I started reading this this morning on the train and managed to get about 3 chapters in. So far, I've sussed out the bones of the story - it's written in the form of letters from this woman to her estranged husband and presumably they separated after their son went on a shooting spree a la Columbine, and the woman is still trying to deal with the aftermath. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to stick with it though. The writing is very...erm...stylised, and I find myself thinking that Lionel Shriver has tried too hard here, it's almost as if she's showing off and saying "Oh look how lovely I can write". And in a funny kind of way, the style is making me feel less sympathetic for this woman, even though she has been through terrible trauma. Am I making any sense at all here? Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll stick with this one. What did you think? Does it get better as it goes along? What did you think of the style of writing? Is it worth persevering with?

Stick with it Tony it's worth it in the end........

 Tony, I think this is one of the most debated books around, it's definitely a Marmite - love it or hate it.  I hated it, just couldnt bear the style of writing at all and gave up, probably around the place you are now!

I hated it too.....!

I loved it......tried to quote anne it is not working.....

I really enjoyed it Tony! As Anne says it is either a love it or hate it book. I really enjoyed the writing and the story and found myself looking forward to reading it when I went to bed at night. It is one of my favourite books!

Have to agree with Shona, it was my fav book of 2006. I got used to her style at about page 50 or so, and really enjoyed it after that.
The end is most definately worth it, very surprising and shocking! Well worth reading the book for. It's not a book I could ever forget.

I know what you mean about not finding the mother very likeable, I've read 3 Shriver books now, and don't think I've liked a main character in any of them.
She seems to specialise in non-maternal unsympathetic women characters. But I've always enjoyed the book. And Kevin is her best in my opinion.

I thought it was a gread read - and yes one of those books you never forget. Stick with it Tony.

 

I really didn't like the book, so I gave up on it. I just did not like her way of writing.

I'm so disappointed by this book, i had been dying to read it for ages.I think i don't like her writing style. I got to page 100 and gave up but i might give it another shot then put it on my swaps. Glad it's just me that didn't like this! x

This is on my TBR, I will get round to it eventually, is nice to see the mixed opinions of it before I read it

Another vote for 'stick with it'.  Like Liz, once I got used to the style I was gripped by the storyline and couldn't wait to find out what terrible things Kevin would do next. 

I don't think we're meant to sympathise with Eva - I think one of the questions the books asks is whether she got the son she deserved!

Sorry folks but I've given up on this. I tried to get into it, I really did but a number of things totally put me off. 1. The writing style is incredibly verbose and long-winded. Shriver doesn't use one word where twelve will do. 2. The conceit of having the main character Eva writing the letters was irritating too and kept dragging me out of the book. She spends absoluely AGES in these letters describing events to her estranged husband and I kept thinking "Why is she doing this? He was THERE during these events!!" It just struck me as an incredibly contrived and artificial way of telling a story. 3. For the life of me, I couldn't find an iota of sympathy for Eva. She's pompous, self-centred, cold and egotistical. 4. It's perfectly clear that Shriver has never had children, nor has she researched children for this book. No parent would let their child's obvious developmental faults and behavioural problems go unchecked for so long. Sorry to be so negative, I really wanted to like this but I couldn't.

Telboy9999:

Sorry folks but I've given up on this. I tried to get into it, I really did but a number of things totally put me off. 1. The writing style is incredibly verbose and long-winded. Shriver doesn't use one word where twelve will do. 2. The conceit of having the main character Eva writing the letters was irritating too and kept dragging me out of the book. She spends absoluely AGES in these letters describing events to her estranged husband and I kept thinking "Why is she doing this? He was THERE during these events!!" It just struck me as an incredibly contrived and artificial way of telling a story. 3. For the life of me, I couldn't find an iota of sympathy for Eva. She's pompous, self-centred, cold and egotistical. 4. It's perfectly clear that Shriver has never had children, nor has she researched children for this book. No parent would let their child's obvious developmental faults and behavioural problems go unchecked for so long. Sorry to be so negative, I really wanted to like this but I couldn't.

"Shriver doesn't use one word where twelve will do"  Can't argue with you there Tony!  I didn't notice it so much with Kevin but I certainly did in The Post Birthday World.

You'd have got the answer to your second question if you'd made it to the end, but if you weren't enjoying it then I don't blame you for giving up. 

Sorry you were unable to get into this one, Tony, it's one of my favourite books in 2006.  The style is long-winded and very verbose (reminds me of myself!!) but it did improve but I know a lot of folk gave up on it. It does raise a lot of important questions about why people want to be parents, whether maternal feelings are guaranteed and would agree with Denise that you have to read to the end to make sense of the whole structure.  Perhaps another time, or then again maybe not??