We Need to Talk About Kevin

The movie We need to Talk about Kevin is good. Fine acting for the roles of Eva and Kevin. Kevin looks a bit more normal in the movie than in the poster advertising the movie.  I don't know if I will have been able to follow the movie completely if I haven't known the story. Jumping from present to the past may have confused me a little if I didn't read the novel first.

What's missing in the movie are :
1.   all the questions and doubts that Eva had before she got pregnant with Kevin
2.   Kevin's last name is his mother's last name
3.   the incident with the neighbour and the teacher
4.   what happened to Celia's pet. Yes, the movie showed that the pet was missing, but there's more
5.   why did Eva had Celia  ( this may not be clear from the novel either )
6.   Eva was sued for being a negligent mother (the movie showed her leaving the court, but was it clear that she was being tried ? )
7.   the babysitters
8.   Kevin's buddy

Still, these missing beats are not important enough. The audience don't miss any significant part of the plot. But it's a pleasure reading the novel. The story is disturbing, what Kevin did is horrible, but it's a pleasant reading the prose. Lionel Shriver composed each emotional scene carefully, and I feel so heartbreaking, so sorry, so helpless, for Eva. The novel convinces me further that there is still a reason for novel to exist. We still need excellent writers to describe the innermost thoughts and feelings in a realistic settings. Perhaps most of us parents don't seriously believe that our kids will turn into murderers, but what woman or what human being has not felt apprehension over raising children or faced problems in their marriage or relationship with loved ones ?