Just finished reading...

For discussion of John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel Hanteringen av odöda
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jkwilliams
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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by jkwilliams » Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:47 pm

J.J. wrote:Well, I finally finished reading HTU and I agree with most of you that it's very good even though it can't be compared to LTROI. I found some passages a bit confused (Elvy & Flora's parts, especially...) but I solved all the doubts by reading these topics 8-)
And of course it's a very original twist to the classic "zombie story", so... I enjoyed it a lot ^__^
I just finished reading it too. I guess we're a couple of years too late :)

I kept waiting for Flora and Elvy to have some kind of reunion with Tore but it never happened. That whole storyline doesn't really seem to have an ending. It just stops. I mean, what happens to the reliving that are marching towards the city? It all starts sounding very ominous towards the end.

The idea of making this into a film also scares me a little. There are just so many things that could go wrong. One of the most touching scenes for me is the one with Mahler caring for Elias right after he first brings him home. Unfortunately, I could easily see where an audience might laugh at this if it weren't done right.

Things like telepathy, visions of death, and souls leaving the body are hard to pull off in a film. However, if you remove too many of the supernatural elements in order to accommodate a film you're also going to be removing a lot of the emotional impact of the story.

It's a minefield!..

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J.J.
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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by J.J. » Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:38 pm

Yeah, it could be a pretty good movie or just a mess... I also think the key to make it work is to focus on the living, as Nightraider said before.

Anyway, so what now? Which book should I read first: Harbour or Little star? Which do you think is better?
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Nightrider
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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by Nightrider » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:08 pm

jkwilliams wrote: Things like telepathy, visions of death, and souls leaving the body are hard to pull off in a film. However, if you remove too many of the supernatural elements in order to accommodate a film you're also going to be removing a lot of the emotional impact of the story.

HTU is a tough book to turn into a movie. I do think it's possible. As long as the heart is in the right place, the script should be fine. We know it's a fantasy, but mainly it's a story about human emotions and cruelty of death. As long as the film is about people and not about "zombies" all should be in order.
J.J. wrote: Anyway, so what now? Which book should I read first: Harbour or Little star? Which do you think is better?
I'd recommend Harbour. It's my favorite novel by JAL and it's really something special.....
Plus, it will make an awesome film one day!
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StefL
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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by StefL » Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:48 am

jkwilliams wrote:I kept waiting for Flora and Elvy to have some kind of reunion with Tore but it never happened. That whole storyline doesn't really seem to have an ending. It just stops. I mean, what happens to the reliving that are marching towards the city? It all starts sounding very ominous towards the end.
It's all there - not in HtU though but in the epilogue "short novel" The Final Handling 8-)

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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by Nightrider » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:22 am

Actually, an ideal situation for a movie would be a script that combines HTU and The Final Handling, since TFU contains a truly explosive and memorable ending that is very cinematic and would be very effective on the big screen.
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J.J.
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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by J.J. » Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:00 pm

Nightrider wrote:I'd recommend Harbour. It's my favorite novel by JAL and it's really something special.....
Plus, it will make an awesome film one day!
OK, next stop Harbour, then.
And I think, after that, I'll have to look for The Final Handling, too ;)
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jkwilliams
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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by jkwilliams » Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:54 am

Is The Final Handling the same story as the one in the LTODD book that comes out at the end of August? It sounds like it is by the description on the Quercus Books site, but I just wanted to make sure.

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drakkar
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Re: Just finished reading...

Post by drakkar » Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:26 am

Yes, it is.
For the heart life is simple. It beats as long as it can.
- Karl Ove Knausgård

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