can occur. Or rather, I could understand how people (parents, teachers etc.) can't stop them from happening... One thing I certainly didn't see coming was the twist at the end!

Two things really impressed me: the horrible storyline notwithstanding, there's still some humour in it. Admittedly, it's mostly when Eva is still describing the happier memories, but it's still quite impressive to get a few funny lines into such a story. The other thing that impressed me is that, although it is only Eva telling the story, you can still pick up Franklin's ideas and not only when she quotes him. Somehow, Shriver manages to instill some dialogue into a one-way letter "exchange". Without a doubt, she's a very good author!

Although I can't say I enjoyed this book (the story is too horrible), it did read very easily and I'm very glad I joined the ring. Before I send it on to IWISHIWAS, I'd like to see if my girlfriend, DJgib, can quickly read this too. 

Journal Entry 10 by DJgib from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Saturday, October 04, 2008

Hi, thanks for letting me break into the ring, and sorry that I've been slow journalling - life has been somewhat hectic lately.

I was very impressed with this book, and couldn't put it down. I thought it dealt with an extremely difficult subject very cleverly. I agree with bookworm76 that a person's character is a product of both nature and nurture, and though this book only poses the question of the causes of Kevin's personality and actions without giving a black and white answer, I think the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the truth is somewhere in the middle (though I accept that I am biased towards that interpretation). The other question that is raised is who does more damage, a cold and unloving parent or a parent blinded by love to the child's actual character, which is a question often overlooked. The thing that surprised me most about the book is how readable it is considering that it is a novel of letters, a style that is usually very static.

I'm very pleased that I've read this book, it was a true experience and it's also given me and Ron something to talk about.

I'll try to get the book moving as soon as possible.
 

Journal Entry 11 by DJgib from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Saturday, October 11, 2008

Kevin will be posted to IWISHIWAS later today. 

Journal Entry 12 by IWISHIWAS from Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham United Kingdom on Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Thanks DJgib, it arrived today, one more ring ahead of it, so more later.
Update - I was another one who couldn't put it down. At first I thought it was going to be a bit of a struggle being so "wordy" and a bit long winded. But either I got used to that or it eased off. I didn't like Eva at first, she was conceited and selfish, but as the story unfolded I became more sympathetic to her and more intolerant of Franklins refusal to see anything wrong with Kevin. As soon as Celia was born I feared for the life she would have with Kevin, but did not see the ending at all. Very impressed with the book, which I have mulled over for days but now find I have more questions than answers. A big thank you for including me in the ring.

18 Nov 2008 ~ Returning to crazylilfairy. 

Journal Entry 13 by Crazylilfairy at Witney, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Saturday, February 18, 2012

This arrived back home a long time ago, but lifes events meant I haven't visited this site in a while. :-)

Thanks for all your comments.

Becky