Nineteen Minutes ~ by Jodi Picoult, 2007, fictionRead it, enjoyed it, was pulled to the next page, the next chapter, more, more, more, and had pretty much figured out what had really happened during the "nineteen minutes" that a student went on a rampage of murder. Yep, a lot like Virginia Tech last month. And then ... and then ... it all came out, and my "figuring" was off the mark, absolutely! I was astonished.
I don't know how Picoult does it, managing to publish a book just before something similar makes the news. Of course, it is also long AFTER something similar made the news: Columbine High School. Picoult refuses to tiptoe around volatile issues. In The Tenth Circle, her last book before this one, she wrote about an incident of date rape, and in Nineteen Minutes she deals with a student killing fellow students and faculty. I was reluctant to pick up the book because of how recently the VT shootings had shocked the nation, but it is so different and has such an unusual twist, that I can readily recommend this book. Rated 9 of 10, an excellent novel.
4 comments:
I'm on a Jodi Picoult kick right now, and this one is next on my list.
Michele sent me!
Bonnie,
I am reading this right now (almost finished) once again Jodi is right on target.
I finished Nineteen Minutes a couple of days ago. I had a weird reaction. On the one hand each characters situation kind of annoyed me. I really hated Lewis, I found myself thinking "he should have never been a parent". I was not a bully in school but I was a jock and I remember the clicks. But I don’t really remember any bulling but I was really only aware of my group and no one else really registered.
At first I was annoyed that it seemed like Picoult just followed the Columbine incident but I still could not put the book down. I had to know what happened next (even Lewis thought I was tempted many times to Fast-forward through his parts). In the end I felt this was a very realistic portrayal of what it would be like if (not really an "if" anymore this seems to happen all the time now) this happened in everyday suburban America.
This is on my wishlist! I'm reading a really good book right now about the same topic: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.
Post a Comment