“In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge. “ – Jodi PicoultI love Jodi Picoult. She writes with such a raw and honest intensity making it equally hard to keep turning the pages but to also put her books down. Nineteen Minutes was one of her most challenging works in my opinion. It forces you to question how you can empathize with a murderer, how your child can turn out so different than you imagined, and it brings you to the front row with the impact of school bullying.
Nineteen Minutes is based in a small town in New Hampshire where nothing ever happens until one day it does. The peaceful community is torn apart by an unimaginable act of violence, a school shooting, which leaves ten students dead and several more injured. Many of the residents are forced to examine their unique role in the shooting - ignoring warning signs, allowing the shooter, Peter, to be bullied for years, and even encouraging students to bully, fight, isolate, and judge. The fine lines of right and wrong are terribly gray and in typical Picoult manner, the ending comes with a surprise twist.
No comments:
Post a Comment