Each time Leonard gives a gift, even though he tells us it’s only so they can remember him after his death, we feel his need for connection, and we sense that he’s yearning for something from each of these friends that he may not be able to define, but if received, may make him change his mind. Each encounter holds the potential for Leonard’s salvation - not in a religious sense, but certainly in an emotional, somewhat spiritual one. Even more than his plan to shoot, it is Leonard’s interactions with these four that form the heart of the book. His thoughts on the modern art being bullshit hint at a larger disenfranchisement with the world, and even though he laughs, one already begins to wonder at the pain beneath his words.īefore Leonard shoots his best friend, however, he plans to give gifts to four very special people in his life - his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed neighbour Walt, his classmate Baback who is a talented violin player, the Christian homeschooler Lauren whom Leonard has a crush on, and high school teacher on the Holocaust Herr Silverman. The incongruence is troubling, and Leonard’s amusement at the image reflects his bleak outlook. The horror of the handgun is set beside a bowl of oatmeal, possibly one of the most innocuous objects in the world. In the space of its first few paragraphs, the book already manages to convey so much. I mean, a bowl of oatmeal and a a P-38 set next to it like a spoon - that arrangement photographed can be modern art, right? I laugh my ass off looking at it on the mini screen, because modern art is such bullshit. As the novel begins, the handgun lies beside Leonard’s bowl of oatmeal “like some weird steampunk utensil anachronism.” He takes a photo with his iPhone, “thinking it could be both evidence and modern art.” Then, he tells us, It is Leonard Peacock’s eighteenth birthday and he will be taking his grandfather’s P-38 WWII Nazi handgun to school so he can kill his best friend and then himself. The book works because of its subtlety and humour its very restraint creates emotional impact. Instead, Quick creates a quiet, troubled young man whose motivations for committing murder-suicide are far more complex than simply his pain at being an outcast. When we think of school shooters, we imagine either complete psychopaths like Kevin, or emotional wrecks who can’t take it anymore. Matthew Quick’s Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock however stands out - not only does the author succeed in portraying a despair so deep one actually feels what drives Leonard Peacock to take a gun to school, but he also manages to keep Leonard fully, vulnerably, human. How can I even begin to describe what an emotional wallop this book is? Ever since the success of We Need to Talk About Kevin, other authors have tried their hand at school shooter stories, and stories of teenagers who don’t fit in are a dime a dozen.

Forgive me leonard peacock review