Title: Columbine
Author: Dave Cullen
Genre: Nonfiction / crime
Rating: 4 / 5
Why I picked it up: Columbine was such a big deal when it happened (I was like 10 or 11), and I’m always kind of curious about things like that, that people say shaped a generation or define America or whatever (even if those claims aren’t true). My university library had this one, and I’d heard good things about it, so I picked it up. I read this one out loud to Peter.
What it’s about: This book deals with the event that happened to Columbine High School in 1999, about the lead up, the aftermath, and the handling of the event itself by multiple parties (shooters, SWAT/police, students).
What I liked: It was thorough. The book came out 10 years after the incident, and it’s fairly lengthy–400 pages, but it was a relatively large hardback book with a relatively small font. It seemed well-researched and it was engaging. I also appreciated the fact that the author did not try to sensationalize or sentimentalize the subject. I think it can be a fine line, trying to describe what happened without projecting the author’s emotions onto it (since of course it’s an emotional event). A lot of the information was interesting as well.
What I didn’t like: This isn’t necessarily something I “didn’t like” about the book itself, but it has been criticized by some, notably Brooks Brown, as having containing a lot of misinformation. He disagrees with Cullen about the level of bullying; basically, Cullen says that bullying was not a cause of the Columbine massacre, while Brown seems to think it is a cause. I don’t doubt that there was bullying at Columbine, and that it was likely worse than at my high school, but I tend to agree with Cullen that it’s not a cause. I think it’s important to take into account different views though, and Brown seems like a thoughtful guy in the AMA I linked so I think it’s worth mentioning.
Overall / recommended: I like this book and would recommend it not just for the insight into “why” it happened, but also what happened after. It’s an eye-opening look into how local police work (or don’t) and how a community deals with something so malicious and un-understandable. It isn’t happy reading and I would hesitate to call it “necessary” too, but if you’re interested in the topic I think it’s a really good place to start.
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