Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (October's Group Read)

[Rea, Ghost]

I just discovered that we have the movie Let the Right One In! Got all excited. Then I discovered that it is in Swedish and doesn't have subtitles. :( I'll have to get the boyfriend on the case finding me a version with subs.

[Laura]

I am surprised at how much I am enjoying this book. I am about 60% of the way through at the moment and can't put it down now. I haven't read any Scandinavian literature before (I've tended to be put off by the stereotypes surrounding it- I don't particularly like crime or horror novels). I joined this group in the first place in order to broaden my reading horizons and read things that were out of my comfort zone- and this novel is certainly that! I don't seem to mind the content as much as I thought I would- no nightmares yet... Although, I was reading this on my lunch at work the other day when a colleague came in and started reading it behind my shoulder and looked very concerned about my external reading material (I work in a Police Station!!).

I agree with others in they hoping that all the loose leads involving supposedly minor characters are tied up though. My personal favourite of these is Virginia- I want to know what is going to happen next! Have resisted looking at the spoilers so far...

[MaraC]

I finished this last night. I thought it an easy read but really didn't care for it. It didn't draw me in and make me want to read it. I didn't find it creepy or even that much of a horror book either but it did have a few icky moments (view spoiler)[ the pedophilia and the pissball. I really could do without both but at least there was plot reason later on for having the pedophilia but I can see no reason for the pissball. (hide spoiler)].
I agree with Laura about Virginia. I really liked her side story and it was probably the best part for me.

[[deleted user]]

MaraC wrote: "I finished this last night. I thought it an easy read but really didn't care for it. It didn't draw me in and make me want to read it. I didn't find it creepy or even that much of a horror book eit..."

Lol (view spoiler)[I wasn't expecting to read about the piss-ball in your spoiler. (hide spoiler)]

I liked Virginia but I actually thought it could have been left out without there being much loss to the main story.

[MaraC]

Emma wrote: "MaraC wrote: "I finished this last night. I thought it an easy read but really didn't care for it. It didn't draw me in and make me want to read it. I didn't find it creepy or even that much of a h..."

True, Virginia could have easily been left out without any loss. I would have missed her though and would have enjoyed the book even less... I'm thankful for her! lol

[Rea, Ghost]

I felt that Virginia was necessary to the plot. (view spoiler)[She was a way of showing the reader the emotions newly infected people go through when they come to terms with their condition. Otherwise the reader would simply have been told that most of the infected commit suicide. And we all know of the rules of show not tell! (hide spoiler)]

I also felt that the (view spoiler)[pissball played an important role in Oskar's characterisation. It was a way of showing that everything in the world seemed to be against him, even his own body. I don't get why it fixed itself, though. Maybe you're supposed to take from it that because he's becoming more self confident, he's getting better control over himself and his environment? I dunno... (hide spoiler)]

But I agree. I'm not sure how "horror" this book really is. There weren't any really freaky scenes. It was more just a build up of various dramatic tensions with the added extra of a vampire that actually needs blood to survive.

[Rea, Ghost]

Laura wrote: "I am surprised at how much I am enjoying this book. I am about 60% of the way through at the moment and can't put it down now. I haven't read any Scandinavian literature before (I've tended to be p..."

Yey! I'm glad that you're enjoying it. It was when I got to about the 60% mark that I gave up on doing anything else until I'd finished the book. I just sat down and read the last 250 pages in one go... with a book of that size and depth, this is not normal for me! I'm the same with Scandinavian lit for the same reasons... unless you count the Moomins (author was Finnish, right?) Haha, that thing about your colleague is funny. I read it at home and I just got an exasperated "why do you keep reading about vampires?!" So I told him that it was more like Stephen King's vampires (in Salem's Lot) and that got him more interested! I felt that the main themes were pedophilia and bullying rather than vampirism, though, so I wasn't freaked out by it either.

Keep resisting looking at the spoilers! But when you're done go through them all! I think it's worth it. :) I liked Virginia too - it was really interesting to read from her POV.

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "I felt that Virginia was necessary to the plot. [spoilers removed]

I also felt that the [spoilers removed]

But I agree. I'm not sure how "horror" this book really is. There weren't any really fre..."

I can see your point about Virginia but (view spoiler)[ I just thought most of the vampire myth stuff was pretty vague in the rest of the book so going into that level of detail was a bit out of style. My opinion of this might also be tainted by the fact that I have read a fair amount of vampire books so the transformation/despair/suicide stuff didn't seem particularly enlightening to me. It's not that much of a stretch to figure out that some people might prefer to die than live a life constantly on the move, never seeing the sunlight and murdering humans in order to survive. :/ (hide spoiler)]

I agree that show is better than tell on the whole but tell does have a function. Done in moderation it can help stop the pace of a book from faltering - which I felt this one did in the middle when it was flitting around so many different characters.

[Jane]

Rea wrote: "Emma wrote: "Rea wrote: "Done! While I can't say that I was completely blown away by it, I did really enjoy it. I liked the ending [spoilers removed]

[spoilers removed]"
I haven't seen the American film but I love'd the Swedish one. Very dark and cold. Someone said something about all these miserable books about Sweden putting people of going. It really is a way beautiful country and the murdering and drunkeness and vampires and neo-nazi's were on the whole not much in evidence on my visit. It was all a bit more Astrid Lindgren.
I agree [spoilers remove..."

Rea wrote: "Emma wrote: "Rea wrote: "Done! While I can't say that I was completely blown away by it, I did really enjoy it. I liked the ending [spoilers removed]

[spoilers removed]"

I agree [spoilers remove..."

[Jane]

It been a long time since I read the book, but since then I have wondered if Hakan and Eli's relationship started up the same way as Oskar and Eli's so that the story is a series of cycles with Eli taking a new helper every forty or so years which is a creepy thought. I didn't want to believe this because it makes Oskars relationship with Eli sad. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

[Jeshu]

I'm reading it. I'm in page seventy something, but I'm not enjoying it :(

[Rea, Ghost]

Emma wrote: "Rea wrote: "I felt that Virginia was necessary to the plot. [spoilers removed]

I also felt that the [spoilers removed]

But I agree. I'm not sure how "horror" this book really is. There weren't an..."

Very true, Emma. (view spoiler)[I always wanted to know more about the lore behind it all. I mean he gave enough hints so the reader could figure it out themselves but he never really expanded on it much. I liked Virginia, though, so I enjoyed reading about her transformation. I didn't like Lacke, though. (hide spoiler)]

Oh the scene in particular at the hospital really bugged me. (view spoiler)[The nurse who has a whole personality presented to the reader; Håkan; the taxi driver; the security guard; the morgue attendant... Were they all really necessary? I didn't feel so. (hide spoiler)]

[Rea, Ghost]

Jane wrote: "It been a long time since I read the book, but since then I have wondered if Hakan and Eli's relationship started up the same way as Oskar and Eli's so that the story is a series of cycles with Eli..."

That cycle thing is the concept put forward in the American movie. But in the movie Håkan (who is nameless) knew Eli (now named Abby to fit with Americanisms) as a child and you see Oskar (Owen) take Håkan's place. In the book Håkan was already suicidal when Eli met him, though he certainly took him to be his "helper" and they hadn't been together very long (view spoiler)[Eli mentions that he "sleeps" for long periods and when he wakes up he needs help so I assumed that he'd just come out of a sleep cycle. (hide spoiler)] I'd like think that Oskar is a friend rather than a helper.

[Rea, Ghost]

Jeshu wrote: "I'm reading it. I'm in page seventy something, but I'm not enjoying it :("

Don't worry Jeshu, it took a while before it really grabbed me. I felt it got better the further in you got.

[Jeshu]

Rea wrote: "Jeshu wrote: "I'm reading it. I'm in page seventy something, but I'm not enjoying it :("

Don't worry Jeshu, it took a while before it really grabbed me. I felt it got better the further in you got."

I hope so!! I want to finish it soon, in order to move to another book ><

[Laura]

I finished it a couple of days ago and much as I did read the last 30% in one sitting, and it gripped me at the time, I came away from it feeling disappointed. All the build up, all the characterisation, really didn't seem worth it when the ending felt so rushed. Some of the characters, such as Oskar's mother, Tommy's mother and Gosta just to name a few, weren't even mentioned at the end- so why spend all those pages on them?

Ultimately though, the ending made me think and be quite horrified. I have a couple of questions though- what was the thing with the cats because I have never heard of that before, and did anyone else really, really, feel sorry for Lacke?

[Jane]

Yes I did feel really really sorry for Lacke. He loses so much. And he didn't have a lot to start with. I approve of books where bad things happen to characters you like because it seems more real and at the same time its very hard to take.

[Rea, Ghost]

The ending did feel a bit like it cut off before the real ending was there, I agree with that. I'd have liked to have seen more consequences vis-à-vis Tommy's ordeal and everything between Oskar's parents. I can accept not getting an ending to the parents subplot as the story obviously wasn't going to go back to that, but at the same time I'm nosy and I want to know!

I think that there are some legends that say that animals are more aware of a vampire's presence. Wasn't it mentioned earlier on in the book too that there was a dog that didn't like Eli or something like that? So I figured that the cats all attacked because they sensed a predator in their midst. I've heard that there's a fantastic scene in the Swedish movie with CGI kitties attacking. ;)

I did feel sorry for Lacke because of everything that happened and how powerless he was in it all. But at the same time I wasn't drawn to him much as a character and came to like him less and less as the book progressed.

[Lara Ruark]

i FINALLY finished......

this was NOT my book. i kept hoping/waiting for oskar & eli to die.....i've never felt that way before....

my co-worker was reading it at the same time, and he says that oskar & eli are romeo & juliet....and he has since gone off to purchase a rubick's cube.....

i guess it resonated more with him than me.

i liked certain elements....i thought the pacing was good, the intensity was good, it was a thriller....and i liked lacke & virginia.

eh, bleh.......next book!

[Rea, Ghost]

Ah, sorry to hear that Lara! It does seem to have been a like it or find it blegh book (love it seems it bit strong). I suspect it's to do with the subject matter. I'm not sure how they're like Romeo and Juliet but hey ho! It's actually pretty cool that it's inspired him to go out and get a rubick's cube!

[Lara Ruark]

yeah, i'm not sure how he related it at all, but i do appreciate how people's tastes can be so different.