Dark Dark Book. (Let the Right One in - John Ajvide Lindqvist)

Member Name: okei

Product:	Let the Right One in - John Ajvide Lindqvist
Date:	17/04/09 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The finale scene is emotionally gargantuan.

Disadvantages: Hard to stomach.

This is a novel take on the vampire theme by the Swedish author J. A. Lindqvist, recently turned also into a movie which was doing the rounds of the film festivals in 2008 and on general release in the UK in April 2009.

Both movie and book are deeply dark and disturbing. The main characters are the little boy Oscar, insecure and bullied at school, and the 12-year old girl, Eli who we quickly learn is not all she seems. She's been 12 years old for several hundred years. The two soon make friends and it's them together against the world. But this is definitely not a children's book and might also be inappropriate for young adults, because of its gruesome nature and its sexual themes.

While the movie is more streamlined and leaves out some of the less palatable and slightly irrelevant subplots, it is still uncomfortable viewing in parts, just as the book is uncomfortable reading. So whilst the film is extremely well made and the acting superb and the same can be said for the writing and the plot tension of the book, the experience is gripping, but not so enjoyable. Disturbing would be my one-word review.

And yet if I were to choose between book and film, I would read the book, especially for the emotional rendering of the final scene. It's unsatisfactory indeed and yet incredibly powerful, and with this unsatisfactory ending, all the reader can do is go back and read those final few pages once more and they are truly a fitting finale to a gripping tale and the one scene of the book that will remain forever with us. The film somehow didn't quite manage to capture the same emotional intensity of this finale, and yet I feel it could have done, so that was a little disappointing.

In conclusion, both book and film are highly recommended, though not easy entertainment, so not for the faint-hearted.

Summary: Good, but not enjoyable.