a mother's reckoning review

If nothing else was accomplished (and there definitely is more), this book has changed my outlook. 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. 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. I set this aside after finishing it and I almost wished I hadn't read it. 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. I have to admit I felt a little hesitant to order this at first, until I saw. And yet there are many places in the book where it’s hard to believe she couldn’t see past the face Dylan was presenting. A Mother’s Reckoning spends some time trying to come up with a solution to the rash of mass shootings, mulling the disastrous failure of our gun legislation. Summary (from Goodreads): On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Along with her personal devastation, she was grief-stricken for the victims, their families, and the community. They had nothing to do with murders but people judge them and make their life a living hell. 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”. This book was extremely difficult to read at times, and I can only imagine how hard it was for Klebold to write. 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. It took me three very long days to get through this book and I honestly wish that I did not read it. I believe this was partially because of the book I was reading. She has written one of the most honest and gut-wrenching books I’ve read in a long time. In the wake of epic tragedy, how does a parent come to terms with their child murdering other children and adults? 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. Rolling in Raindrops. How could you not know that Dylan was purchasing weapons? 4 stars. Even she has asked herself the same question hundreds and hundreds of time. (She actually calls it brain health and brain illness throughout her book, for a very smart reason. *heavy sigh* I'm exhausted. The Christmas before the shooting he asked her to buy him a gun. I read it with great interest and curiosity. I think she does a tremendous job of expressing her experience of mourning, while paying due respect to the families of Dylan’s victims. 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. On the one hand, I sympathize with Klebold, but I have to say that I think publishing this book was a mistake. Eventually, the two perpetrators turned their guns against themselves and committed suicide. 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. Sue Klebold is Dylan’s mother. 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. Out of the worst tragedies there surely sprouts some specks light and hope. This book reads like a taut justification defending how good her family is, while very subtly hinting at how "others" live: I found Sue Klebold to be honest, empathic, and credible with the facts she gathered and presented them well, and willing to take responsibility for her son. 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. "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.". This is devastating. They also planted bombs that – had they functioned as planned – would have taken the lives of hundreds more. 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). 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. Anyway, again I don't blame her or her husband but frankly I got really bored with reading antecdotes about smart precocious funny Dylan. The minute he told me about it I put it on hold! Had Sue and Tom Klebold delved deeper into Dylan's life as soon as they can issues, would Columbine have been averted? How does a mother or a father miss the signs of impending doom, the stockpiled weapons? 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. In reality, it’s hard for me to figure out what lessons to draw from Klebold’s book. In addition, there were death threats, copious hate mail, unending questions, unfathomable guilt, endless lawsuits and public scrutiny. (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.) A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold review – why my son killed at Columbine The troubling, bestselling memoir is a search for understanding and a confessional, as well as … But then I picked up A Mother’s Reckoning. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99. “So?” he says. Mental refers to something intangible, and some experts believe that if we change the terminology from mental health to brain health, because the brain is something tangible that we KNOW needs attention, it could help people be more open to truths of mental/brain illness). It would be easy to admire Sue Klebold for her courage in writing a Mother’s Reckoning. Klebold’s son became a murderer before he became a victim of suicide. 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. However we never get any insight as to why he tipped over the edge to commit mass murder. The book details the childhood and teenage years of her son, and what she says are signs she missed that Dylan was suffering from clinical depression. I do hope for Klebold that writing this book has helped her find some peace. I read this book because a friend of mine suggested it. I have close friends that lived near the Klebold home. Just like most mothers, her desire when she started her family was to raise thoughtful, moral human beings. How could you not know that Dylan was. I believe Sue was very brave for writing this book and knowing that 100% of the profits goes to brain health and suicide prevention is an awesome gesture on her part. Over the course of minutes, they would kill twelve students and a teacher and wound twenty-four others before taking their own lives. It is sad, but down to earth and honest. How did you not know that he was planning to blow up Columbine High School? We’d love your help. At high school, he became absorbed in video games after failing to make the baseball team. This book was a huge undertaking. What kind of mother fails to see that her son is a killer? Sadder still when the child is young. 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. Having interviewed and spoken with countless professionals over the years, she shares in the second half of the book the studies and professional opinions that support a greater emphasis on understanding, removing the stigma around, and treating brain health issues. First, I want to deeply discredit reviews that state this book is nothing but a mother making excuses for her son. Published by wendopolis. Mental refers to something intangible, and some experts believe that if we change the terminology from ment. Implicitly, and perhaps inevitably, the memoir raises important questions it fails to answer. I had just read Columbine by Dave Cullen and learned a ton about the school shooting in 1999. When we hear about the actions of murderers we always think to ourselves: "How could they've done that? 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. If a true crime audiobook is your idea of the perfect listen, then this post is for you. Yet we persist in believing (it would be hopeless not to) that, once they arrive, we will in some deep way know our children, even as we grasp that parts of them will remain a mystery to us. 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. Summary of A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold | Includes Analysis Preview: In her memoir A Mother’s Reckoning, Sue Klebold struggles. Addressing teen suicide and the inner turmoil that Dylan faced, Sue is blunt in her message to parents: do not ignore anything that seems out of place. On 20th April, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went to school with the intention to kill. A MOTHER’S RECKONING: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, by Sue Klebold. (She actually calls it brain health and brain illness throughout her book, for a very smart reason. I actually started listening to this in the summer. Klebold is honest and heartbreaking. Sigh, where to start. April 20, 1999 – Columbine High School – Littleton, Colorado. It was heartbreaking. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy is a hard but important look at the life of Dylan Klebold, and the legacy he left for parents Sue and Tom, and brother Byron. A Mother’s Reckoning, book review. He stockpiled assault weapons and murdered five of his peers during an extended rampage. 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. "To the rest of the world, Dylan was a monster, but he was my son. A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold. I attend the church that planted 15 trees (including two for Dylan and Eric). • To order A Mother’s Reckoning for £12.99 (RRP £16.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. I agree with those who have said it gives one a renewed sense of purpose. Like other reviewers have said, this is a hard book to review. A Mother’s Reckoning – Review by Lee. 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. A great deal of this memoir is written from the perspective of what ac. Over the years, after a long time researching the Columbine case, I'd learned to view Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris as human beings. A MOTHER'S RECKONING is a detailed and graphic account of the carefully planned massacre that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Her “sunshine boy” was a mass murderer. As the book progresses, Klebold takes the reader back in time to depict Dylan as a loving boy who was extremely helpful and loving. 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. There are tens of thousands to suicides every year and they don't take out a bunch of innocent people with them. Later, they make a pact not to kill themselves, so hard is surviving. Ever since I started the research, I knew I couldn't view them as monsters because it was far too simplistic. There is no way to tell and while media outlets seem to bask in finding a whipping boy, finger pointing serves no fruitful purpose. Start by marking “A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy” as Want to Read: Error rating book. shooting, she … 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. “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”. Yet Dylan carried out horrific murders, depressed or not. 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. 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. Sigh, where to start. With each piece of new information, typically shared months apart, she would learn something new, shocking, and uncharacteristic about her youngest son. And with fresh wounds from the Newtown and Charleston shootings, never has the need for understanding been more urgent. !” asked one of the many letters Sue received. Disbelief turns to understanding as she finds herself recalling how Dylan became more sullen and withdrawn – behaviour she attributed to normal adolescent crabbiness. 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. ‘A Mother’s Reckoning’ is a rare insight into the life of a parent of a school shooter. 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. 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