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We Need to Talk About Kevin
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We Need to Talk About Kevin (2003) (edit title/settings)

by Lionel Shriver (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

In this gripping novel of motherhood gone awry, Lionel Shriver approaches the tragedy of a high-school massacre from the point of view of the killer's mother.In letters written to the boy's father, mother Eva probes the upbringing of this more-than-difficult child and reveals herself to have... read more

Summary edit see section history

Eva never really wanted to be a mother-and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow HS students, a cafe. worker, and a much-loved teacher who tried to befriend him. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Eva never really wanted to be a mother-and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow HS students, a cafe. worker, and a much-loved teacher who tried to befriend him. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsilbe for driving him so nihilistically of the rails.

Characters edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Big deeds are a lot of little deeds one after the other.”
  • “A child needs your love most when he deserves it least.”
    Erma Bombeck
  • “"How vital, the hard glass interface of that <TV> screen. Viewers don't want those shows spilling willy-nilly into their homes, any more than they want other people's sewage to overflow from their toilets."”
  • “You make me feel bad; feeling bad makes me mad; ergo, you make me mad.”
  • “now that children don't till your fields or take you in when you're incontinent, there is no sensible reason to have them, and it's amazing that with the advent of effective contraception anyone chooses to reproduce at all.”
    Eva
  • “I was the one who would be ripped to ribbons ramming a watermelon through a passage the size of a garden hose.”
    Eva
  • “From a young age there was only one thing I had always wanted ... and that was a good man who loved me and would stay true. Anything else was ancillary, a bonus like frequent-flier miles. I could have lived without children. I couldn't live without you.”
    Eva

Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

I'm unsure why one trifling incident this afternoon has moved me to write to you.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Childhood and Adulthood: The idea that, in the end, the only big change one goes through from childhood to adulthood is that one loses the innocence, realizing "the secret is that there is no secret."

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 4 of 10 in 10 most disturbing novels. (community list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 44 of 100 in Top 100 Books That Defined The Noughties (Telegraph). (authoritative list)
This book is in Amazon Book Club Picks. (authoritative list)
This is book 61 of 145 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2011). (authoritative list)
This is book 53 of 121 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2012). (authoritative list)
This book is in Dysfunctional Families. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Lionel Shriver (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Counterpoint
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 1582432678
Page Count: 416

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

With parental discussion/guidance

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Hannibal
  • Loves Music, Loves to Dance
  • Dearest
  • A Father's Story
  • Far From the Tree
  • Death of Innocence
  • The Fifth Child

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