The Reading Rainbow Coalition discussion
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Let the Right One In
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Just joined, but looking forward to reading some great books with the FBs. I actually ordered this book a few days ago after watching the movie (Which was awesome) and it will probably arrive tomorrow. Then I saw you mention it on Twitter and thought the timing was too coincidental, so I thought I'd finally get in on the action. Laters!
I haven't seen the movie or read the book yet, I always have trouble keeping up with you guys! It's ultra-hard to read any book at the moment because I am doing NaNoWriMo, but I always feel horrible when I can't read the same book as somebody else at the same time...
Sweet, I read Jacobmartin's comment (Good luck!), then the book comes through the door, boosh! Started reading already, I'll comment something at some point.
Mod
Good luck on NaNoWriMo! You are a far braver soul that me. ;) The bookclub isn't supposed to feel like homework so don't worry about not being able to read when you're busy. Just read what you can and comment in the forum... I leave all the threads open so you can comment anytime!
Really liking it so far, nearly finished, in fact (Part 5) I can't really read it without comparing it to the film, but it's nice to see more backstory about Hakan. I especially like the sidestories with Lacke and Virginia and the whole Tommy thing.
I don't have a copy of Let the Right One In so I started reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao for the third time. It counts as nerd lit because it's Pulitzer Prize winning nerd lit! Lots of nerd history! From the Seventies!
*EDIT: Spoilers Ahead!*Read this around the beginning of the year and can't remember all the details, but do remember how much I enjoyed it. Creepy, moving, exciting. Instantly convincing portrayal of Stockholm's grimy working-class suburbs in the 80s, shot through with alcoholism, unemployment, bullying and loneliness. Håkan's devotion to Eli manages to make him pitiable as well as monstrous; and the Oskar-Eli relationship is perfectly drawn.
I liked the open-ended ending: rather than tie absolutely everything up, Lindqvist has them just head off together, and we don't know how they'll survive - how will Eli get blood? Will Oskar end up having to kill for her, like Håkan? Didn't quite know what to make of Eli's indeterminate gender; I suppose in an odd way it renders Oskar & Eli's love all the purer because it's totally non-sexual, and makes Eli's character even stranger.
Glad the film did it justice.
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I basically agree with Self-propelled's review especially regarding all the relationships between the characters, all so well-crafted to give the overall mood of the story. Eli and Hakan; Eli and Oskar; Tommy, his mom and Stefan; Virginia and Lacke; all the other drunks at the Chinese restaurant; the school bullies. Lindqvist peoples his world with so many characters that all manage to be as isolated as the next. There is a strange sense of loneliness in this book, not just for Eli who has to live apart from everyone, but also in this frigid, working-class town.
I have to say that this is the first book that I've read in a long time that I had to put down because one of the scenes was just so damned scary. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but it's a scene that is not in the movie, with Tommy and Hakan in the basement. Tense and terrifying, it draws you back to those primal days of childhood when the very darkness is petrifying.
Also, as this is the Thanksgiving season, I just wanted to say that I am thankful for this kick-ass book club, because through it I have found a great number of books that I have seriously, thoroughly enjoyed. <3
Let the Right One In