There's been many a time I've opened this book in a store, read a few pages and then put it straight back down again. I avoided it because of its dark content (a mother recalls the difficult childhood of her son who eventually goes on a killing spree in his high school) but I knew (because of all those good reviews and prestigious awards) that one day I would follow through, make the purchase and take it home.
That repellant sensation is something I felt throughout all 468 pages of Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin. "Penetrating" is how I would best describe it. You can feel the book hanging over you even when you're away from it. You're equally compelled to pick it up as you are to put it down.
This is all because of Kevin, who from birth creates a deep sense of unease that is so intense it affects all those he comes in to contact with. In letters to her absent husband Kevin's mother, Eva, charts his progress from infant to inmate. She strongly believes that the signs where always there, that he was on a path to evil from conception and that it could never be derailed or avoided.
(Tilda Swinton as Eva - a master stroke of casting)
I once watched an interview with Shriver where she said the central character was hard to like. I imagine she meant the book's narrator (Kevin's mother) Eva rather than Kevin himself. I loved Eva. Sure she could be distant, selfish and elitist but she was also smart, fiercely independent, opinionated and successful. She met her husband at 33 and after four indulgent years together when they couldn't quiet decide if to do the "baby thing" - they, on a whim, gave it a shot. Surely, they thought, it'll answer the Big Question ie why are we here? They got a lot more than they bargained for.
When Kevin arrived the maternal bond she so longed for and expected never appeared. Kevin was from birth a difficult, complicated and acutely intelligent creature and so began a childhood marked by deceit and manpulation. Or was it? We only hear Eva's side of the story and some might argue (though, not me personally) that Eva played role in why Kevin became... Kevin.
Overall it's just brilliant and would make the ultimate book club book. There's so much to say! I finished it a few hours ago and I'm just desperate to talk to someone about it!