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Shutter Island by Dennis LehaneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Rating: 4.5 stars
Okay, so I can't really write a book review for this book without spoilers, and I've just finished so I might ramble more than usual since I haven't had time to organize thoughts. But these are my first impressions.
First of all, I'd already seen the movie. So I knew the whole ending, etc, as well as what happened in the book. It's been a year or so since I've seen the movie, but it seems like it followed the book pretty closely. Since I already knew Teddy was crazy, it was hard not to get sucked into his paranoia and believe him! It was just about impossible. The only thing I can compare it to is reading Lolita, where the narrator is so charming and convincing you have to keep reminding yourself that you can't believe a word he says. Especially as I got sucked into this one and got all involved in the story, the mystery, the conspiracy... It was really exciting!
As the story went along and Teddy and Chuck were discovering all about the island and the mental institution, I kept thinking about 1984. There was definitely that feeling of 'big brother is watching.' And everything on the island was like a little dystopian world, with the patients and orderlies, and people guiding them, friends who turned out to be enemies, etc. It was all very Orwellian. The island was like a character itself, which I lovelovelove in a book--when the setting is one of the characters it's so real. All the mental patients were great, too.
And the love story--how can I not mention the love story? That's the one thing in the book that I don't think a movie could ever do justice to. Not just because of the graphic sexual stuff, but because Lehane had a way of describing obsessive, consuming love that could not translate to screen. And of course I already knew he'd kill the woman so it was like a...well, a shot in the gut to read about their love. Of course, you wonder how much Teddy embellished the love to justify what he did, out of guilt, etc. But I haven't read a love story with such intensity since maybe Brokeback Mountain, which is hands down my favorite love story of all time.
Lastly, this is a very 'guy book.' That's the only way I can describe it. I used to love that kind of book, crime novels with cops and cases and time's always a-tickin. Something like Presumed Innocent or one of those books I loved so much as a teenager, with that tough-guy voice and the funny sidekick. Something about it is so just plain classic. Add to all that the social commentary about psychosis and its treatment, and you've got one hell of a complex cop story.
Okay. So I just went on a long ramble, but I think I've covered all the main points. This was a very absorbing novel that I would recommend to anyone who likes any of the books I've listed in this review, and to anyone who wants to read a book that's like losing one's mind while reading Lolita with tough-guy cops on Brokeback Mountain while big brother watches.
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Shutter Island by Dennis LehaneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thought this book was very interesting. Usually when i am reading a book, i will think ahead about what the ending will be like. Or what the twist is, especially in a thriller/horror type book. Well, this one made me go in several different directions and loops as far as what i thought was going on.
I had a clue that all not was what it seemed after the interview with "rachel soldano", and they were talking about how people live in their own fantasy world and they believe it to be true, etc...but what i thought really what happend was that Teddy's wife wasn't in the house when it burned down, but that she was the one who started the fire, and the guys in the mental institute covered it up and that Delores was actually being treated in the lighthouse. That she was still alive, ut being put through all these tests and what not. I really liked the fact that i was kept unknowing what was really going on.
The writing was great. I really liked the descriptions of the island, the hospital, the people, etc...overall i give it 4/5 starts and recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery and good writing.
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Shutter Island by Dennis LehaneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked this book pretty well. It was very engaging, fast-paced, and interesting. Even with all the back-and-forth between past and present, I didn't really find it confusing until the end, although it was definitely brain-trippy!
I thought the character development was great, and I liked how all the mysterious stuff kept you guessing the whole time until the end. I liked Chuck a lot - he added some levity, and I thought the descriptions of everyone were very well-done.
When I finished it, I THOUGHT I knew what had happened, but the more I thought about it, the less sure I became! There were a couple of things that really confused me.
1. The doctor in the cliff (Rachel Solando?) really didn't make any sense if Teddy was just fantasizing/imagining it all - that would have been totally out of place with all the rest of the made-up story.
2. The Prologue. I went back and read it again after I finished the book. And yes, it was written by Dr. Sheehan (presumably Chuck), and he talked about Teddy like he was a real person - NOT Andrew!! (Seriously - re-read it and you'll see what I mean.)
So I'm still not exactly sure what happened. The story about his wife and the kids sounded very real - then again, so did Teddy's initial story.... Maybe the first part was real, but he had blocked out the memory of his wife killing the children, but he hadn't actually been at Shutter Island the whole time? I don't know.
Anyway, it was good and interesting, but it doesn't seem like a book that will stick with me - the details are already fading, and I only finished it a week or so ago. But it was a fun and engaging novel.
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Lena wrote: "Shutter Island by Dennis LehaneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Rating: 4.5 stars
Okay, so I can't really write a book review for this book without spoilers, and I've just finished so I might ramble m..."
Lena your review was my favorite thing about the book -- LOL! Truly awesome. You should write book reviews for a living. :-)
Shutter Island by Dennis LehaneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well, I liked this book a lot. I haven't seen the movie, but I heard it was pretty trippy and the book definitely kept me on my toes. I just loved the setting because there is nothing creepier than a mental institution where something fishy is going on! And being a psychology major, I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. The mystery element was really good and it kept me guessing as to who was the bad guy. Sometimes I would feel like the Doctor was bad, but then other times I wasn't so sure. Now normally, I hate books where the main character is crazy at the end and so when I got nearer to the end, I set myself up to be disappointed, but I wasn't at all! The author just did such a good job creating the psyche of the character that it made SENSE in the end why he was delusional. I think a lot of times, they just make people go crazy at the end and don't really give a good explanation, but this book was not like that. I actually teared up a bit when I found out what really happened to his wife. Overall, it was a enjoyable thriller with heart.
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HERE IS ANNA's BOOK REVIEWI would never have read this book if it hadn't been for the book club, but I suppose I liked it. Having seen he movie previously, I knew the plot, and the book followed the movie pretty closely. The one thing that I could never figure out in the movie was the ending, and I was looking forward to finding out more details about exactly how it ends and what version of reality was actually real. That being said, I was very much hoping that eddy was not crazy, and that the asylum was indeed evil and trying to convince him that he was crazy. The closer I got to the end, the more I came to see that this wasn't true. It mad me sad and I couldnt really like the book because the ending made me so mad. I didn't want him to be a nut case. The story was so tight through much of the book. It made sense, and it all fit and it just infuriated me when it all was a lie. I give it 3.5 stars and recommend it to guys who enjoy psychological thrillers.
Liz wrote: "Shutter Island by Dennis LehaneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I would classify this book as a mystery even though it was a thriller, because it was very mysterious and I couldn't figure it out. I reall..."
I agree with mother....why the parts about the drugs if it was all just made up? why the part about the guy telling him how to escape and catch the ferry. didn't that guy admit that his partner was real and tell him to get off the island? there were so many parts that were not explained at the end well enough for me to totally believe that it was all a fantasy.
Yes - I agree - but I was kind of hoping seeing the movie would help clarify the book! And in a way it did.... The movie was a great telling of the book - I hate it when movies change the book all around - and this one didn't. After seeing it, I really feel kind of what I felt after reading the book - that parts of it just didn't make sense if he was really crazy.... What about the doctor in the cliff, and the stuff about the drugs??? And again, if you go back and read the prologue of the book, he talks about Teddy like a real person - NOT Andrew!
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My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I would classify this book as a mystery even though it was a thriller, because it was very mysterious and I couldn't figure it out. I really liked Chuck and Teddy and their relationship was very funny. For some reason the whole book I thought of Teddy as very John Wayne, an old macho cowboy dude.
I thought the relationship he had with his wife was very interesting and it slowly revealed her character (view spoiler)[ and her psychosis, although I never really thought she was crazy until I got to the end of the book. (hide spoiler)] The development of the different characters on the island such as the guard and the other black characters were interesting,(view spoiler)[ like the one who warns him to get out and tells him how to get on the ferry. And Chuck disappearing and Teddy meeting Rachel Solando in the cave was very interesting. And when he met her and she warned him that they'd try to convince him that he was crazy and she was crazy, I kept viewing the people at the hospital (doctors, etc) as being real villains. (hide spoiler)]
Where it got to the end of the book where he'd been given drugs and was having dreams, I got to the end and I was like "HUH!?" It left me totally up in the air and confused about who was who! (view spoiler)[
I really believed in the character of Teddy as he was portraying himself. So when I got to the end and he had all the dreams about his wife killing the children, it was too vivid and real for him to have known those things unless he was really the other guy. I didn't want to believe he was the other guy though, because I liked him as Teddy! At first I thought he really was Teddy, but after thinking about it for a while, it's impossible for him to have those vivid dreams without having done it. It seemed like he was totally a split personality. (hide spoiler)]
The book was filled with mystery and intrigue and I would recommend it to people who like mysteries, but it does a brain warp on you at the end so you feel kind of lobotomized.
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