Nineteen Minutes
By: Jodi Picoult
I knew that I wanted to read this book, when I read her interview in The Tenth Circle stating what her next topic would be, but I was unaware when my aunt placed this book into my hands that this was the book I'd been coveting the most.
School shootings.
The topic has always fascinated me. More often than not, weeks before the event, I would have found the shooter to be a sympathetic character. The victims are people that days before, I would have rolled my eyes at while reading about them. This book was no exception. Told in a spectacular non linear fashion, we witness the shooting, the investigations and the trial, all the while reading flashbacks spanning back seventeen years. All the while, the book was causing me to examine my own beliefs and wonder how I would react in such a situation.
I often forget, how different a time it is for the teenagers of today and my age group, despite the short age gap. School shootings existed when I was in high school, but it was only in my senior year that Columbine occurred and this tragedy really came to the public's eyes.
The characters, as always, fascinated me. The mother of the shooter. The man defending the shooter, because everyone deserved a fair trial. The popular girl who was found passed out at the scene of the crime. And her mother, the town's judge. Each character struggles with their own fears, opinions and demons and as the reader, you struggle with them.
It's not perfect, but I will say it is perhaps my favourite of hers that I have read yet.
1 comment:
I have to admit Jody Picoult has never interested me as a writer before. But I had no idea there was a book written with this topic as its main theme. I totally want to read this now. As I've very recently had a dream where I was caught up in a high school shooting while reporting. Thanks for keeping me up to date in the book world!
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