We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

[chytach18-]

First I watched the film We Need to Talk About Kevin when I`ve realised that it was an adaptation of the book. Film was very good psychological thriller, and if I hadn`t read the book afterwards, I would say it was an outstanding thriller. I was impressed by fantastic performances by the actress who played Eva and by the all three young talents who played Kevin. However, the film had omitted or undersized some of the very important themes which made the book so powerful. In the book, parent/child relationship was much more complicated and deep than in the film. Eva wasn`t as cold, unloving mother, as people, including her own husband, were seeing her. She was a very intelligent woman, with her own point of view on many things, including motherhood. One of the themes which had made the book is so deep and so complex is Eva`s reflections on America, American people, American politics, and, most importantly, American arrogance on gun culture. But, like Kevin, she wasn`t heard. Eva and Kevin were not exactly rivals to each other – they both were the outcasts in their own society and in their own family. What happened to Kevin, wasn`t entirely Eva`s fault. She saw the signs from the very early age. It`s just her stubborn, narrow-minded, typical American husband, who was blind. Eva`s problem was she loved that man; she couldn`t rescue herself and her children from him, from his rather silly love, and the tragedy was unavoidable.
The book is so great because it is written in a form of letters to a man who is dead. We didn`t know that until the end but Eva knew who she was writing to and that contributed to her very complex and brutally honest character. Yet, because it is written in a first voice, we still don`t know how Franklin or Kevin really felt and that makes us wonder. This exactly what the good book should make us to do – think and reflect.
And last but not least what had encouraged me to include We Need to Talk About Kevin to the list of my favourite books is its language. I have to admit that here and there I was forced to look up the word I didn`t know; it was a challenging reading but, surprisingly, it didn`t affect the pace of the book. On the contrary, it made me to love the book even more than I would do if it were written in a simpler lazier language.
Great book and I would recommend any one, who likes to immerse themselves into a deep complex story, to read it. But be aware – you might not like the characters or their attitude.

[gali]

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We Need to Talk About Kevin