Art and Books

Columbine: An ever-lasting tragedy

Not only is Columbine gripping, it also paints a vivid picture of the Colorado school shooting tragedy.

Sameen Amer January 19, 2011

Book: Columbine

Genre: Non-Fiction

Author: Dave Cullen

Publisher: Twelve

Excerpt

All two thousand students would return safely on Monday morning, after the prom. But the following afternoon, Tuesday, April 20, 1999, twenty-four of Mr. D's kids and faculty members would be loaded into ambulances and rushed to hospitals. Thirteen bodies would remain in the building and two more on the grounds. It would be the worst school shooting in American history – a characterisation that would have appalled the boys just then finalizing their plans.

In April 1999, two students opened fire at their high school in Colorado, taking the lives of 13 people and injuring 24 others, before shooting themselves. The Columbine High School shooting subsequently received widespread media coverage and has since then been the subject of a number of books, including Columbine, the result of a decade of research by journalist Dave Cullen, that covers everything from the shooters’ planning of the event to its execution and aftermath.

Published in April 2009, the award-winning non-fiction book provides an in-depth look at the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, their actions prior to and during the massacre and the efforts of the survivors to cope with the aftermath. The writer has used a number of sources including the shooter’s journals and video, conversations with friends and family members, police records, and eyewitnesses’ accounts, to piece together and makes sense of the tragedy.

Cullen reveals that the massacre had actually been intended as a bombing but the explosive devices never went off. Eric Harris is believed to have been a psychopath and Dylan Klebold, a depressive. Contrary to what was reported, the shooters had not been bullied and did not have any association with the Trench Coat Mafia. By pointing out the disparities between what was presented through the media coverage and what really happened, Columbine also illustrates how fallacies can take over an event and create a misleading image.

However, the book risks leaving you so convinced that what we read and heard about the event isn’t necessarily true, that it might even make you doubt Cullen’s version of the narrative, particularly at the points where elements of speculation seep through. Added to this is the fact that opposing views have been expressed by various writers and people – most visibly by Randy Brown and his son Brooks Brown who personally knew the shooters.

Not only is Columbine gripping (albeit at times understandably hard to read), but it also paints a vivid picture of the shocking tragedy and how the events unfolded. It is a must read, especially for those who would like a valid opinion on what happened and why.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (7)

Sameen Amer | 13 years ago | Reply @Dave Cullen: I saw Columbine on the bestseller lists, thought it sounded interesting, and decided to read it. My knowledge of the incident prior to reading the book had been limited to the narrative presented by the news channels, which is why I found your work so fascinating - the alternative view would not have reached me were it not for the book, and I am in awe of the kind of time and research that went into writing it. I hope you get to see Kashmir someday; I've been told that it's beautiful (my mum's family is originally from there). And if you ever get a chance to visit Lahore, I'll gladly be your tour guide!

Dave Cullen | 13 years ago | Reply Thanks, Sameen. I appreciate that. And I'm happy to see the book reaching readers in Pakistan. I lived in The Gulf for two years--Kuwait and Bahrain, consulting for Kuwait Oil Co, and various other companies, when I was only a part-time writer--and really love that part of the world. I had hoped to get to Pakistan, but ran out of time. (I also really regret failing to get to Turkey, Jordan and Nepal.) I tried to visit Kashmir, but foolishly went during the Id al Fatir (is that how you spell it?) holidays, because that's the only time I could get a week off work. But all the flights were booked because of the holiday. So I visited the Kulu Valley instead. Next trip to Asia, I hope to get to Kashmir, and Pakistan. Sooner or later, I will get there. How did you come across my book?

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Sameen Amer | 13 years ago | Reply @Dave Cullen: Dave, thanks for reading the review, and congratulations on the success of Columbine. It's a remarkable book, and I'm sure readers will find those additional resources helpful.

Dave Cullen | 13 years ago | Reply FYI, GM is the Denver businessman who published the book he's hawking.

gm davis | 13 years ago | Reply Cullen , who first reported on the story for the online magazine Salon, acknowledges in the book's source notes that thoughts he attributes to Klebold and Harris are conjecture gleaned from the record the pair left behind. Jeff Kass takes a more straightforward approach in "Columbine: A True Crime Story," working backward from the events of the fateful day. The Denver Post Mr. Cullen insists that the killers enjoyed "far more friends than the average adolescent," with Harris in particular being a regular Casanova who "on the ultimate high school scorecard . . . outscored much of the football team." The author's footnotes do not reveal how he knows this; when I asked him about it while preparing this review, Mr. Cullen said he did not necessarily mean to imply that Harris was sexually active. But what else would such words mean? "Eric and Dylan never had any girlfriends," the more sober Mr. Kass writes, and were "probably virgins upon death." Wall Street Journal

Narmeen | 13 years ago | Reply :)

Dave Cullen | 13 years ago | Reply Thanks for the kind and thoughtful review of my book. I'm glad to see it reaching an audience outside the U.S. Thanks for helping with that. It's true, of course, that there have been a few dissenters about the diagnosis among victims personally involved with the case, but very little among mental health experts or criminologists. And for any teacher--or students out there--we’ve had a lot of interest on using the book in school, so we’re trying to make that easier. I spent a good chunk of the fall creating the Columbine Instructor Guide and Columbine Student Guide. They are now online and free. Please consider spreading the word. Thanks. Thanks.

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