Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

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Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by a_contemplative_life » Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:16 am

Just finished Little Star and thought I would offer some comments on some similarities I saw with LTROI.

** Spoilers Ahead **

1. A child abused at a young age who never has the opportunity for a normal life (Theres/Eli).

2. Adults who, distracted with their own lives, fail to pay attention to the children for whom they are responsible (Jerry distracted by his love for Paris; Oskar's parents).

3. The image of a naked child standing before a lust-filled adult man (Theres/Max; Eli/Hakan).

4. A character with deep-seated pedophilic desires whose death involves a perverse fulfillment or attempted fulfillment of those desires (Hakan/Max).

5. The idea of a life essence that can be extracted from a human being through violence (Eli drinks blood; Theres inhales red smoke).

6. The death of unfortunate (innocent) bystanders.

7. The idea of a child who lacks a concrete notion of who she or he is, and is searching to find an identity (Teresa/Oskar).

Just some things to think about. Does anyone else see any?
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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by gattoparde59 » Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:43 am

Yes, I have been thinking along the same lines, but have been too lazy to write it out. The two novels are very similar. Thanks for posting. :)

Others:

Bullies

A love story between two social outcasts. Despite being lovers both Theres and Teresa don't seem to have a sexual relationship, despite both of them hitting puberty.

A coming of age story.

An enigmatic main character in Theres. Where we eventually learn something about the mysterious Eli, we never really get to know Theres in the same way. All we get are clues. Theres is a monster with miraculous powers, much like Eli.

How many times does Teresa describe herself as a "nothing?" I lost count.

Humans turning into animals. Oskar is Piggy. Teresa develops the whole wolf thing for herself and the "Pack." Teresa seems to have a wolf-like sense of smell.
a_contemplative_life wrote:2. Adults who, distracted with their own lives, fail to pay attention to the children for whom they are responsible (Jerry distracted by his love for Paris; Oskar's parents).


A general failure of parenting where ever you look in this story. I almost stopped reading after the first couple of chapters it was so depressing. I did get the impression that Paris was there as a plot device to take Jerry out of the picture to lead to another point of comparison.

Both stories end in spectacular episodes of violence. Little Star is more elaborate.

Other comparisons? I want to read more. :)

How about this one:

In Let the Right One In, two blighted children together help each other find their lost humanity.

In Little Star, two blighted children help each other lose their humanity.

I'll break open the story and tell you what is there. Then, like the others that have fallen out onto the sand, I will finish with it, and the wind will take it away.

Nisa

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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by EEA » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:13 am

Agree with your observations. I'll try to see if I can think of any.

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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by lombano » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:20 am

gattoparde59 wrote: In Let the Right One In, two blighted children together help each other find their lost humanity.

In Little Star, two blighted children help each other lose their humanity.
Yes! Eli doesn't want to be a vampire, Oskar doesn't want to be piggy. Teresa and Theres want to be wolves.
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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by gattoparde59 » Sat Aug 04, 2012 4:15 pm

I thought of another. Both Eli and Theres have adult care givers who eventually get taken out of the picture. Eli had Hakan, Theres has Jerry. Jerry is more of a positive character than Hakan. He makes progress as a human being and overcomes a horrible set of circumstances and character flaws. Hakan goes in the opposite direction.

I'll break open the story and tell you what is there. Then, like the others that have fallen out onto the sand, I will finish with it, and the wind will take it away.

Nisa

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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by lombano » Sat Aug 04, 2012 4:47 pm

The contrast between Jerry and Haakan goes further - Jerry becomes a better person when he assumes responsibility for Theres, while Haakan's 'custody' of Eli corrupts him further.
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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by danielma » Mon Aug 06, 2012 12:30 am

I think Little Star is the nihlistic version of Let the Right One In to some degree

There is a degree of hope underneath Let the Right One In...you find yourself engaged and rooting for Oskar and Eli even though their actions are terrible by nature. Let's face it, Eli is a killer, but she is a killer by design of nature. She is a predator who must kill to live. Hence we find ourselves engaged and sympathetic to her/his plight. By being with her, Oskar is slowly adapting to her nature. And as a result, we find ourselves sympathetic to the both of them.

Theres and Teresa on the other hand are the completely nihlistic version of Eli and Oskar. They don't kill out of need rather they kill out of a perverted sense of empowerment. Yet the relationship is somewhat the same between them as it is with E & O...They both have a connection that no one else can really understand or rationalize. They both find a friendship in one another and even a form of love, however that friendship and love leads them to terrible senseless deeds that are driven out of a form of empowerment.

So for myself, I always thought it was the nihlistic version of Oskar and Eli. Theres and Teresa is a relationship that is poison in someways as it will lead them both to further destruction.

So yeah, I agree, it's sort of the Nihlistic version of Let the Right One In...even Jerry has hints of Hakan about him, the only difference is that Hakan is a true monster (of sorts) in LTROI, where as Jerry is actually one of the more redeemable male characters in Little Star...but still he is an acting guardian to Theres. Much like Hakan is an acting guardian to Eli.
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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by drakkar » Mon Aug 06, 2012 6:01 am

I cannot see it that way.
Little Star balances on a razor edge between warmheartedness and despair, allright, but I feel the balance from LTROI (everyone are flawed, nothing is purely good or bad) is tightened up even more in LS. I am on the verge of condemning Theres and Teresa, but I never do (and that troubles me a bit ;) ).
A reason for John writing this book like this could also be that he felt he could do it. He has become an even more skilled writer since LTROI; the way he portrays T&T is an absolute masterpiece. I've always admired John for his ability to ram the profound and tender aspects of life through the "noise" of a horror book; even more so in LS.
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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by danielma » Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:14 pm

drakkar wrote:I cannot see it that way.
Little Star balances on a razor edge between warmheartedness and despair, allright, but I feel the balance from LTROI (everyone are flawed, nothing is purely good or bad) is tightened up even more in LS. I am on the verge of condemning Theres and Teresa, but I never do (and that troubles me a bit ;) ).
A reason for John writing this book like this could also be that he felt he could do it. He has become an even more skilled writer since LTROI; the way he portrays T&T is an absolute masterpiece. I've always admired John for his ability to ram the profound and tender aspects of life through the "noise" of a horror book; even more so in LS.
There are elements of a tender freindship there, I don't necessarily disagree with you...I found the final image of the book to be rather poetic (the fact that Theres finally lets Teresa take her hand)...but in terms of their murderous ways, it really isn't driven by any motivation rather then "they can". Which is linked back to a certain sense of empowerment they get from it. That's where I would argue that it's rather nihlistic. Their motivations are completely nihlisitic and self serving. They are two characters who have no real compassion for their victims.

It's funny, I liken Teresa and Theres to Walt White from Breaking Bad. I don't know how many people here watch Breaking Bad, so I don't want to spoil too much, but Walt is essentially a terrible human being. As that series has progressed, his actions have become darker and to the borderline point of rendering him unlikeable. I mean we're talking about a character who willingly poisons a child just so he can manipulate the situation and get his cooking partner back on his side.

BUT, even after all the terrible things that Walt has done, I still like Walt and find myself conflicted by him as a character...the same can be said for Teresa and Theres...their actions (as the book progresses) become worst and worst. Their actions (to a degree) are nihlistic, but I still find myself conflicted by liking them.

Their relationship isn't what is nihlistic, their actions on the other hand are.

I stand by my thought. The relationship between Theres and Teresa is almost the destructive polar oppesite of the one that is shared between Oskar and Eli. That's not to say they don't care for each other or find something in one another, it's still a love story even if it is a perverted love story. But unlike Eli, their motivation is simply driven because "they can". That's where it seems to be a little nihlistic to me.
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Re: Parallels Between Little Star and LTROI - Spoilers

Post by lombano » Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:47 am

I'm with danielma, LS is for me the polar opposite of LTROI in that it is a relationship that is ultimately wholly nihilistic. I have to disagree with drakkar, I saw no tenderness in it - OK, just possibly on Theres' part, but Teresa is indeed as she perceives herself - empty, a creature without a soul.
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