My review of Little Star (spoilers)

[varamiglite]

I've just finished reading Little Star so I figured I would put in my two cents about it while it's still fresh in my mind. I'll just dive right in...

I give the book about a 7 out of 10, and some of that is probably my own fault. I think I read the book way too fast and never really gave myself any time to let things really soak in. As so many other things that I become interested in I soon become obsessed. I read half of it in the evenings during the week and the other half over the weekend. If the review sounds a little unfairly biased it's probably because I wasn't thorough enough with it.

Digging into the main characters...

I thought Theres was a fascinating character with just how odd she was and how disconnected she was with the entire world. It was fun trying to figure her out... for a little while. After a while (not sure where exactly) I gave up trying to understand her and accepted the fact that she was crazy for the sake of being crazy. There really was too much going on or not enough to try to piece her together. Looking at it as a whole I can only assume that something was broken inside her head all along. That has to explain why someone dumped her off in the place Lennart had found her. Of course his explanation of "big people wanting to eat up the little people" only made her case even worse. I don't know if that really made a whole lot of difference though. I think at some point she would have began killing anyways. To her killing a person is the same as how we kill a bug. She's not a part of them so killing them is such an easy thing to do, such a thoughtless thing. Do those that smash spiders or swat flies think of what they're doing or have any pity for the squashed insect on the bottom of their sneaker or on the plastic grate of their flyswatter. Same thing for Theres and everyone else, no connection, no pity. Looking back now I can safely put together the idea that Theres was really only human in appearance, and sometimes barely even that. While the others in the pack were once humans that were driven to become primal, Theres always was. There have always been stories of humans raised by wolves, well in this it was the opposite, She's a wolf raised by humans, but she never truly adopted human ways. Any hopes of her ever becoming human were dashed away when she basically became a god to a group of teenage girls. She realized she didn't have to be like them. She wanted them to be like her. She got what she wanted. In my opinion I think she could have and would have went on a killing spree of her own without or without the pack.

Teresa was also an intriguing character for a little while. Sometimes I truly felt sorry for her existence, but sometimes I kind of thought she was just being whiny. I understand the idea of misunderstood children pretty well but I think she may have taken things a little farther than she needed to, even before she began killing. She said herself that she had never really been truly bullied but just picked on from time to time. It seems like she could have friends, however fake they may have been. She just didn't cope very well. I've been an outcast a lot of my life too, but I just don't know how much I could relate to her once she started to find joy in killing. When she killed Johannes, I really lost a lot of respect for her. It wasn't necessary, but maybe that was the point. Maybe the point was finding out if she was able to kill anyone, even if it was someone she cared about, with complete detachment. When she found out she could, the whole thing just became weird. Her humanity was completely gone at that moment. I know she was just a lost soul trying desperately to find out who she was really supposed to be, but I don't know if that excuses anything. In a way I'm not sure that she is really a wolf at all. She's more of a teenager so consumed with angst over what she considers an awful existence that she took things too far. Although her head is deep in the clouds with the joys of being a wolf, I think she would realize that she's still human later. She may even regret the things she did someday.

Laila and Lennart were pathetic, but I think that was the angle JAL was going for. They were pathetic long before finding "little one." Lennart is the type of guy whose chance passed him by years ago so now he's desperately looking for someone that he can live out his dreams through vicariously. He kind of reminds me of pageant mothers who force their children to be in beauty contests all their lives because the mothers themselves never had what it takes to win things like that. People who parade their little girls around the stage dressed in outfits that make them look like pint-sized prostitutes. Lennart would have done the same thing if he had made it long enough to have the chance. He wanted to do that with Jerry, but when Jerry failed he was lost again and didn't want a whole lot to do with Jerry. He had never really made plans to do so, but he wanted to exploit little one. Laila was pathetic for going along with it or anything else Lennart had cooked up. She had little sneaky rebellions but they weren't enough to add up to anything. She just stood by and let it all happen. She had the common sense to know what was right but lacked the guts it took to actually do it.

Jerry was a pretty interesting character because of his transitions throughout the story. He went from being a complete jerk and loser to actually being kind of a decent guy towards the end. It almost seems like he was the only person that Theres had a positive effect on. She made him grow up a lot, maybe more than we know. I think if he knew what the girls were up to, he would have tried to stop them. He wouldn't succeed but at least he would try.

The rest is spoilers, so turn back now if you haven't read the book. Key plot points are going to be reviewed here...

Max Hansen got what he deserved and I'm amazed that they waited until almost the end of the story to finally do him in. The only downside to his demise so late in the book was that by then he had grown to enjoy the pain. I really do love how JAL saved his murder for almost the last hurrah. I flipped through several pages expecting the next chapter to be the one where they took him down. I was elated when the time finally came. The shopkeeper's murder wasn't necessary in a just way, but I can see why it needed to be part of the story. The shopkeeper throwing the thief girl out of his shop was the first time (if I recall correctly) that Theres had ever seen a big person actually appear like he was going to harm a little person. He was the proof that big people were bad and that she needed to deal with them. She made Teresa do it to complete her transformation. Johannes' murder didn't need to happen and truthfully I expected Teresa to kill Agnes if she killed anyone she knew personally, not because she hated her but because she was just too perfect. As I said above, I understand that his murder was kind of like a test for Teresa to see if she could kill anyone and still be completely detached to what she was doing. Well done, Teresa! The note that Teresa sent to the newspaper proves that Teresa is overly enthusiastic about her new existence to a level of being a liability to the others. I kind of see the others as mechanical, they may enjoy their work but they keep it to themselves. Teresa wants everyone to know what she is now. She wants the attention. She wanted recognition for being a part of Tesla and now she wants recognition for being the co-mastermind of The Wolves of Skanlan(sp?) I think she's dangerous to the group because she's way too open and proud of what she is. She would be the one to get them caught due to her lack of self-control. If there ever was a sequel and they were ever found out and captured I'm certain it would have a lot to do with Teresa. The massacre at the sing-along was pretty awesome but it left me wanting more. I'd love to see it go further and see how much more their body count could rise if they were allowed to continue on. The last few lines of the story confuse me quite a bit but I think I understand. Teresa said "They won't come to us," to which Theres replied, "Then we will come to them." Does that mean that Teresa expected the wolves to join in under their example but it's actually the other way around? Maybe Theres was telling her that she still had a lot to learn from the wolves and that they weren't a part of her pack but in fact they were a part of the actual wolf's pack. I guess what I'm trying to say is although Theres controls the pack of girls, the wolves control Theres and she's saying "they're not going to follow us, we're going to follow them." Maybe the answer's much more simple and I'm just not getting it...

[snaps]

I thought this was a very fair, thorough, and informed review. there is much food for thought here. Thank you for your time and effort when I know you have other projects to work on.

I don't think I am ready yet to compose such an eloquent and balanced review as ''Little Star'' had quite a visceral effect on me. I'm still in a bit of a daze about it.

I can almost hear the receding echo of other people saying ''yes but this is so far-fetched, it isn't Colombine. It isn't the USA or Chechnya. This is Scandinavia. This isn't how things happen here.''

At the same time people know that Sweden has had both a Prime Minister and Foriegn Minister assassinated in public. The facts don't sit easy.

I think those voices might have been silenced by the 2011 events of Utøya in Norway. How does an otherwise seemingly intelligent, middle-class kid become so detached from reality that he can carry out slaughter of people without remorse?

I don't want to dwell on the Anders Breivik case as I have written on other sites about this and received threats in return. Certainly it is complex. The absent father figure, his emotional desolation and detachment during his time in London, and becoming a malleable lifeform for others to indoctrinate and influence. In effect, little different from some of the jihadi youths, that he so despised.

There is an acquired mindset, a toxic chemistry which ''Little Star'' touches upon. When one extreme force meets another to the extent that they feed of each other and ''normalise'' their self-doubts. The political agenda is irrelevant.

I believe ''Little Star'' will be seen as as an important milestone in years to come.

I see it daily in the streets where I live. Young people absorbed onto courses like music technology, dance/drama, media studies, as a means of massaging unemployment figures but with little prospect of ever earning a living from anything more engaging than burger-flipping on night-shift.

I see the stats. Teenagers now, who will mostly live to be 100 years old, with no prospect of drawing down any kind of state pension till they hit 80 years old. And probably in some post-ecological disaster desert. They understand the arithmetic, but disengage from the reality. The cult of ''celebrity'' as substitute for religions that don't compute to nowadays. Manufactured divisions like 'Team Edward'' and ''Team Jacob'' become more important than left/right democrat/republican distinctions. At least Edward and Jacob look like they have a pulse.

I think JAL, as a parent, must have been to H... and back while writing ''Little Star''. He is a parent. Wondering, and hoping, like all parents do, for a better World for his kids to inherit. A lot is particular to Sweden. No involvement in World Wars I and II (almost), evolution of an inclusive Social Democracy, but to what end? What happened to the ''Great Success Story'?'

Great names, SAAB bankrupt. IKEA owned by an offshore company trust based in the Netherlands.

''What's left?''

''What does it mean to be Swedish anymore?''

The Internet, the evolution of ''Swenglish'' as the national language (at least for younger people), no obvious political movement around which to coalesce. No collectivity, just ANOMIE, in which anyone over the age of thirty is to be distrusted.

AGE. Not race, religion, politics, class, sexuality, becomes the boundary.

The calling card of an inter-necine war, a bio-apocalypse which sees an evolutionary leap-of-faith in which the youngers slaughter the elders.

''Tomorrow begins with US!''

I think that is what JAL is up-pointing here.

A revolution like the Jasmine revolution we have seen during the past year. ONE guy. That's what it started with. A simple stallholder in Tunisia who reached the point of ''no return'' in being subject to bullying by state-sanctioned thugs. Who set himself on fire. Who died, but ignited a storm of revolution that has shaken the Middle Eastern World as we know it.

That really is all it takes. A single person, be it Sweden or Syria.

''I am SPARTACUS"

I believe JAL has touched on that nerve. No Agenda, as seen by T'n'T other than a nihilistic call to arms. No heroes, no literary giants, no theoreticians, no answers, just a call for something .....

DIFFERENT.

[[Eden]]

Very nice review. I feel sorry for Teresa too, but maybe for some different reasons... I think she's disgusting herself, sociopath murderer or not. I know it sounds very harsh, but it's kinda hard to explain properly. I don't hate her character, I just think she's the incarnation of Nothing itself. She's a living, wandering void and I feel pity for her - not hate.
Mostly because she didn't protect her dignity, in my opinion. How on earth she didn't manage to understand she means nothing to Theres?
Our golden haired girl is completely numb...

I think JAL, as a parent, must have been to H... and back while writing ''Little Star''. He is a parent. Wondering, and hoping, like all parents do, for a better World for his kids to inherit. A lot is particular to Sweden. No involvement in World Wars I and II (almost), evolution of an inclusive Social Democracy, but to what end? What happened to the ''Great Success Story'?'

...Does John have children? Really?
Didn't know about that...

[gattoparde59]

Very nice review. I feel sorry for Teresa too, but maybe for some different reasons... I think she's disgusting herself, sociopath murderer or not. I know it sounds very harsh, but it's kinda hard to explain properly. I don't hate her character, I just think she's the incarnation of Nothing itself. She's a living, wandering void and I feel pity for her - not hate.Mostly because she didn't protect her dignity, in my opinion. How on earth she didn't manage to understand she means nothing to Theres?Our golden haired girl is completely numb...

I will have to go back and re-read. I don't feel as though there was nothing between Theres and Teresa, or that Theres was completely numb. If Theres was completely numb we would not have much of a story. She clearly wants something, she seems to feel anguish. I think she wants to make contact with other people, but she can't seem to do it.

Intersting idea about the "nothing." Does Theres see herself as a a nothing? Or does she live in a void where there are no other people? Does she fail to recognize other people as people, unless there is music involved?

[drakkar]

Intersting idea about the "nothing." Does Theres see herself as a a nothing? Or does she live in a void where there are no other people? Does she fail to recognize other people as people, unless there is music involved?

Hardly, IMO. IIRC she is prepared to defend herself with an axe when Jerry has to leave her in the woods for some day after she killed her parents. Also she generally reacts pretty vicious to offences. Theres is not of this world. As she sees it, it is her - and her few companions - against the rest of the world. She distrusts and fears the world - as she was taught.

[gattoparde59]

Hardly, IMO. IIRC she is prepared to defend herself with an axe when Jerry has to leave her in the woods for some day after she killed her parents. Also she generally reacts pretty vicious to offences. Theres is not of this world. As she sees it, it is her - and her few companions - against the rest of the world. She distrusts and fears the world - as she was taught.

Well, I should try to clarify. I am asking does she live in an emotional void where she fails to see other people as people? Other people may be threats, but they are still not "people" in her eyes.

[drakkar]

I am asking does she live in an emotional void where she fails to see other people as people? Other people may be threats, but they are still not "people" in her eyes.

Yes, I believe so. From the top of my head I cannot remember Theres using words like "people", rather "dom stora" (the big ones), and she refers to herself as "liten" (little), as opposed to people. As I saw it, Theres viewed people as one of the external dangers which had to be taken care of, she looked at the moving company boys as I would have looked at a wolf pack.

[lombano]

*warning - LS spoilers unmarked thorughout*

Good review, varamiglite - I'll just comment on some points:

Laila and Lennart were pathetic, but I think that was the angle JAL was going for. They were pathetic long before finding "little one." Lennart is the type of guy whose chance passed him by years ago so now he's desperately looking for someone that he can live out his dreams through vicariously. He kind of reminds me of pageant mothers who force their children to be in beauty contests all their lives because the mothers themselves never had what it takes to win things like that. People who parade their little girls around the stage dressed in outfits that make them look like pint-sized prostitutes. Lennart would have done the same thing if he had made it long enough to have the chance. He wanted to do that with Jerry, but when Jerry failed he was lost again and didn't want a whole lot to do with Jerry. He had never really made plans to do so, but he wanted to exploit little one. Laila was pathetic for going along with it or anything else Lennart had cooked up. She had little sneaky rebellions but they weren't enough to add up to anything. She just stood by and let it all happen. She had the common sense to know what was right but lacked the guts it took to actually do it.

Agreed, though Lennart went further than most such parents do, with not wanting her to even learn to speak and all. Laila was basically a coward.

I am asking does she live in an emotional void where she fails to see other people as people? Other people may be threats, but they are still not "people" in her eyes.

Yes, I believe so. From the top of my head I cannot remember Theres using words like "people", rather "dom stora" (the big ones), and she refers to herself as "liten" (little), as opposed to people. As I saw it, Theres viewed people as one of the external dangers which had to be taken care of, she looked at the moving company boys as I would have looked at a wolf pack.

I think rather she sees humanity as split into 3 'species' (as Jerry notes) - children, which she sees as non-threatening and irrelevant; teenage girls, her peers and the only proper 'people' in her eyes, and adults and (probably) male teens, which are threatening, alien and not really people in her eyes (more like ogres).
I don't think Theres has no feelings at all for anybody - she protects Jerry from the Skansen massacre, and Max Hansen's use of the threat of Jerry going to jail implies he at least thought she cared (and her response certainly doesn't prove him wrong). The killing of the man at the store I think was a very twisted, but sincere, way of trying to help Teresa, and Theres surely knew it carried some risk for herself. Even her of her own accord taking Teresa's hand at the end, given her earlier reluctance, suggests an emotional connection.

Her humanity was completely gone at that moment.

I agree, I view Teresa as utterly beyond redemption by the time the book ends. Ultimately, Theres may be the pack leader and even more willing to inflict violence, and Max Hansen may be more repulsive, but Teresa is the most evil character in the book.

Jerry was a pretty interesting character because of his transitions throughout the story. He went from being a complete jerk and loser to actually being kind of a decent guy towards the end. It almost seems like he was the only person that Theres had a positive effect on. She made him grow up a lot, maybe more than we know. I think if he knew what the girls were up to, he would have tried to stop them. He wouldn't succeed but at least he would try.

I hadn't seen it in these terms. Theres is indeed a kind of corrupter, with only Jerry not being made worse by contact with her. I agree he would've tried to stop them.

Does that mean that Teresa expected the wolves to join in under their example but it's actually the other way around? Maybe Theres was telling her that she still had a lot to learn from the wolves and that they weren't a part of her pack but in fact they were a part of the actual wolf's pack. I guess what I'm trying to say is although Theres controls the pack of girls, the wolves control Theres and she's saying "they're not going to follow us, we're going to follow them."

I think it's just that they expected the wolves to join in the carnage but the wolves, as actual wolves that aren't rabid, threatened or desperately hungry, simply left the humans alone. Their 'joining' the real wolves was actually a further symbolic rejection of humanity, closing on that note merely reinforces that they've disowned all ties with humanity.