Discussion (spoilers)

For discussion of John Ajvide Lindqvist's short story collection Låt de gamla drömmarna dö
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metoo
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Discussion (spoilers)

Post by metoo » Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:56 am

Now it's finally time to have some discussion of LTODD. Since a proper subject would also be a spoiler, I chose the one above.

Heres the real subject:

Did Stefan and Karin find what they were looking for in Barcelona?

And a follow-up: What, exactly, were they looking for?
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by PeteMork » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:13 am

metoo wrote:Now it's finally time to have some discussion of LTODD. Since a proper subject would also be a spoiler, I chose the one above.

Heres the real subject:

Did Stefan and Karin find what they were looking for in Barcelona?

And a follow-up: What, exactly, were they looking for?
These are exactly the same questions I would pose.

The first would be good material for FF; the second, fodder for a rousing discussion in which Sauvin would almost certainly be involved. :D
We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain. (Roberto Bolaño)

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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by sauvin » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:54 am

PeteMork wrote:
metoo wrote:Now it's finally time to have some discussion of LTODD. Since a proper subject would also be a spoiler, I chose the one above.

Heres the real subject:

Did Stefan and Karin find what they were looking for in Barcelona?

And a follow-up: What, exactly, were they looking for?
These are exactly the same questions I would pose.

The first would be good material for FF; the second, fodder for a rousing discussion in which Sauvin would almost certainly be involved. :D
You really want some dreary old fuddy-duddy slinging road apples at LTODD? :lol:
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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by drakkar » Thu Aug 30, 2012 12:32 pm

metoo wrote:What, exactly, were they looking for?
One way ticket to Barcelona, Stefan terminally ill, Karin the former head of the Blackeberg pool massacre police investigation, still obsessed with it - she even introduced the "vampire theory" internally in the police force. Leaving behind them a newly recieved photo of a still 12 y old Oskar Eriksson in Barcelona - I think I know why they went! :mrgreen:
metoo wrote:Did Stefan and Karin find what they were looking for in Barcelona?
They are reported missing in Barcelona: They could of course go away to die together, avoid getting discovered. A very un-LTROIsh way to go about the story. More likely, they went to find O&E. Did they find them? Probability is low, but it looks like they did.
For the heart life is simple. It beats as long as it can.
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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by Nightrider » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:15 pm

drakkar wrote: More likely, they went to find O&E. Did they find them? Probability is low, but it looks like they did.
Perhaps they found what they were lookng for, but did not survive the meeting...
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metoo
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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by metoo » Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:27 am

Nightrider wrote:Perhaps they found what they were lookng for, but did not survive the meeting...
Well, that would be a sad ending, wouldn't it?
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by PeteMork » Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:45 am

metoo wrote:
Nightrider wrote:Perhaps they found what they were lookng for, but did not survive the meeting...
Well, that would be a sad ending, wouldn't it?
I'm not so sure. In a way, this is an even darker part of the tale than Eli's and Oskar's. It's one thing for a desperate child, in order to avoid eternal loneliness, to change another desperate child into a vampire. It's quite another for two adults (admittedly in love) to seek that same solution to their problem, being fully capable of understanding the consequences. :think:
We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain. (Roberto Bolaño)

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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by drakkar » Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:00 am

Then there is the the Barcelona photo, the one where Oskar is recognized in the background - it's of a family, two adults and two kids. :)
PeteMork wrote: It's one thing for a desperate child, in order to avoid eternal loneliness, to change another desperate child into a vampire. It's quite another for two adults (admittedly in love) to seek that same solution to their problem, being fully capable of understanding the consequences.
LTROI is both a dark and a romantic story, so why not? Karin&Stefan are about to retire from the world, Karen has been an outsider since she introduced the vampire theory to the rest of the police force. Now at last she is going to seek out the source to her obsession.
For the heart life is simple. It beats as long as it can.
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metoo
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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by metoo » Fri Aug 31, 2012 2:01 pm

Karin & Stefan are presented as having very few social contacts, the only one seems to be the narrator. I also assume they have no children (from earlier relations). It seems they live quite an isolated life, already having distanced themselves from society. Instead, they apparently have invested their entire existence in their relation, something that is now coming to its very brutal end (because of Stefan's cancer). Then the picture arrives in the mail...
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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Re: Discussion (spoilers)

Post by EEA » Fri Aug 31, 2012 5:48 pm

It could also happened by accident. Maybe they were just there for vacations, spending their last moments together, when maybe Stefan decides to take a photograph, and later when they see it, there in the background are Eli and Oskar.
Or they do meet with Eli and Oskar and then that way Karin and Stefan tell them how they are part of their love story. Or Karin dies and Stefan sees the photo when the one who took it is looking at it, then he goes to Karin's grave and tells her about the photo. Or the person that sends the photo is someone who works in the police and who sends the photo.

So many possibilities.

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