Bath of Blood

For discussion of John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel Låt den rätte komma in
Post Reply
User avatar
StefL
Posts: 495
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:58 pm
Location: Stockholm Sweden

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by StefL » Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:52 pm

I've also wondered quite a bit about the blood and considered it a glitch of sorts in the story. I recently re-read the book and tried to make sense of it but finally just ended up "accepting" it.
The fact that it isn't used for feeding is no problem however, since Håkan clearly elaborates on the fact that the blood he brings home to feed Eli has to be fresh (that is one reason why he only goes as far off as Vällingby on his first kill - that is two subway stops away from Blackeberg).
I did find it a problem though, that if Eli would sleep immersed in blood he'd have to clean rather a bit every evening, getting it off his skin and out of his hair - without using the shower since the tub was obviously occupied... And I always attributed Eli's smell (which Oskar notices) to the simple fact that he just didn't clean or have a shower too often, until Oskar mentioned the smell of course.

So, for me the "mysteries" remaining are:
* Why does Eli need to sleep in a blood filled tub?
* Where does the blood come from? (And is it human or other?)
* How the heck does he get it off him every evening?

User avatar
Drakeule
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Sunset Louisiana

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by Drakeule » Thu Apr 14, 2016 4:36 pm

Not trying to fuel this topic or anything, but maybe he puts it back in the bottles. I personally like to think it's an emergency stash in cases like the one he got into. Not to drink but to heal.

User avatar
metoo
Posts: 3677
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:36 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by metoo » Thu Apr 14, 2016 4:49 pm

StefL wrote:So, for me the "mysteries" remaining are:
* Why does Eli need to sleep in a blood filled tub?
* Where does the blood come from? (And is it human or other?)
* How the heck does he get it off him every evening?
I second those. I think the blood bath is a 'darling' that JAL maybe should have killed. However, if it hadn't been in the novel, we wouldn't have had the scene where Lacke probes with his hand into the blood, and later empties the tub, slowly revealing Eli. I like that scene - one with Eli resting wrapped in blankets inside a wardrobe wouldn't be as intense.
Drakeule wrote:Not trying to fuel this topic or anything, but maybe he puts it back in the bottles.
Probably not. There were signs that the blood had been in the tub a long time. Besides, Eli (or Håkan) would have had to scoop it up from the tub, and then manage to pour it into the comparatively narrow openings of the cans. Lots of trouble and very messy.
Drakeule wrote:I personally like to think it's an emergency stash in cases like the one he got into. Not to drink but to heal.
This is contradicted by the 'fact' that Eli chose to spend the day in the bathroom the day after Oskar had come to visit. Why would he want to be there, if it wasn't because he needed to be in the (blood filled) tub??
Last edited by metoo on Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:38 am, edited 2 times in total.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

User avatar
dongregg
Posts: 3937
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:58 pm
Location: Atlanta
Contact:

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by dongregg » Thu Apr 14, 2016 5:00 pm

The bath of blood is a non-starter. It is an homage to Carmilla. It is futile to try to make sense of it. Just hit delete and keep reading. :)
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

User avatar
ltroifanatic
Posts: 557
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2015 1:35 am
Location: Australia

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by ltroifanatic » Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:09 am

I'm sorta sorry I started this thread.There's always going to be variations between the book and film and this one is a can of worms.It works in the book but the film variation works just as well too.So it's probably best to leave it at that.Just a small not so important variation. :D
Please Oskar.Be me for a little while.

User avatar
StefL
Posts: 495
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:58 pm
Location: Stockholm Sweden

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by StefL » Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:40 am

ltroifanatic wrote:It works in the book but the film variation works just as well too.
Only problem is - when you start thinking about it, it doesn't work that well in the book either. As the above discussion shows :lol:

User avatar
metoo
Posts: 3677
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:36 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by metoo » Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:42 am

StefL wrote:Only problem is - when you start thinking about it, it doesn't work that well in the book either. As the above discussion shows
It also creates a problem for fan-fiction writers. Therefore I have decided that Eli didn't rest in blood in my version of the LtROI universe. A small deviation....
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

User avatar
Drakeule
Posts: 489
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Sunset Louisiana

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by Drakeule » Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:06 pm

metoo wrote:
Drakeule wrote:I personally like to think it's an emergency stash in cases like the one he got into. Not to drink but to heal.
This is contradicted by the 'fact' that Eli chose to spend the day in the bathroom the day after Oskar had come to visit. Why would he want to be there, if it wasn't because he needed to be in the (blood filled) tub??
The 'fact' is Eli always slept in the bathroom. Oskar noticed that the window to that room was always the darkest. Rather he slept in blood or not is still up for debate, but not with me. I'm just going to sweep this one under the rug. There are far too many wrong answers and no right one. Unless JAL himself weighs in and tells us what happened, its just going to have to be whatever you like it to be.

User avatar
Ash
Posts: 1656
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:10 am
Location: Australia

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by Ash » Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:00 am

I reckon we need to get real about all this, or more precisely unreal. In a work of fiction anything is possible and I don't really care if Eli conjured up the bath of blood with her supernatural powers whenever she needed it. Eli can grow wings and claws and possibly read minds, and has supernatural strength and ability, so I'm going to give her a pass on the blood bath thing. Don't read too much into it.
And I must be among the very few who would have loved to see Hakan zombie thing realised in the film. Most of it occurred in a unlit basement which would have been easy to film and IMO one of the best scenes in the book.
I suppose when you get an author and a director together to make a film, the director always wins the day with his ideas, and the author just says "OK, I guess it has to fit in to under 2 hours."

User avatar
metoo
Posts: 3677
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:36 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Bath of Blood

Post by metoo » Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:07 am

Ash wrote:And I must be among the very few who would have loved to see Hakan zombie thing realised in the film.
Including his attempt to rape Eli?

I think the entire film crew would have been jailed if they had shot that particular scene...
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

Post Reply

Return to “Let The Right One In (Novel)”