But at times this made Klebold’s book particularly painful. Pain and suffering seems to envelop people, but there are many more feelings and emotions that layer themselves within the larger narrative of grief. (She actually calls it brain health and brain illness throughout her book, for a very smart reason. Rolling in Raindrops. As she tells the story, when Dylan called out “bye” the morning of the attacks, she heard in his tone “a sneer, almost, as if he’d been caught in the middle of a fight with someone”. We’d love your help. But once she realises that Dylan was depressed, she begins to simplify her narrative, ascribing his participation that day to his “brain” illness and the insidious influence of Harris. Eventually, the two perpetrators turned their guns against themselves and committed suicide. $28. I find these books very hard to review. This book is heart wrenching and fascinating, but it very much feels like something Sue Klebold had to write for her own. "While every other mother in Littleton was praying that their child was safe, I had to pray that mine would die before he hurt anyone else.". Summary of A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold | Includes Analysis Preview: In her memoir A Mother’s Reckoning, Sue Klebold struggles. After all, there had to have been some extremely obvious signs for their sons to be able to do something like this. I finished this audiobook more than two weeks ago and I still really don't know how to review it. However, with the power of hindsight, Klebold could see what might have been warning signs of the smallest order. Writing 16 years after the. It was nearly impossible not to, considering I spent my time reading their journals, private online conversations, websites, jokes, accounts from friends and loved ones and teachers who liked and praised them as well as watching homemade videos they made for fun. Book Review ‘A Mother’s Reckoning’ doesn’t dig deep enough. By Rachel Shteir Globe Correspondent, February 17, ... After finishing “A Mother’s Reckoning,’’ I longed to know why. But amongst the more trivial things in this book—like Klebold's excellent writing for someone who doesn't do this professionally—I think what stands out most is Klebold's optimism and faith that we. “We’re the last people others would expect to find in this situation,” she thinks repeatedly on the day of the shooting. April 20, 1999 – Columbine High School – Littleton, Colorado. I think she does a tremendous job of expressing her experience of mourning, while paying due respect to the families of Dylan’s victims. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Summary (from Goodreads): On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. “To the rest of the world, Dylan was a monster,” she writes, “but I had lost my child.”. A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy is written by Sue Klebold, mother of Dylan Klebold. It’s hard to criticise a book that so earnestly and willingly embraces self-exposure. January 14, 2017 January 14, 2017 ~ wendopolis. This book was extremely difficult to read at times, and I can only imagine how hard it was for Klebold to write. On 20th April, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went to school with the intention to kill. However 80% of this book is her telling me what a normal family they were and what I normal childhood he had (and I believe it) and the other 20% that he had a brain disease and was suicidal (and I believe that too). Sue Klebold is a very strong woman, I don't know how she got through all of this. Crown. Perhaps the most unnerving thing about having a child is that you don’t know in advance who he or she or “they” will turn out to be. She lost him twice: his actions that day meant the son she thought she had known was a fiction. On hearing there was a shooting at Columbine, she prayed her son was safe. “HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?? Even she understands how difficult it is for people to accept that sometimes parents don't know that their child is planning to do something terrible, and that if the child does do something terrible, that the terrible act is not always the result of poor parenting. Her book is titled, “A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy,” and in it she chronicles the day of April 20, 1999 and the weeks following based on her journals. When the Columbine massacre occurred in April of 1999, I recall judging the parents. March 11, 2016 Paige Reviews 0 ★★★★ A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold Published by Crown on February 15, 2016 Genres: Adult Nonfiction, Memoir Pages: 336 Format: eBook Source: Bought Goodreads Later, when she heard that her son was involved, she found herself praying he would die. I only finished it recently. She dove into motherhood and did her best to mother with intent and purpose. The journey to becoming a so called monster was too complex, and to understand why they came to do inhuman things you first need to understand how they were as humans in the first place. First, I want to deeply discredit reviews that state this book is nothing but a mother making excuses for her son. ... Posted in Uncategorized Book review mothers sons. Book Review: A Mother’s Reckoning. They are also a victim. Book: A Mother's Reckoning: Living In the Aftermath of Tragedy Author: Sue Klebold On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School. I knew a little about the Columbine tragedy and felt lucky to read this with an open mind. Her “sunshine boy” was a mass murderer. With each piece of new information, typically shared months apart, she would learn something new, shocking, and uncharacteristic about her youngest son. (This is an important message, but it certainly needs to be tempered with the realization that the vast majority of teenagers are not at risk of doing what Dylan did, or even of suicide.) I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same if I found myself in her shoes. A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold My rating: 4 of 5 stars Bravo, Sue Klebold! It is definitely worth the read and changed my perspective on the parents of Dylan. … Dylan and Sue Klebold, erhaps the most unnerving thing about having a child is that you don’t know in advance who he or she or “they” will turn out to be. Klebold’s son became a murderer before he became a victim of suicide. Columbine High School shooting. Over the course of minutes, they would kill twelve students and a teacher and wound twenty-four others before taking their own lives. Who reads the audio version? A Mother’s Reckoning, book review. Both come down to a kind of moral luck and accident of biology. Along with her personal devastation, she was grief-stricken for the victims, their families, and the community. For nearly an hour, the pair, wearing black trench coats and carrying assault weapons, roved through their school, killing 12 students and one teacher and wounding 24 others before they killed themselves. Why is Dylan’s violence a symptom of disease but not Eric’s psychopathy? Searching for answers, both in their own lives and that of their younger son, the Klebolds faced vilification over something they said they could not have predicted. The stranger you fear may be your own son or daughter.”, “We teach our kids the importance of good dental care, proper nutrition, and financial responsibility. Looks like I am in the minority on this one. I was fascinated, horrified, sickened, and heartbroken in turns while I read, but mostly heartbroken – for Sue as a mother, for the memories of her lost child, and for the pain she and her family have had to live with for the last seventeen years. 305 pp. A mother's Reckoning: Living in the aftermath of tragedy by Sue Klebold Published: February 15th 2016 by Crown Genre: Nonfiction, memoir, biography, true crime Pages: 336 “To all who feel alone, hopeless, and desperate - even in the arms of those who love them.” Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed twelve students and… When we hear about the actions of murderers we always think to ourselves: "How could they've done that? Worse yet, if the suicide is preceded by mass murder. At high school, he became absorbed in video games after failing to make the baseball team. This book is very hard to read and even harder to review. It would be easy to admire Sue Klebold for her courage in writing a Mother’s Reckoning. It is actually the exact opposite of that, and at times, almost has nothing to do with her son, but more of raising awareness on suicide and mental health. Published by wendopolis. I give Klebold much credit for writing this book and for putting herself out here where many will continue to ridicule her, hold her in contempt or just full out not believe what she has to say. And part of my understanding at least a piece of this puzzle, I thought, was reading about the perspective of the woman who had raised Dylan. Looks like I am in the minority on this one. I can't find that info here. In structure, the book relives Sue’s search for answers, drawing on her journals, memories and the research she has done since Dylan’s death, interviewing experts in “law enforcement” as well as “psychiatry and neurobiology”. I’m fairly sure that this is the longest book review that I have written, I have tried to cut it down but can’t, it seems that I have a lot to say about A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold and feel the need to say it! It is definitely worth the read and changed my perspective on the parents of. A great deal of this memoir is written from the perspective of what ac. Over and over again, these are questions that Klebold has heard and continues to hear. Follow. She has spent the last 15 years excavating every detail of her family life, and trying to understand the crucial intersection between mental health problems and violence. Ever. This self-conception, it would seem, kept her from looking deeply at what Dylan was actually doing. Sue Klebold is the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the two shooters at Columbine High School in 1999 who killed 15 people before ending their own lives, a tragedy that saddened and galvanized the nation. February 15th 2016 What was done can probably never be fully explained. Sigh, where to start. Filled with hard-won wisdom and compassion, A Mother’s Reckoning is a powerful and haunting book that sheds light on one of the most pressing issues of our time. “By telling my story as faithfully as possible,” Klebold writes, “even when it is unflattering to me, I hope to shine a light that will help other parents see past the faces their children present”. I give Klebold much credit for writing this book and for putting herself out here where many will continue to ridicule her, hold her in contempt or just full out not believe what she has to say. “So?” he says. What was done can’t be undone. I am not sure how you review something like this - a mother's recounting of a cherished son's life, the heinous act he commits and the aftermath of that act on her life and family. Anyway, again I don't blame her or her husband but frankly I got really bored with reading antecdotes about smart precocious funny Dylan. A Mother’s Reckoning is a sincere gesture in sharing and I thought Sue Klebold shared some very important information, messages and insight to living in the aftermath of tragedy. They also planted bombs that – had they functioned as planned – would have taken the lives of hundreds more. But having listened for the past few weeks to the audio version of Klebold’s book with rapt attention and a knotted stomach, I think it is probably more accurate to thank Klebold for openly sharing part of her journey in dealing with her son Dylan’s participation in the Columbine shootings. How could you not know that Dylan was purchasing weapons? This is a very painful book to read. I was stunned when I saw the news that day but I can't recall ever considering how the mothers of the shooters might be feeling. Like other reviewers have said, this is a hard book to review. Her son, a passive and shy high school senior about to go off to college, was dead and he was also a mass murderer. And with fresh wounds from the Newtown and Charleston shootings, never has the need for understanding been more urgent. This book is Klebold’s attempt to tell her story: the story of their family life, their parenting, and the complete and utter lack of signs leading up to. [On this week’s Inside The New York Times Book Review podcast, Sue Klebold discusses “A Mother’s Reckoning.”]. I give my thoughts on the book by Sue Klebold (mother of Dylan Klebold) 'A Mothers Reckoning. However we never get any insight as to why he tipped over the edge to commit mass murder. It includes information on the recorded basement tape video made by Eric and Dylan as well as documented statements from their diaries and Sue's own journal. Out of the worst tragedies there surely sprouts some specks light and hope. In this account, Klebold also takes full responsibility for missing the signs that Dylan was depressed and in trouble admitting he did in fact show outward signals of suicide that she dismissed not recognizing them for what they were at the time, but now understands after consulting with numerous mental health experts. I agree with those who have said it gives one a renewed sense of purpose. (In fact, at times I felt ashamed of some of my own parenting lapses in comparison with hers.) To read it is to be unforgettably drawn into the devastation she endured: on the day of the attacks, Tom told her he was going to try to get into the school, and she tells him he could be killed. There are tens of thousands to suicides every year and they don't take out a bunch of innocent people with them. The early chapters offer a cogent narrative of the events of the day and the period that followed, a time in which Sue and her husband, Tom, were crippled with doubt and guilt for what Dylan had done. Sue Klebold literally says countless times, I am not excusing what my son did, so for anyone to make claims that this was the tone of the book, either didn't read the book, or read so with a pre-disposed opinion of The Klebods and/or the Columbine tragedy. Disbelief turns to understanding as she finds herself recalling how Dylan became more sullen and withdrawn – behaviour she attributed to normal adolescent crabbiness. They had nothing to do with murders but people judge them and make their life a living hell. Or, they were so disengaged in their lives they were just plain oblivious. A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold. How many of us teach our children to monitor their own brain health, or know how to do it ourselves?”, http://amothersreckoning.com/books/a-mothers-reckoning-hc, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Memoir & Autobiography (2016). This book is heart wrenching and fascinating, but it very much feels like something Sue Klebold had to write for her own benefit, as part of her own healing process. This story is about how Sue Klebold, Dylan’s mother, has coped with her … Even she has asked herself the same question hundreds and hundreds of time. There’s no question that Klebold’s story is horrifying—a story of mass murder and its aftermath that blessed few of us will ever have to tell. Sue Klebold is Dylan’s mother. It is actually the exact opposite of that, and at times, almost has nothing to do with her son, but more of raising awareness on suicide and mental health. But I am left with the uncomfortable feeling that she is looking for some form of public salvation – through the lengthy reflections on her good parenting and on the efforts she has made since Columbine to be a good person despite the circumstances. What kind of mother fails to see that her son is a killer? Phone orders min p&p of £1.99. However we never get any insight as to why he tipped o. Throughout, Klebold offers the argument that Dylan was a follower and that Eric Harris, his long-time friend and the other Columbine shooter, was the leader of this sadistic act. In the dazed aftermath, stories abounded: the killers were goths, were bullied, were part of a terrifying “trenchcoat mafia”. There is no way to tell and while media outlets seem to bask in finding a whipping boy, finger pointing serves no fruitful purpose. I read it with great interest and curiosity. In the wake of epic tragedy, how does a parent come to terms with their child murdering other children and adults? How does a mother or a father miss the signs of impending doom, the stockpiled weapons? In April 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris attacked Columbine High School in one of the largest school massacres in the US – setting a pattern for many that would follow. Anxiety, sensory overload, shaking, scratching, crying, dark thoughts and an overwhelming need to hurt myself and control the pain. Sue Klebold has the insurmountable task of penning this piece and trying not to get lost in the accusations surrounding the pall left by her son. Even she understands how difficult it is for people to accept that sometimes parents don't know that their child is planning to do something terrible, and that if the child does do something terrible, that the terrible act is not always the result of poor parenting. She has written one of the most honest and gut-wrenching books I’ve read in a long time. Klebold is brave to try to tell her story. But we never think about the killer's loved ones. Filled with hard-won wisdom and compassion, A Mother’s Reckoning is a powerful and haunting book that sheds light on one of the most pressing issues of our time. I finished this audiobook more than two weeks ago and I still really don't know how to review it. 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