Comment by p1esk
6 years ago
Actually... (sorry, couldn’t resist), I’m not sure why you expected something shocking or even provocative. The book is a deep dive into the mind of someone who decides to commit a murder, does it, and then has to live with it. That someone happens to be a relatively normal guy who you can understand and even relate to.
At least that was my impression of the book when I read it 25 years ago (I was 16 at the time).
That was shocking at the time the book was written. The murderer was supposed to be an Other, not someone you can relate to. The book was shocking because it made the reader feel the murderer's dilemmas. See his rationales, such as they were.
I have the impression that the book has kept a part of its old reputation, even as the world has changed and it would never get that reputation in today's world.