We, The Infected

drakkar wrote: I was thinking of days!

OK. But you can argue that an unconscious process was going on for several days, maybe starting when Oskar found he hadn't become infected from handling Eli's clothes.

That's my thinking, anyway - the road was bit by bit paved in favour of an ultimate decision to say yes.

metoo wrote:OK. But you can argue that an unconscious process was going on for several days, maybe starting when Oskar found he hadn't become infected from handling Eli's clothes.

That's my thinking, anyway - the road was bit by bit paved in favour of an ultimate decision to say yes.

I agree. And I also had the Eli & Oskar continuing as vampires as the most likely outcome (and the least undesirable). But I linked the decision to the "would you like to become like me"/"seen with love - for a few seconds", because for me this overshadowed Oskar being relieved/disappointed by not being infected earlier on.

drakkar wrote:The end of the novel came in a clearer light after reading LTODD. The parting - seen with love - for a few seconds.
And the aftermath: Oskar seems to shut the world out. Nothing seems to matter anymore. In the pool he even seems to be sort of content with death, as matters turned out.

Totally agree. With Eli being the only source of love he has in the whole world, Eli is the ultimately only thing worth anything in it, as far as Oskar is concerned. Totally bad for the world at large, but the two of them will be happy together. Kinda wrenching in it's dichotomy, and more an indictment on the world than on them.

After the final pool scene, the question of why Oskar decides to leave is purely academic. He can hardly stay in Blackeberg after the pool massacre.
Perhaps the thought passed his mind of how the hell he was going to explain Eli, not that anyone would believe him anyway. Only Karin had doubts about the official explanation.
While I do believe Oskar left with Eli because of their love, he really didn't have any other option left open to him other than to flee.
On top of that, there wasn't anything or anyone in Balckeberg to keep him there. Deciding to leave with Eli would have been about a 5 second decision, and he made the right one I think.

Actually I doubt it would have meant trouble for Oskar to stay behind. There were witnesses to the event, so he wouldn't be held responsible for anything. He was a victim. I believe Oskar's psychological and emotional reasons were much stronger - he was abandoned by everyone except one - the one he also loved. From his pov he had nothing in Blackeberg, and so he left.
I remember some discussion whether Eli expected Oskar to come with him, and I'm not so sure he even did that. So I believe this was Oskar's decision.

I would like to have this book in spanish or english one of these days

drakkar wrote:Actually I doubt it would have meant trouble for Oskar to stay behind. There were witnesses to the event, so he wouldn't be held responsible for anything. He was a victim. I believe Oskar's psychological and emotional reasons were much stronger - he was abandoned by everyone except one - the one he also loved. From his pov he had nothing in Blackeberg, and so he left.
I remember some discussion whether Eli expected Oskar to come with him, and I'm not so sure he even did that. So I believe this was Oskar's decision.

I agree, there would be no problem for Oskar to stay. And I also don't think that Eli had planned to take Oskar with him, it really was Oskar's decision. But I don't think Eli objected…

There were more witnesses to the pool killings in the book than in the film where a single bully survived. Isn't it likely that Oskar would have faced a lot of serious questions about Eli, and why Eli had returned to save him?
Oskar on the train seemed happy to be leaving though. Maybe he had been thinking about his future in the time between Lacke's death and the events at the pool. In the book, it's probable that he knew Eli was coming back to see him. They were together in Eli's apartment for some time after Lacke's demise and probably discussed a lot. Why else would he have thrown Eli's boxes of money and toys across to his balcony and stored them?
When Eli came back and saved him he already knew what he wanted to do and what he wanted his future to be.

Swaefheard wrote:There were more witnesses to the pool killings in the book than in the film where a single bully survived. Isn't it likely that Oskar would have faced a lot of serious questions about Eli, and why Eli had returned to save him?

In the film hardly anyone knew Oskar even had a friend, so the investigators perhaps wouldn't automaticly link Eli to Oskar. This also implies that the investigators actually believed that a little kid (small person) was capable of creating so much havoc, tearing off a head. This doubt by the investigators is infact an important part of LTODD.
The witnesses were seeing something impossible, so quite likely the investigators would think that they - and Oskar - were too shocked to remember correctly.

Swaefheard wrote:Why else would he have thrown Eli's boxes of money and toys across to his balcony and stored them?

He could have done it to protect Eli, anyway. Maybe not very far ahead planning, however this is 12 y old kids, so I find it believable.

Tommy knew about Eli but in his traumatized state may not have been believed either.
We're still waiting for LTODD to appear in English