Guns, teenagers and Welsh short stories
Thanks to those lengthy flights back to Canada, I managed to read three-quarters of Jodi Picoult’s latest book - Nineteen Minutes, which isn’t released until next year -Â in a single day. I finished it off the next evening - I’m a slow reader so I don’t usually get through books this quickly. It will attract plenty of controversy as it details a high school massacre that will remind many people of Columbine. Like The Tenth Circle, it’s really about the relationships between parents and their teenage children - so don’t read it if you’ve got a moody 16-year-old who locks himself in his bedroom for long periods of time.
While in Frankfurt, a kind lady from the Welsh Book Council handed me a copy of a collection of short stories called Fresh Apples by Rachel Trezise, which now has my full attention. For anyone who isn’t sure where to find Wales, you turn left at London and drive until you reach a small country with mountains and a strange language. Rachel Trezise’s short stories are also portraying a nation filled with lager, drugs and desperation - perhaps she’s the next Irvine Welsh? Except, she actually is Welsh while Welsh is actually Scottish - very confusing!
October 17th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Sounds like Nineteen Minutes would be interesting to read alongside Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin. It’s interesting that books about high school massacres are starting to pop up, but with these two at least, the novels are one step removed from the tragedy. Shriver’s novel is more about Kevin’s mother and her relationship with her children than the actual tragedy. It’s a good read, though maybe a bit long, especially for how brutally honest it feels.