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message 51:
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Lisa
(new)
Oct 01, 2009 07:37PM
I've been thinking about why Teddy, who I believe is really Laeddis, says Laeddis killed his wife in a fire. Since she actually started a fire in their apartment, and afterwards Teddy was advised to take her to the lake so she could rest and that's where she murdered their children; I think he needs to believe she died in the fire so what came after never happened. By assigning blame to Laeddis, he's admitting in a twisted (anagram) way that he was at fault for not recognizing at the time she set the fire how dangerous she really was.
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I love that assessment Lisa. Very well said. I could see how that would be true.
I think you hit the nail on the head there Lisa!
Joy wrote: "I think you hit the nail on the head there Lisa!"I agree!
Lyn wrote: "Ok - just finished the book and really loved it. I gave it 5 stars. I have read two other of his books, Mystic River, which was OK and Gone baby Gone, which was pretty good, but this one was the ..."Oh, I love Mark Rufalo as Chuck. I didn't know that he was playing that role. Now, I really want to see the movie!
Lisa, you nailed it. I knew that something was going on with Teddy, but I was really surprised to learn that he was really Andrew. However, I also believe that there was much truth associated with the state of mental health care in the 1950s. The use of lobotomies, experimenting wtih various types of drugs, trying to figure out how to make the perfect soldier, etc. is nothing new to our society. I especially liked the post-WWII backdrop in which the story takes place, with the practices of the Nazis being fresh in everyone's mind and how those practices carried over to other countries, including the Allied ones, for consideration.
Overall, a really good read. I read Mystic River and thought that it was very good, but I agree with those who have stated that Shutter Island is better. I'll continue to read Lehane.
I just finished Shutter Island and I must admit I am reading way outside my comfort level here. The story was well told, but I doubt I read any more Lahane. I've enjoyed the comments of others about the book and I hope you all enjoy the movie when you go see it.
Sera wrote: "Lyn wrote: "Ok - just finished the book and really loved it. I gave it 5 stars. I have read two other of his books, Mystic River, which was OK and Gone baby Gone, which was pretty good, but this ..."You know, Sera, the more I think about it, the better of a fit I think he is. A really likeable guy. I'm ambivalent about seeing the movie since movies often disappoint me after I have read the book, but the character picks in this one seem so good, I may have to see it just for that.
As I started reading Shutter Island I kept regretting that I had seen the movie previews and "knew" where the plot was headed. My assumption made the ending a total surprise for me.I fall in with the group believing that Teddy is Andrew. Teddy's dreams and his gun convinced me. In the end, when Dr. Crawley gives Teddy his gun, Teddy looks at the gun and remembers where every nick and scratch came from. But when he decides to shoot Dr. Crawley, it turns out the gun is a water gun. Not only did Andrew build up a story around Teddy, but he even filled in the details of the water gun they gave him!
I probably would have skipped the movie (it looked too much like a horror movie), but now I would like to see it. I do think knowing the ending will take much of the suspense away.
This book kept me up until 3am last night, just couldn't put it down. In the end the entire story makes sense to me and I feel Lehane really doesn't leave that much room for interpretation. Some of the potentially confusing parts:1)The prologue, where Sheehan calls Andrew 'Teddy' and remembers him arriving on a boat in 1954. Back then, probably everyone on the island called Andrew 'Teddy', otherwise he would beat people up like he did with Noyce. Andrew really was put on that ferry to Shutter Island, after being drugged, and the story starts when he wakes up, feels nauseated and the whole roleplay takes off. The 'twin terrors', i.e. the alter ego's created by Andrew's mind, indirectly caused Sheehan's career and reputation to fall apart as he was unsuccessful in his attempt to cure him.
2)The cave woman, all part of Cawley's scenario: 'I know every detail, every wrinkle- the codes,...,the woman in the cave...'
3) Trey's advice to leave the island. There had just been a big meeting where everyone was informed that if Andrew couldn't be cured by Cawley's experimental approach, he would soon undergo brain surgery. Trey, who disapproves of the warden's preference for cruel surgery knows by now that it is unavoidable in Andrew's case. The warden's racial theories probably touch a sensitive nerve as well. Hence he tells him how to escape, leading to the only occasion in the book where the docs lose control over Andrew.
Just my 2 cents ;-)
Kenji wrote: "This book kept me up until 3am last night, just couldn't put it down. In the end the entire story makes sense to me and I feel Lehane really doesn't leave that much room for interpretation. Some of..."Aha! I like number 3. That was one part of the book I was still trying to reason out. What you propose certainly sounds plausible.
***SPOILER***I think Teddy is definitely Laeddis. The hole in his wife's stomach comes up again and again and can only be explained if he is Laeddis. Also, she was always wet. I'd assumed it was because of the fire being put out but it makes far more sense if he's remembering her after she came from the lake...
Also, the white at the end is a straight jacket - no question in my mind. They said if the experiment did not work he was already scheduled for the lobotomy. When he was tying his shoe and said to Chuck about trying to get off the island, Chuck looked over to the warden etc and gave his head a shake, as if to say 'nope, it didn't work'.
I agree that the initial sailor / father / hates the sea bit was too drawn out and boring but otherwise i thought this was a clever and well executed thriller.
I'm stoked for the movie even though I know the ending...creepy!!
I can't decide if I like or dislike the book. My mind kept drifting from the book at certain parts and I didn't quite like the ending. I have been quite happy reading about Daniels but when the twist came at the end, I felt alittle unconvinced that that Teddy is in fact Laeddis.
I felt the same way Joyce. There was no real truth to what was happening. it was something we have to figure out or assume on our own, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but can be frustrating. I liked the book, but didn't give it 5 stars...I do want to see the movie though!
I just finished this book. What a quick read! I got through it in less than two days.Anyway, I'm in the camp that believes that Teddy is Laeddis. It was the dreams that convinced me, too. Actually, at first I was really annoyed with the book because Marshall Teddy kept figuring things out in dreams and I generally think using dream sequences to solve mysteries is laziness on the part of the author. But once I read further into the story and got to the parts about drugs causing hallucinations and strange dreams, it all suddenly came together for me.
I wasn't completely surprised by the ending. I started thinking about halfway through that Teddy was probably going to end up being a patient, but I didn't make all the connections until Lehane wrapped it up at the end. I also wasn't expecting the very last chapter, where we learn that Andrew (if he is Andrew!) hasn't been cured and will be undergoing surgery (I agree that it's a straightjacket they're carrying at the end).
It's not the best book I've ever read, but it was entertaining and I liked it enough that I think I'll get my boyfriend to read it and then take me to the movie when it comes out!
Hey, I just finished SI and enjoyed reading all of your comments! (I totally agree with all your reasons as to why Teddy is Laeddis. Like Kate, the final confirmation for me was Sheehan/Chuck's nod to Cawley.I liked that Lehane took what could have been a very depressing ending and made it sort of light and joking through the "You think they're onto us?" exchange. It would be so easy to leave the book with an image of lobotomy and cruelty. Instead we see that, despite the measures that were eventually taken, Sheehan did really care for Laeddis.
I went back and reread the prologue, because I remembered not understanding it the first time through. Interestingly, Dr. Sheehan mentions his wife Emily several times and writes that they first met on the island. If you remember, Emily was the red-headed nurse that gave Teddy his injection, and that he remembered as having pretended to be Rachel. I thought that was a fun little detail, given that "Chuck" would have been present during the intimate exchange between "Teddy" and "Rachel." I wonder if Sheehan and Emily were already married at that point. :-)
I do think it was a little cheap on Lehane's part to have Sheehan call Laeddis "Teddy" in the prologue. While I see Kenji's point about Laeddis's violence, it was clear in the last few chapters that the doctors didn't always cow-tow to Andrew's naming preferences. Also, the prologue was his diary, presumably after Andrew's death, so no risk of angering him. Perhaps Sheehan referred to him as Teddy out of respect? I think it was more likely out of Lehane's narrative necessity, which I find irksome.
I just finished it this morning! Definitely the kind of book that is hard to put down! I did not expect to like this book as I don't care too much for formula thrillers as a rule, but this was well written and while the ending was certainly dramatic, I didn't think it was at all gimmicky, though I know some of you would disagree. I definitely see how easily this would translate to the screen, I will have to look for the movie (but probably will wait for video, we are not movie-goers much). To me there is no question that Teddy is really Andrew Laeddis. I thik the bit with the children's names is probably a little much, but the dreams, "Chuck's" awkward behavior, even Teddy's behavior all added up to me. It makes way more sense to me to think that Teddy=Andrew than that this handful of psychiatrists would do away with TWO US Marshals. I guess I am not much of a conspiracy theorist! But one thing that contributes to Andrew's delusion and I think makes it harder for us as readers to suss it out is the way Lehane embraced the post-war period so well, referencing the Nazi horrors and growing general paranoia of communist activity in the McCarthy years, as when suggests that HUAC was involved.
I do think it is a little weird to involve the whole island... but the more I think about it, the more I wonder exactly how many people were involved. If a hurricane was coming doesn't it make sense they would evacuate whoever they could? I wonder if the island was fully populated and if everyone was really 'in on it' or if, in Andrew's delusional state, it really mattered. I too think it was a straightjacket they had at the end. What a sad story.
Anyway, I gave it 4 stars, and I thought about reading Mystic River for the movie/book task in the winter challenge also but maybe that's not a great choice?
Mystic River is really great! I liked it better than the movie and the movie won Oscars!
This was the first of Lehane's books that I've read, and it's been quite awhile since I've read a thriller. I loved the fact that I was seemingly SPEEDING through a book. I also found it to be strangely satisfying on some level. I mean, how many time do you finish a book and really wonder what the true story is? I tend to find myself in the 'He is Andrew Laeddis' camp, but I was really pulling for Teddy there. If he was Teddy I was hoping that he would escape and close down the island. I too think he was getting set up for a lobotomy at the end.
Great book, and a blessedly fast read at this point in the challenge. :-)
This was also my first Lehane novel and I really enjoyed it. This is one of those books I would have never picked up on my own so I'm grateful that it was one of the picks for this challenge.From the time I started it, I could not put it down and I was back and forth as to who to believe throughout the story. The ending took me by surprise and when it was all over I just kind of sat here thinking about it. After much thought I really like the ending and I don't think any other ending would have sat well with me. It just made the story so much more believable.
I have loved reading your comments on the book and I have to agree with you guys, I think the white item at the end was definitely a straight jacket for them to take him away in for surgery.
