We Need To Talk About Kevin

These are my thoughts on the best book I have ever read, We Need To Talk About Kevin:
Written from a smart female perspective(that I wouldn't call feminist as it is more personal than political), Kevin is an exploration of the human experience for any thinking person. The protagonist, Eva, tells a story that cannot always be trusted as her perceptions seem downright paranoid, at times. Or it could be that she is just easily recognizing character traits in her child that are so similar to her own. What is scary about Kevin is not that he is a foreign monster. What he says makes sense, but what he does is something else completely. You wonder if any thoughtful person wouldn't come to the same conclusions about existence that Kevin has come to; the only difference being that he is lacking empathy(the one thing that stands between most of us and sociopathology). Kevin cannot be so simply labeled a "bad seed" or an anitsocial and tossed aside; his is not a completely inaccessible character.

I read from beginning to end completely enthralled with every word. I found the ending riveting and revealing, but not because of what might be thought of as major events(those were well foreshadowed, if not outright stated), but because of some of the small events.

To those who thought the novel should be shorter, I can only say that I wished it had been longer. To those who thought that it was flawed because Kevin did not get psychiatric help, I suggest a reread and some investigation into the the efficacy of "therapy" with the characterologically disordered. And finally to those who thought it too "dark", I suggest some serious self reflection as well as a closer investigation of the world around you. To Lionel Shriver, I give a heart-felt thank you.

PS I found it hard to believe that Eva was not an atheist or that she never thought of herself as "particularly bright". Still, considering the talent and intelligence of Shriver, I can only assume that my disbelief is due to some error on my part as opposed to one on hers.