... Posted in Uncategorized Book review mothers sons. On hearing there was a shooting at Columbine, she prayed her son was safe. How could you not know that Dylan was purchasing weapons? To say "I really liked it" is not accurate; but I am so very glad that I read this book (huge thank you to Dave Cullen for the recommendation). She has found her place as a suicide prevention advocate. This book was extremely difficult to read at times, and I can only imagine how hard it was for Klebold to write. There is no way we can expect her to have anticipated Columbine, especially as there was little precedent for it – she had the bad luck to be mother to a depressed teen whose anger intersected with Harris’s incipient psychopathy in a spectacularly toxic manner. And, as she says, she and her husband Tom were “good” parents. “HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?? A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold. I was not a mother when Columbine happened. *heavy sigh* I'm exhausted. It was obviously extremely important for her to write this book, and admirably she is giving all profits to mental health research. This tension is at the heart of Sue Klebold’s gripping, troubling and bestselling memoir, A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, which recounts one of the most horrible experiences a parent can endure: the death of a child, compounded by the shocking realisation that you failed to know him. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. There is no way to tell and while media outlets seem to bask in finding a whipping boy, finger pointing serves no fruitful purpose. The Christmas before the shooting he asked her to buy him a gun. A teacher flagged a story he had written – from the point of view of a gunman – as disturbingly violent. 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. In the dazed aftermath, stories abounded: the killers were goths, were bullied, were part of a terrifying “trenchcoat mafia”. Columbine High School shooting. 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. Out of the worst tragedies there surely sprouts some specks light and hope. First, I want to deeply discredit reviews that state this book is nothing but a mother making excuses for her son. I had a bad night a week ago. … 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. She had to grieve the loss of her son in so many ways: the boy she knew and loved, as well as the boy she didn't know, who did the unthinkable. As the book progresses, Klebold takes the reader back in time to depict Dylan as a loving boy who was extremely helpful and loving. I'm giving it a 3.5 just in terms of the writing, readability and narrative flow but I am in no position to review the veracity of what happened here. What kind of mother fails to see that her son is a killer? 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. If a true crime audiobook is your idea of the perfect listen, then this post is for you. The narrative arc takes us from denial to anger to acceptance and some kind of comprehension. Instead of becoming paralyzed by her grief and remorse, she has become a passionate and effective agent working tirelessly to advance mental health awareness and intervention. The book begins on the day of the Columbine High School Massacre, and ends on the same day; except by the end Sue mentions all the things that she missed and would have done differently had she known about mental health issues. See all 10 questions about A Mother's Reckoning…, 2016: What Women Born In The 1970s Read in 2016, A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy (Feb 14 - Apr 30, 2020), A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy / Sue Klebold. 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. They had nothing to do with murders but people judge them and make their life a living hell. 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”. 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). On a work trip, she meets a computer teacher who pointedly says: “When you’re a good parent, you just sort of know what your kids are up to.” Eventually, the couple are sued, go bankrupt and divorce. I only finished it recently. They also planted bombs that – had they functioned as planned – would have taken the lives of hundreds more. !” asked one of the many letters Sue received. A great deal of this memoir is written from the perspective of what actually happened in the Klebold family world from the time of awareness. We joined those friends in praying as they left notes on her mailbox, etc. I think she does a tremendous job of expressing her experience of mourning, while paying due respect to the families of Dylan’s victims. Review: A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSIONS REGARDING SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, VIOLENCE, MENTAL HEALTH I was a bit nervous going into this book and I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but I certainly didn’t expect a well-written book that made me feel more empathy for the family, especially the mother, of one of the Columbine shooters than I ever … Summary (from Goodreads): On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy is a 2016 memoir by Sue Klebold, the mother of Dylan Klebold.Along with Eric Harris, Dylan was one of the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Yet by her own account, Klebold seems to have viewed parenting mainly as an act of setting boundaries and providing a nice middle-class home, complete with after-school snacks, rather than really listening closely to her child. (At the time, Tom had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and her older son had been found smoking pot, and she felt overtaxed.). How does a mother or a father miss the signs of impending doom, the stockpiled weapons? Let me start off by saying whenever one of these horrific events happens, I always feel so badly for the family because I know they are going to be blamed and that is not fair at all. These are probably questions for another book, but they are questions that linger. 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. 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. 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. 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. Follow. shooting, she … 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. A Mother’s Reckoning – Review by Lee. Ever. She has written one of the most honest and gut-wrenching books I’ve read in a long time. 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… Poor victims and their loved ones!" In the wake of epic tragedy, how does a parent come to terms with their child murdering other children and adults? ", Excellent follow-up story to COLUMBINE, but a very sad and terribly heartbreaking read. I give my thoughts on the book by Sue Klebold (mother of Dylan Klebold) 'A Mothers Reckoning. I have probably crossed paths with Sue a hundred times, maybe a thousand, but I don't know her. Summary of A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold | Includes Analysis Preview: In her memoir A Mother’s Reckoning, Sue Klebold struggles. The first section is devoted largely to her early memories of Dylan, a “loving” and “affectionate” boy with a halo of blond hair: “He was easy to raise, a pleasure to be with, a child who had always made us proud.” But she also remembers that he didn’t like to be teased or to fail, and “his humiliation sometimes turned to anger”. I am a suicide survivor. Implicitly, and perhaps inevitably, the memoir raises important questions it fails to answer. 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. First, I want to deeply discredit reviews that state this book is nothing but a mother making excuses for her son. On July 22, 2016 By thehodgenator In adult, nonfiction, the hodgenator. 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. Review: A Mother’s Reckoning. Just like most mothers, her desire when she started her family was to raise thoughtful, moral human beings. 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 her son’s violent rampage some 16 years ago. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published After all, there had to have been some extremely obvious signs for their sons to be able to do something like this. What was done can’t be undone. Sue takes us from, denial to acceptance and then to some kind of comprehension of her life and the part of the tragedy committed by her son. Her son, a passive and shy high school senior about to go off to college, was dead and he was also a mass murderer. Sue Klebold expresses the emotional turmoil from the moment she receives the frantic call from her husband to come home from work on that horrific day, and documents the difficult task of trying to unravel the mystery of a son they loved and thought they knew so well. It was heartbreaking. 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. Or, they were so disengaged in their lives they were just plain oblivious. But then I picked up A Mother’s Reckoning. February 15th 2016 This book deserves a more eloquent review than I can muster this late in the evening. 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. Worse yet, if the suicide is preceded by mass murder. She did so many things right by writing this book. 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. Eventually, the two perpetrators turned their guns against themselves and committed suicide. Looks like I am in the minority on this one. In the wake of epic tragedy, how does a parent come to terms with their child murdering other children and adults? Susan Dominus’s review of “A Mother’s Reckoning” by Sue Klebold, the mother of one of the two boys who killed 12 classmates and a teacher, and then killed themselves, at … He stockpiled assault weapons and murdered five of his peers during an extended rampage. However, with the power of hindsight, Klebold could see what might have been warning signs of the smallest order. 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. She wants to get it right. The most haunting part of the book is Klebold’s failure to find answers, her hard-won understanding of the fact that the stories we tell about each other are too simple. Anyway, again I don't blame her or her husband but frankly I got really bored with reading antecdotes about smart precocious funny Dylan. Start by marking “A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy” as Want to Read: Error rating book. On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. It’s hard to criticise a book that so earnestly and willingly embraces self-exposure. Like Klebold, I wanted to hear the answers to these questions, and I eagerly awaited for her book to be published to see what she had to say and to see what we all could learn from it. More to come soon. For now I will say that this broke my heart with it's bravery, honesty and compassion. 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. 305 pp. A Mother’s Reckoning is compelling as a grief memoir. Sue Klebold is Dylan’s mother. However we never get any insight as to why he tipped over the edge to commit mass murder. This book is about Sue Klebold, Dylan's (one of the shooters) mother, who has lived with the indescribable grief and shame of that day. Sigh, where to start. Sue Klebold's narrative is extremely difficult to relate to and empathize with. A Mother’s Reckoning implicates the reader in its own search for understanding; it’s part confessional, part grief-memoir, part apology and part activist literature. How could you not know that Dylan was. I set this aside after finishing it and I almost wished I hadn't read it. to come to terms with her son Dylan’s role in the infamous. Who reads the audio version? 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. With each piece of new information, typically shared months apart, she would learn something new, shocking, and uncharacteristic about her youngest son. "To the rest of the world, Dylan was a monster, but he was my son. It took me three very long days to get through this book and I honestly wish that I did not read it. “So?” he says. That seems to be the premise of this book and makes it the ideal choice for the buddy with whom I chose to read this. I actually started listening to this in the summer. Instead of becoming paral, 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. This self-conception, it would seem, kept her from looking deeply at what Dylan was actually doing. 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 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. Dylan Kleb. I can't find that info here. Sue Klebold’s son, Dylan, was one of the two boys that carried out a … ‘A Mother’s Reckoning’ is a rare insight into the life of a parent of a school shooter. 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. True crime has been enjoying something... On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. (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.) Sue Klebold's life as she knew it ended abruptly on that day 17 years ago when she not only lost her son, but was left behind to piece together a puzzle that could never be completed. (She actually calls it brain health and brain illness throughout her book, for a very smart reason. Had Sue and Tom Klebold delved deeper into Dylan's life as soon as they can issues, would Columbine have been averted? And if the bombs they planted had gone off it would have been much worse. There are tens of thousands to suicides every year and they don't take out a bunch of innocent people with them. It is sad, but down to earth and honest. Out of the worst tragedies there surely sprouts some specks light and hope. Writing 16 years after the. They are also a victim. 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. Welcome back. 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. She also spends much of the book suggesting that all parents should be extremely vigilant about any signs of depression in their children and teenagers because Dylan had done a very good job of concealing his true state of mind right up to the date of the shootings. In addition, there were death threats, copious hate mail, unending questions, unfathomable guilt, endless lawsuits and public scrutiny. And she is condemned to a life in which some people will always try to reassure themselves that their child would never do what Dylan did by blaming his parents in their parenting and for failing to see what was coming – no matter what Klebold has to say. Yet Dylan carried out horrific murders, depressed or not. Rolling in Raindrops. The minute he told me about it I put it on hold! No one wants to even have a passing thought that their child could kill another person, let alone murder many. Anxiety, sensory overload, shaking, scratching, crying, dark thoughts and an overwhelming need to hurt myself and control the pain. $28. 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). I have to admit I felt a little hesitant to order this at first, until I saw. 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