COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen

Many people would not read a book on this subject.  I, unfortunately, have to admit to being like the majority, ghoulish population of this country who take a perhaps unhealthy interest.  How else to explain the popularity of crime shows such as CRIMINAL MINDS?

In any case, I did not know a lot about this notorious school shooting.   This author takes the story from the planning and perpetration by the two boys, to the aftermath on the families and community.  The book advertises itself as a unique look at the different characters of the two shooters.

Therein lies the interesting part of this book.  The media reported / invented all kinds of motivation /  reasons, but the author challenges most of them.  In a nutshell:

He says that Eric Harris was a classic psychopath /sociopath.  Cullen talks a bit about psychopaths, explaining that PET scans show a decided difference in the brains of such individuals.  So they appear to be freaks of nature, born but not created.   Unlike the Klebold family, the Harris family declined most communication with the public, so it’s difficult to know how they felt about this (other than the obvious). 

Cullen cites certain characteristics of psychopaths such as self-centered behavior, limited attention span, etc.   It sounds like a psychopath would be capable of murder for his own ends.  This doesn’t quite explain for me why Eric Harris would want to murder if he knew his own life would end, but no situations are totally straightforward.  This explanation works as well as any.

The author also portrays Harris as the instigator, and cites instances where he tried to lure others into his plot – testing them with hypothetical questions (“Wouldn’t you want to shoot everyone?”)  Harris is the manipulator of Dylan Klebold. 

Cullen talks a lot about Klebold.  Dylan’s heartbroken parents were more forthcoming in discussing what happened than the Harris’, for one thing.  It seems as though Klebold could almost have been talked out of this up until the last minute, except that Harris’ influence was strong.  Klebold lost interest in shooting very soon after the incident began.

Klebold is likened to the depressive murder/suicide perpetrator, who usually kills himself and a loved one.  Klebold is shown to have been depressed, and, in his depression, said that there was now nothing left to do with his life except “NBK”. “NBK” stands for “Natural Born Killers”, from the movie of that name.  So the press is correct, popular culture did have some impact!  This seems to be the “romantic” image painted for Dylan Klebold by Eric Harris. The book inspires a certain sympathy for Klebold, until you remind yourself what he did to other, innocent students.

The other most interesting “story” to me was that of Patrick Ireland, the boy in the window.  He became famous during the incident by being filmed injured and climbing out of a window in the high school library.  He was in fact seriously injured, destroying his career plans to be an architect (he had brain damage, and the curriculum was too difficult for him).  He instead became a highly successful and happy businessman – though he walked with a limp the rest of his life.   His story was an incredible inspiration.