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

[Char]

Goodreads Description: Let the Right One In Takes Top Honors at Tribeca Film Festival!


It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last---revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door---a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .

Sweeping top honors at film festivals all over the globe, director Tomas Alfredsson’s film of Let the Right One In has received the same kind of spectacular raves that have been lavished on the book. American readers of vampire fiction will be thrilled!

Let us know what you think!

If you wish to discuss spoilers please use the spoiler bracket (view spoiler)[ < spoiler> insert spoiler here. Remember not to leave spaces < / spoiler > (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

I started this one a couple of days ago and I'm about a third of the way through. Liking it so far but not finding it scary so much as stomach churning. (view spoiler)[And that's not because of the gore - it's the pedophilia making my skin crawl. (hide spoiler)]

[Rea, Ghost]

I'm not very far into it yet. I got a couple of chaps in before my debilitating "you will not concentrate on anything! Muahaha!" sickness set in. (They have no idea what caused it, but it seems to have passed.) I like the style so far, to say it's translated. I also like that it's "mum" and not "mom"!!

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "I'm not very far into it yet. I got a couple of chaps in before my debilitating "you will not concentrate on anything! Muahaha!" sickness set in. (They have no idea what caused it, but it seems to ..."

Oh, that sounds horrible. One of the only consolations of being sick is getting the excuse to sit around reading as R&R (apart from when I have migraine's - then I can't do anything). Glad you're feeling better now.

I noticed the 'mum' instead of 'mom' thing too - gotta love that. :D

[Jessi]

I am having a tough time locating this book =(

[Trisha]

I found this book to be way to graphic for my taste. I also read "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and found that one to be incredibly violent and graphic as well. Both authors are Swedish, and I wonder if that is a pattern in Swedish literature?

[Jeshu]

I haven't read this one yet, but I read "The girl with the dragon tattoo" (offtopic: I never understood why they changed the original name of that book) and I agree in that it was VERY graphic. Sometimes I had to stop reading and get some fresh air.

[[deleted user]]

I agree, in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the bits where there was actually something violent happening were graphic but for a crime thriller, there weren't actually many scenes like that. I was surprised at how slow it was too. I heard that pacing was approached differently with Swedish literature so I wondered if it would be the same for Let the Right One In and so far I'm pleased it hasn't been - though I do which it would stop jumping POV so frequently.

[Rea, Ghost]

Jessi wrote: "I am having a tough time locating this book =("

I found mine in the horror section of my local store. For some reason I'd expected it to be in the YA section but having read part of it, it's definitely not YA.

[Rea, Ghost]

Trisha wrote: "I found this book to be way to graphic for my taste. I also read "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and found that one to be incredibly violent and graphic as well. Both authors are Swedish, and I..."

Yes this is rather graphic. I haven't read any other books by Swedish authors, but Scandinavian authors in general seem to be very popular in the crime and thriller genre right now. Maybe it's because they're willing to take that step further?

I never got very far into The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I agree with Jeshu, I like the original title of The Man Who Hated Women). The endless intro with all the info about money laundering or whatever it was just sapped away at my desire to read. I've seen the Swedish movie, though, and it was really very good, so I'll probably go back to it at one point and finish it off.

What I've read so far of Let The Right One In has left me squeaming at times. I know how bad it is, but at the same time I can't tear my eyes away from it. I'm enjoying it!

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "Jessi wrote: "I am having a tough time locating this book =("

I found mine in the horror section of my local store. For some reason I'd expected it to be in the YA section but having read part of ..."

These days you hear the word 'vampire' it's natural to assume 'YA'.

[Rea, Ghost]

And now I've noticed that Oskar calls his mother "mum" but he brushes things off his "pants" - language continuity issues, much?

[Rea, Ghost]

Emma wrote: "Rea wrote: "Jessi wrote: "I am having a tough time locating this book =("

I found mine in the horror section of my local store. For some reason I'd expected it to be in the YA section but having r..."

Good point. Plus I already knew the book was about a young boy so I just assumed it was aimed at an audience of a similar age to the character. Bad assumption!

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "And now I've noticed that Oskar calls his mother "mum" but he brushes things off his "pants" - language continuity issues, much?"

Yep - I noticed it's a bit inconsistent like that. Also, some of the translation in my edition sounds a bit clunky and I'm wondering how much description/atmosphere is being lost because of it. Of course I could always go learn Swedish and then read the original edition but that might take a while...

[Rea, Ghost]

Who's your translator, Emma? Mine's Ebba Segerberg. Sounds like a Swedish name. Usually it's much better to have someone translating out of their second language into their mother tongue because if you're translating into your second language you don't have all of the instincts of a native speaker and can miss some of the nuances that a native speaker would have been able to put forth.

I agree, though. Sometimes the translation is a little clunky, but Swedish is just about the most useless language to learn (nearly 90% of Swedish people speak English to the point where they can interact with English-speakers (according to statistics)) so I won't be investing time into learning the language any time soon!

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "Who's your translator, Emma? Mine's Ebba Segerberg. Sounds like a Swedish name. Usually it's much better to have someone translating out of their second language into their mother tongue because if..."

Same - Ebba Segerberg.

Lol, agreed. I'm completely useless at learning languages anyway and I can't say I've ever really considered holidaying in Sweden. Let the Right One In can't be doing much for their tourism rate can it?

[Jeshu]

I want to learn Swedish, because there is a small possibility of going to live there in the future. My bf has family there, and since our shared dream is getting out of Chile, Sweden is a good option :P

I still haven't read this book, so I can't make any comments about it. I'm just glad to hear is not YA XD

[Rea, Ghost]

Almost all the Swedish lit that gets through to an international scale must put people off going there! Haha. Though it is a really beautiful country. I went on a canoeing holiday there once and oh man, the lakes are so beautiful!

Oooh Jeshu, nice! I have access to the tapes the CIA or FBI or something used to use to learn languages and I think Swedish is on there. You want a link them if I can find it? Sweden's got very good working conditions (as far as I know... at least, people keep complaining that they're not as good here as they are in Sweden.)

[Jeshu]

Yes!! That'd be awesome :D
Sweden seems to be better at everything. One of the first reviews listed in GR for Let the Right One In tells you that Sweden has all the awesome stuff (and Abba) XD

[[deleted user]]

Jeshu wrote: "Yes!! That'd be awesome :D
Sweden seems to be better at everything. One of the first reviews listed in GR for Let the Right One In tells you that Sweden has all the awesome stuff (and Abba) XD"

It does sound nice - I think it's just one of those places that has flown under my radar.

Lol, I read that review too. It was pretty funny.

[Jeshu]

Alice wrote: "I read this book a while ago (And since I'm Swedish I can read it in it's native language, which is always nice) and really enjoyed it. I'm thinking about rereading it, but that may have to wait a ..."

You're Swedish, cool!! It' always great to read the books in the language they were written :)

[Rea, Ghost]

Ok I'm... I don't know where I am but I've still got a lot to go. Anyway, I was having me a think and it occured to me that (view spoiler)[Håkan is a pedophile with a distinct penchant for young boys... yet he calls Eli - who is obviously a girl - his beloved. Admittedly I don't know how pedophillic behaviour works, but I'd have thought he'd have kept to one sex or the other, wouldn't you? (hide spoiler)]

[Char]

Okay, I just opened that spoiler. I think you'll understand why when I say I'm gonna give this book a miss. Hope you fellow mods don't mind. :)

[Rea, Ghost]

Completely understand, Char. No worries at all.

[Lara Ruark]

i opened the spoiler too.....i'm still gonna read it after the shining, though.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was so graphic and it did disturb me, but i was still glad i read it. i have a hard time dealing with certain issues and while it makes me uncomfortable, i find myself growing by confronting those issues.

[Rea, Ghost]

Well, the spoiler actually happens pretty early in the book. You know his nature and the nature of his relationship with Eli within the first quarter of the story.

[Lara Ruark]

not to worry - i figure if i open a spoiler, i'm asking for it!! =)

[Jeshu]

I was going to open it, now I won't XD

[Char]

I'm actually really glad I opened it otherwise I'd have bought the book. Someone could've told me that... in future if you see that in a book I'm meant to be reading please warn me off. :)

[Rea, Ghost]

Emma's spoiler up at the top of the page also mentions it actually. Good job I mentioned it again then! His nature becomes pretty obvious within a few bits of his PoV so it's not really spoiler but still delicate issues.

[Char]

I didn't open that one. I was being good but it's quite late and I like opening them. It really is a good job! Yes very delicate.

[Jane]

Emma wrote: "Rea wrote: "And now I've noticed that Oskar calls his mother "mum" but he brushes things off his "pants" - language continuity issues, much?"

Yep - I noticed it's a bit inconsistent like that. Als..."

Actually as a speaker of Australian English Mum and pants in the same book sounded fine i.e. unnoticable to me. What is your problem with it?

[Jane]

Rea wrote: "Ok I'm... I don't know where I am but I've still got a lot to go. Anyway, I was having me a think and it occured to me that [spoilers removed]"

Wow you're quick. I didn't pick that one up till it was too late. Still I blatted through this fast and then I gave it to all my friends who did the same.
Have faith in the writer. It all becomes clear in the end.

[Jane]

I read this a while ago after seeing the author at the Melbourne Writers fesitval where he was very good. Even though the relationship between vampire and helper takes us to a pretty nasty place, it is a very clever idea. I've seen the film a couple of times too but I skip all the kills, becasue I feel so sorry for the victims. I think this is the strength of this book. Its shows Vampires as nasty, grungy and pitiless and after all they are. And all murder victims have loved ones who miss them. Glamourous vampires are nice, I love True Blood etc. but they aren't really our friends. Also this book had the nastiest Zombie in literature. I throw out a challenge to anyone who can produce one that is ickier. (is this a spoiler? I hope not) This book has a very dark sense of humour at bottom. Don't worry about Eli's realitionship to her helper. Justice is done.

[Rea, Ghost]

Jane wrote: "Emma wrote: "Rea wrote: "And now I've noticed that Oskar calls his mother "mum" but he brushes things off his "pants" - language continuity issues, much?"

Yep - I noticed it's a bit inconsistent..."

As a speaker of British English, your pants are your underwear and the author did not mean that Oskar was brushing sand off his underwear. Books are usually translated into British English ("mum") or American English ("pants") - this one seems to be between the two.

[Rea, Ghost]

Jane wrote: "Rea wrote: "Ok I'm... I don't know where I am but I've still got a lot to go. Anyway, I was having me a think and it occured to me that [spoilers removed]"

Wow you're quick. I didn't pick that o..."

Good to know! I'm only managing to snatch a few chaps here and there when I'm doing the laundry right now, but I'm really enjoying the book. I actually got a Nell Gwynne book that I've been waiting for for over a year the other day and I've shunned it because I want to read this one!

[Rea, Ghost]

Jane wrote: "I read this a while ago after seeing the author at the Melbourne Writers fesitval where he was very good. Even though the relationship between vampire and helper takes us to a pretty nasty place, i..."

I'm the same! I'm bored of sparkly, romantic vampires. For me, vampires are base creatures who run on base instincts. That was why I loved (Twelve by Jasper Kent) so much. Russian history, Napoleon and vampires who are driven by the need to feed - it was the perfect book to bring me back to liking vampires after suffering through all these lovey dovey ones in PNR and UF. I haven't got to the zombie yet; I'm looking forward to it now!

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "Ok I'm... I don't know where I am but I've still got a lot to go. Anyway, I was having me a think and it occured to me that [spoilers removed]"

I thought exactly the same thing when I got to that bit.

I finished it yesterday and am trying to figure out how to write my review. It was good but it didn't knock my socks off. There were only about three or four points where it really got me feeling really tense - I think when it comes to horror, it's suspense that gets me feeling frightened rather than gore.

[MaraC]

Hum, I'm having a hard time getting into this book and keep reaching for one of the other books I'm reading instead. :/

[MaraC]

Rea wrote: "Jane wrote: "I read this a while ago after seeing the author at the Melbourne Writers fesitval where he was very good. Even though the relationship between vampire and helper takes us to a pretty n..."

I'm going to go look up Twelve and will probably be adding it to my TBR because you made it sound so good. :)

[Jane]

Rea wrote: "Jane wrote: "Emma wrote: "Rea wrote: "And now I've noticed that Oskar calls his mother "mum" but he brushes things off his "pants" - language continuity issues, much?"

Yep - I noticed it's a bit i..."

Now I understand. I think we Australians speak a wierd Hybrid of the two. I'm relieved by the Mum though. Mom never feels right to me.

[Jane]

Rea wrote: "Jane wrote: "I read this a while ago after seeing the author at the Melbourne Writers fesitval where he was very good. Even though the relationship between vampire and helper takes us to a pretty n..."

I'm glad. I hope you won't be disappointed. I'll be interested in any imput into the Icky Zombie challenge. I'm not a great reader of horror so I haven't come across many.

[Jeshu]

I started reading it yesterday :) I couldn't advance much, but I noticed something: my versions says "mom", not "mum" XD I thought of you guys when I read that :D

[Rea, Ghost]

I'm at the point now where I've just discovered what happened at the end of Eli's human life. Shesh, yuck! Made me shudder!

Also, I had the feeling I knew who the zombie would be and I love it! I'm not yet sure why Tommy and Staffan have both been given PoVs (and Yvonne too, I suppose, as she sometimes intervenes in their parts); they don't seem to add much to the whole but I'm guessing that it'll all make sense when the story gets wrapped up.

I'm at the point now where I have a hundred pages left to go and I'm obsessed with getting to the end of the story. Unfortunately I've run out of reading time and have to do a bunch of stuff around the house before I can get back to it! :( Will likely finish it this evening.

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "I'm at the point now where I've just discovered what happened at the end of Eli's human life. Shesh, yuck! Made me shudder!

Also, I had the feeling I knew who the zombie would be and I love it! I'..."

Yep - that was a pretty icky moment.

I had that feeling with a few of the POV's - just wasn't sure where they were going but I felt they did tie up in the end. :)

[Rea, Ghost]

Done! While I can't say that I was completely blown away by it, I did really enjoy it. I liked the ending (view spoiler)[though I wish Tomas had got his just deserts too. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Also, I wanted to know why Eli chose to work towards a female look when in Eli's own words Eli is "not a boy, not a girl - nothing." Why go for girl then? I suspect it probably has something to do with how it's easier for 12 year old girls to get what they want from adults than it is for 12 year old boys. But I still would have liked Eli's insight into it. (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

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 (view spoiler)[ Tomas deserved his comeuppance but perhaps the writer felt it would have been too convenient. Plus it does give it that touch of realism, since bad people don't always get what they have coming to them sadly.

I'm just trying to remember if Eli at any point actually refers to himself as a girl. He tells Oskar he isn't anything and maybe he just leaves it up to people to make an assumption. As he is so 'pretty' and has long hair, most would decide he's a girl but Hakan probably didn't because he preferred boys; so maybe it's more a projection of what the other person wants to see? Sometimes Eli wore girl's clothes but if he truly saw himself as neither maybe he just picked what he liked or what he was in the mood for. It could have done with a little explanation though. (hide spoiler)]

I saw the American film version come up on Sky Anytime whilst I was reading the book so I recorded it to watch later but now I'm not sure I want to see it. I've got a pretty strong stomach but some of those scenes might really gross me out depending on how they're handled.

I liked the book but I didn't really connect emotionally with the characters - did you?

[Rea, Ghost]

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 removed]"



That's a good point actually and I agree, it does make it more realistic.

(view spoiler)[I don't think that he does refer to himself as a girl, but he definitely projects the girl image. The first time Oskar meets him he's wearing a pink shirt and later he chooses to wear the yellow sundress rather than anything "more manly" out of Oskar's wardrobe. So in that sense, he does choose to come across as a little girl but it could be because, as you say, most people do view him as a little girl because of his physical appearance, so he just goes with what is expected of him. I can't remember whether Håkan ever refers to Eli by one gender or the other - it's entirely possible that the author might have very cleverly avoided ever using the possessive while Håkan was thinking about Eli. (hide spoiler)]

I loved the vampire lore in this too. There's enough hinted at that the reader can fill in the gaps with their own interpretation but at times I would have liked it to go a little more in depth.

There was another point that I wanted to bring up as well but I've forgotten what it was. Oh well, it'll come back to me later.

From what I gather, the American film is "good" but they focused on making it more horror - they also took away the conotations of the relationship between Eli and Håkan (though they're called Abby and nameless in the American film) and made it so that they grew up together. Abby is the anatagonist in the American film, too, never really regretting her decisions. They've also changed the setting to 1980's America. What is with the obsession with making everything American?! Apparently the director wanted to bring the original (book) story to a wider audience but from what I know of the film (my mum has it and we were discussing the differences between the book and the film (as I haven't seen the film and she hasn't read the book) the other day) I have to wonder whether he's even read the book.

The Swedish film, however, is supposed to be really good. So I'm going to look for that one with English subs!

[Rea, Ghost]

I remember what the other point was now. This is about the almost ending of the book so don't open the spoiler if you don't want it spoilt!

(view spoiler)[I read somewhere that when Håkan catches up with Eli in the basement, it is "obvious" that Håkan manages to penetrate Eli. This wasn't my interpretation of events, though. I understood that Håkan was attempting to penetrate but due to the fact that he was pretty much blind by this point, he was more fumbling about and not quite managing to get there. I'd be interested in hearing how others who have finished the book interpreted this scene! (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

Rea wrote: "I remember what the other point was now. This is about the almost ending of the book so don't open the spoiler if you don't want it spoilt!

[spoilers removed]"

I agree totally - I interpreted the scene the same as you!

I think the author wrote the screenplay for the Swedish version of the film so it should definitely be truer to the book.

I find it strange that they feel they have to remake foreign films that have been really well received into an American format. They've done the same with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo even though the Swedish version was really successful. And 'Death at a Funeral' the other year? The original was a British film so there wasn't even the excuse of the language barrier! Crazy.