Earth shattering read

I (finally) finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' today. I've been getting overtime at work (badly needed), and the last hundred pages took me a few days because I only got to read when I took a dump.

And this was the kind of book, you might find out your legs had gone to sleep.

I'm trying to recall the last time a book ripped my heart out so completely. And at the same time offered some redemption. And surprised the shit out of me.

Shriver paints in some dark colors. Jay said I should read it as a birth-control method, but if I followed that logic, it'd be fucking 'life-control.'

'Beloved' and 'Paradise' are painted in similarly dark colors (not really a pun intended, just one I didn't avoid). Or, to harken to my discussion with Jay, remember in 'Invisible Man' when he finds out the content of the 'recommendation' letters he's been giving to the most powerful men in New York?

You know the cliché about the trainwreck you can't look away from? Trainwrecks never moved me much, because most trains seem to be hauling coal to power plants or cars to dealerships. You got, what, four or five guys tops running the thing? And they probably come out okay, it's just a big mess. 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' is more like a Breugal.

Horrifying and beautiful. Thought provoking, too.