Lonely, Isolated Students Who Kill

[NJCher]

In view of the Virginia Tech shootings, I wanted to bring up this book by Melanie Thernstrom, Halfway Heaven. (Note that it is not Halfway TO Heaven, simply Halfway Heaven). The full title is Halfway Heaven Diary of a Harvard Murder.



A synopsis of the story is "The story of a murder-suicide at Harvard and an exploration into who should bear the blame." In this book, one girl murders her roommate, who is planning to room elsewhere.

Here is the publisher's notes, as presented at BN:

A few days before the end of spring term, an anonymous note arrived at The Harvard Crimson. It contained a photograph of a student and a typed message: "Keep this picture. There will soon be a very juicy story involving this woman." Now, the critically acclaimed author of The Dead Girl reveals the never-before-told story of two girls - one from Ethiopia, the other from Vietnam - for whom admission to Harvard was like "halfway heaven," the stepping stone to the American Dream that would ensure success for them and their families; and how they met instead with the darkest of all fates: a tragedy that might have been prevented. Based on Melanie Thernstrom's article in The New Yorker, here is the complete story of an unfathomable murder/suicide that shocked the country - and a groundbreaking expose of one of America's most distinguished universities.


There is a section of the book where the author goes into the enormous isolation and loneliness of the murderer. In fact she is so lonely that she resorts to sending out random letters to people, attempting to establish a friendship.

This desperate act somewhat resembles the isolation that the VT murderer exhibited. Also, note another similarity: that the VT murderer contacted the news media in advance of his shootings.

If you're curious about the psychological state of murderers, you may wish to check out this book. The writer does an excellent job. The second half of the book is an inquiry into the responsibility of the University. How did they respond to this young woman who killed her roommate?



Cher

[monarch]

1. Interesting! Thanks! n/t

[landerzoo]

2. ping nt