Nineteen Minutes is one of the most riveting, heart wrenching books I've read in a long time.
According to amazon.com:
Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes.
But. (And it's a BIG but) Picoult adds a romance between two major characters that really detracts from the emotional intensity of the story. It's almost as if someone told her to throw some romance in there to soften it up.
Too bad. The effort to achieve the requisite "happily ever after" ending falls flat. The relationship between the judge and the detective feels contrived. Slapped on as an afterthought. And it makes the judge character appear shallow and heartless. Picoult misses an opportunity to end this powerful novel in a powerful way.
As one of my book club buddies said, "The romance muddies the waters."
One of the "rules" in the romance genre is that the story must have a happy ending. Sure. I expect that from a romance.
Nineteen Minutes is a far cry from a romance. In fact, anyone who's experienced being bullied at school will relate to Peter, the 17 year-old shooter, as he struggles through life never quite fitting in, never quite living up to expectations. And never really knowing why.
I especially appreciated the way Picoult was able to show the story through Peter's eyes. My book club buddy insists that Nineteen Minutes should be required reading for every high school student. I think it should be required reading for every parent. A lesson in why it is so important to take the time to appreciate the uniqueness of our children. To learn who they are and give them the room (and security and encouragement) to be just who they are rather than trying to press them into some mold.
The story also touched me because my teenage grandson has Asperberger's a variant of austistic spectrum disorder. It's characterized by social isolation and eccentric behavior in childhood. We've had first hand experience with how cruel people at school - students, teachers and administrators - can be when they're dealing with someone who doesn't "fit in". But that's another post for another day.
According to amazon.com:
Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes.
But. (And it's a BIG but) Picoult adds a romance between two major characters that really detracts from the emotional intensity of the story. It's almost as if someone told her to throw some romance in there to soften it up.
Too bad. The effort to achieve the requisite "happily ever after" ending falls flat. The relationship between the judge and the detective feels contrived. Slapped on as an afterthought. And it makes the judge character appear shallow and heartless. Picoult misses an opportunity to end this powerful novel in a powerful way.
As one of my book club buddies said, "The romance muddies the waters."
One of the "rules" in the romance genre is that the story must have a happy ending. Sure. I expect that from a romance.
Nineteen Minutes is a far cry from a romance. In fact, anyone who's experienced being bullied at school will relate to Peter, the 17 year-old shooter, as he struggles through life never quite fitting in, never quite living up to expectations. And never really knowing why.
I especially appreciated the way Picoult was able to show the story through Peter's eyes. My book club buddy insists that Nineteen Minutes should be required reading for every high school student. I think it should be required reading for every parent. A lesson in why it is so important to take the time to appreciate the uniqueness of our children. To learn who they are and give them the room (and security and encouragement) to be just who they are rather than trying to press them into some mold.
The story also touched me because my teenage grandson has Asperberger's a variant of austistic spectrum disorder. It's characterized by social isolation and eccentric behavior in childhood. We've had first hand experience with how cruel people at school - students, teachers and administrators - can be when they're dealing with someone who doesn't "fit in". But that's another post for another day.
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