32 - Columbine

Columbine by Dave Cullen

Twelve Books, 2009

417 pages

Date completed: May 25, 2010

Columbine by Dave Cullen is without a doubt the most disturbing book I have ever read, but in the most compelling way possible. Wow. I chose it because I was so young when the attacks occurred, and so I didn’t know much about them and wanted to be better informed. Cullen’s account of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebolds’ shooting spree in Columbine High School was certainly worthwhile. Cullen, a journalist who has been involved with the Columbine shooting case since the day it occurred, provides a thorough account of the shootings, the aftermath of the attack, the killers, and their motives. Utilizing police reports, interviews with survivors and investigators, the papers and videos of Harris and Klebold, and the research of other journalists, Cullen compiles a detailed and compelling account of April 20, 1999.

Cullen states that it is important to document and understand the Columbine attack in order to prevent future attacks. His depiction definitely succeeds in capturing the spirit of the event—often, I was so freaked out by what I was reading (phrases such as “Eric and Dylan planned to be dead shortly after the weekend” and “Danny[‘s body] lay out on that sidewalk for twenty-eight hours” (103) come to mind) that I had to stop reading. Obviously Cullen is purposely sensational sometimes in order to make his point, but it was nevertheless difficult to wrap my head around the fact that the attack really happened, and so reading this in large doses was not always possible for me. I had to stop reading it after around 8 or 9 p.m., since if I didn't, I got nightmares.

The more I read the book, the more unsettling it became. I learned a lot from the reading that I had never known previously: chilling facts surfaced constantly, such as the fact while planning their attack, Harris and Klebold intended for it to be more of a massacre. Although they ended up killing thirteen people in addition to themselves, they originally had a three-stage plan: first, massive bombs would explode in crowded hubs throughout the school, destroying part of the building and killing at least 800 people; then Harris and Klebold would stand at the school’s two most popular entrances with machine guns in order to slaughter escaping survivors; and finally, they had rigged their cars with massive explosives designed to decimate the police and journalists swarming the school after their suicides. I had had no idea that the attack was meant so grisly (not that it wasn’t horrifying anyway—a simple Google search of “Dylan Klebold” immediately yields a photograph of Harris and Klebold dead on the Columbine library floor, with blood splattered and pooled under the gaping gunshot wounds in their heads).

One really interesting aspect of the book was that it explored the many assumptions and stereotypes associated with both Columbine and with school shootings in general. People tend to assume that Harris and Klebold fit the generic stereotype of school shooters—that they were Goth, trenchcoat-wearing, anti-Christian outcasts whose intention was to take revenge on the popular students and jocks at their school. In reality, there is no established "school shooter profile." Harris and Klebold were both relatively popular in the sense that they both had a great deal of friends, and Harris was quite the ladies’ man. Klebold was deeply faithful, and neither Harris nor Klebold were Goth, although they did wear trenchcoats to conceal their weapons during the attack.

The other prevalent rumor is the one surrounding Cassie Bernall, the girl who was reportedly shot to death after admitting that she believed in God. This, too, proved to be a rumor, and never actually occurred: people assumed that Cassie’s faith must have played a role in her death, and since the assumption that the shooters were anti-Christian was already in place, the result is a rumor that combines the previous two assumptions to insinuate that Cassie was a martyr. It doesn't help that an exchange similar to the alleged conversation with Cassie actually did occur between Klebold and another girl, Valeen Schnurr.

Overall, Cullen’s book covers all of the bases, providing everything from a play-by-play of the shootings and their aftermath to an extensive portrait of Harris and Klebolds’ personalities, childhoods, journals, and videotapes. Cullen provides a stunning portrait of a disaster that shocked America, and I loved reading it. The book was quite disturbing, but so was the Columbine massacre, and I think it would be difficult to hear about any such disaster without feeling an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and loss. This type of book is informative and, to me, important and even essential to understanding disaster and living through it. I respect Cullen’s book for its integrity and for its success in covering every angle of the Columbine massacre. What a powerful book.

31 - Nickel and Dimed

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Owl Books, 2001

230 pages

Date completed: May 11, 2010

I have mixed feelings about this book. Ehrenreich, who leaves her comfortable life as a writer in order to go undercover as a minimum-wage earner in three different states, sets out to attempt to discover whether it is truly possible to survive on minimum wage.

While this is certainly an interesting premise, I never really felt like it was valid. If she runs into trouble, Ehrenreich can always fall back on her old life: a high-paying job, full bank account, home, car, etc. I know that this wasn't necessarily meant to be seen as completely without fault, so I won't complain about it too much about it.

Ehrenreich spends time as a waitress in Key West, FL; a maid and nursing home food aide in Portland, Maine; and a Wal-Mart employee in Minneapolis, MN. In each scenario, she tries to make ends meet in the most frugal ways possible: she lives in the cheapest housing she can find that is also safe, takes as many jobs as she can, buys the cheapest food she can find, and does not splurge on anything.

The result is that eventually, everything in Ehrenreich's world becomes a question of worth. Her time, her energy, and even other people are mentally weighed by Ehrenreich on a balance scale as she ultimately attempts to judge whether these minimum-wage earners are completely wasting their lives.

Overall, the book was easy to get through and interesting to read. I won't profess to be well-versed in economics (though I did scrape by and pass my micro/macro AP tests years ago!), so I apologize if my reactions seem shallow because of this. It wasn't my favorite read, but it was nevertheless refreshing to read about a journalist placing herself directly into the field. Despite any fallacies in Ehrenreich's plans, the premise was commendable, and I think she succeeded in proving her point: that it is impossible for some people to survive making only minimum wage.

30 - Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Barnes & Noble, 2005

454 pages

Date completed: May 3, 2010

I was inspired to read Harriet Beecher Stowe’s infamous abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin after reading an article in which Jane Smiley compared it to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, stating that Uncle Tom’s Cabin should be considered the foremost anti-slavery novel in Huckleberry Finn’s stead. I was intrigued because I agreed with Smiley’s perspective that Twain’s novel failed the anti-slavery movement due to its neglect of the desires of the runaway slave Jim; however, I was unable to fully comprehend the article because I had not yet read Stowe’s novel. Therefore, after reading Smiley’s ruminations, I immediately added Uncle Tom’s Cabin to my reading list.

As I began to read, I was impressed by the readability of Stowe’s novel. I had expected it to be far more complex and dull (and thus harder to get through), but was pleasantly surprised by its easy-to-follow storyline and style. Despite the novel’s hulking size, I was able to finish it easily within the week. Uncle Tom’s Cabin also frequently amazed me with regard to its content. Not only did Stowe write this from a completely abolitionist standpoint, but she also creates a great deal of strong female characters who are unable to stand up to men. Characters such as Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird are unafraid of voicing their true opinions to their husbands (even when those opinions clash with their husbands’ opinions), while Miss Ophelia is independent, opinionated, and educated. I was surprised to find even more radical (in terms of the 1850s) views than I had expected.

I think that Stowe’s setup was quite clever. Rather than portraying slaves who are forced to endure the cruelties of a harsh master from the very beginning, she subverts this expectation and eases the reader into the system slowly, starting the novel in a home in which slaves are treated with kindness and respect. Stowe creates an atmosphere that will appeal to her audience by first setting up a particular scene (for example, the pleasant evening in Uncle Tom and Aunt Chloe’s cabin), intimately portraying the characters and their interactions, and then ripping the peaceful atmosphere apart (as is shown when Tom is sold to Haley). This technique, which begins in comfort and spirals downward, was, in my opinion, very effective. I found myself feeling even more pity for the characters than I might have if the story had begun in the throes of misery.

This left me thinking often of Stowe’s original readers in the 1850s. Although many of the people reading the novel were undoubtedly abolitionists to begin with, Stowe had to craft her novel extremely carefully so as not to be so radical that she would lose readers from the very beginning. I can definitely see why the novel was such a success and why it was able to raise so many relevant concerns regarding slavery.

One thing that annoys me about the novel is that certain characters seem far too good to be true. Uncle Tom and Eva St. Clare both seem ridiculously idealized, which made them unrealistic. I understand that their trustworthiness and innocence is important to the novel’s plot in that the innocent child, Eva, is able to look past racial differences and imagine a world of equality, whereas Tom demonstrates that slaves can be deeply faithful and trustworthy people. However, because I felt that they were completely unrealistic, it was hard for me to muster up much emotion for them or feel too sorry when they died, although this was mostly true of Eva’s death—I'm so tired of reading about perfect, all-knowing nineteenth-century children who spend their entire deathbed scenes preaching about religion and goodness.

Overall, however, Stowe’s novel was thoroughly enjoyable. I feel as though it is an important novel to have read due to its historical relevance, and I enjoyed imagining that relevance as I was reading. From the hypocrisy of the slaveowners (Augustine St. Clare who detests the system of slavery yet continues to buy slaves) to the horrors of slave traders and the destruction of families, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was worthy of appreciation on multiple levels. Although it is melodramatic at times, I enjoyed it not only for the historical significance which originally led me to it, but also for its well thought out elements and general appeal.