Books: Let the Right One In
I saw the movie back in February during its limited theatrical release, and was floored. Damn. Best vampire movie I ever saw. I immediately requested the book at the library. Evidently everyone else in the greater Seattle area did too, because as of last Friday, when I headed for Norwescon, it still hadn't 'arrived.
So I walk into the dealer's room to talk to my friend Spring, and my pal Dave Clark, a bookseller, has it in glorious trade paperback for fifteen bucks. I couldn't resist.
In case you've been living under a rock (or a glacier), this is a Swedish novel written by a man named John Ajvide Lindqvist. So what you get when you read this book is a translation. I have to say, it's an excellent translation. I'll never know what, if anything, was lost in translation, but I couldn't put the book down. It was fascinating. It follows the story of Oskar, a brutally bullied 12-year-old boy, Eli, a girl who appears to be his age but, um, isn't, Hakan, Eli's "guardian," and various denizens of the declining suburb-in-the-woods where they all live.
I loved how the book expanded on the characters of Oskar and Eli. You really get to know them, and something about Eli that's only hinted at in the movie is fully revealed. The only drawback is learning the full motivation of a few other characters, some of whom I found out I really didn't want to know that well.
For example, in the movie, the character of Hakan is enegmatic. Why is he with Eli? Why does he hunt for her, killing people and bringing her blood? He obviously loves her, but in what way? It was nice to think that Hakan met Eli when he was very young, maybe even Oskar's age, and fell in love with her. He aged, she didn't. He loves her with the love of a young boy, with an innocent adoration. Yeah. Not so much. Not gonna go into detail, but ew.
There are parts of this book that are hard to read, but it's well worth it. I'd recommend it to any fan of genre fiction, not just horror fans, because it's freakin' brilliant. Eli is both a vulnerable child and a vicious predator. This balance is kept delicately throughout the book, which can't have been an easy feat. Amazing.
In fact, I think I'm gonna go read it again.
P.S.: I got an email from the library today saying the book is ready for me to pick up. Heh.
So I walk into the dealer's room to talk to my friend Spring, and my pal Dave Clark, a bookseller, has it in glorious trade paperback for fifteen bucks. I couldn't resist.
In case you've been living under a rock (or a glacier), this is a Swedish novel written by a man named John Ajvide Lindqvist. So what you get when you read this book is a translation. I have to say, it's an excellent translation. I'll never know what, if anything, was lost in translation, but I couldn't put the book down. It was fascinating. It follows the story of Oskar, a brutally bullied 12-year-old boy, Eli, a girl who appears to be his age but, um, isn't, Hakan, Eli's "guardian," and various denizens of the declining suburb-in-the-woods where they all live.
I loved how the book expanded on the characters of Oskar and Eli. You really get to know them, and something about Eli that's only hinted at in the movie is fully revealed. The only drawback is learning the full motivation of a few other characters, some of whom I found out I really didn't want to know that well.
For example, in the movie, the character of Hakan is enegmatic. Why is he with Eli? Why does he hunt for her, killing people and bringing her blood? He obviously loves her, but in what way? It was nice to think that Hakan met Eli when he was very young, maybe even Oskar's age, and fell in love with her. He aged, she didn't. He loves her with the love of a young boy, with an innocent adoration. Yeah. Not so much. Not gonna go into detail, but ew.
There are parts of this book that are hard to read, but it's well worth it. I'd recommend it to any fan of genre fiction, not just horror fans, because it's freakin' brilliant. Eli is both a vulnerable child and a vicious predator. This balance is kept delicately throughout the book, which can't have been an easy feat. Amazing.
In fact, I think I'm gonna go read it again.
P.S.: I got an email from the library today saying the book is ready for me to pick up. Heh.