Let the Right One In The Novel Impressions

So I have finally decided to venture into the realm of book reviews. Why not, right? And what better way to start than with my favorite book? Ever.

Seriously, I am in love with this book. I saw the film a few months ago and, big surprise, loved it. The book, however, was tremendously better. Sure, a book being better than films based on it isn't a new phenomenon, but Let the Right One In doesn't suffer from the transition.

Differences Between the Novel and the Film: The film cuts out a lot of the grit and "controversial topics" that are explored in the novel. This is understandable though seeing as they wanted to give it as wide of a release as possible and the novel is very dirty. Also, a number of characters, and/or their backgrounds and storylines, are left out of the film as well. This is probably because of time constraints, of course, but the film adds a level of mystery to Eli by not fully disclosing "her" past. Almost all of the vampire lore is also left out of the film, but that isn't really something that you'd want in a film if you can't go into it fully.

So yes, Let the Right One In is dark, gritty, and intelligent. It kind of turns the vampire genre on its head by making you feel for the blood thirsty monster that kills to live. The characters are colorful, tormented, well developed, and well, human. They feel like real people as opposed to just characters in a story. The novel explores the vampire mythos like few others have and is a definite breath of fresh air in a Twilight polluted world. It doesn't hold anything back or paint any pretty pictures. Lindqvist is a true genius of the horror genre.

I won't be grading books like I have been films and games, but I will say that Let the Right One In is a must read by anyone who loves a good story. Still, it is definitely not a book for children or even squeemish adults.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

As a prelude to this posting, I will inform the five of you out there who aren't Potter fans of what happened last year. Well, J.K. Rowling in her infinite charity decided to write a storybook that was mentioned in The Deathly Hallows called, as the title of this entry suggests, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Only seven super special copies (each was bound in high quality leather and fine silver, and each bore a particular precious gem) of this book were originally produced, six of which went to "key people who have been very closely connected to the 'Harry Potter' series," and the seventh (the "moonstone edition") was auctioned off in support of the charity group Rowling co-founded called The Children's Voice, which was ultimately purchased by Amazon.com for almost 4 million dollars.

As for the point of this post, it was announced just two days ago (July 31st) that the collection of stories would be released worldwide on December 4th in two editions, a standard edition and a collector's edition. While I saw this coming a year ago as I knew Rowling wouldn't miss an opportunity to add more billions to her bank account, I am also kind of excited to read this new publishing as I am an avid Potter fan, I won't get into how "avid" I actually am.

The tales will include:

“The Wizard and the Hopping Pot”
“The Fountain of Fair Fortune”
“The Warlock’s Hairy Heart”
“Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump”
And the one we should all remember from Deathly Hallows:
“The Tale of the Three Brothers”

Below I have detailed what will be included with each edition, though I am not quite sure as to whether or not both will include the same commentary by Dumbledore, and links to each edition if you'd like to pre-order them through Amazon.

"The Collector’s Edition ($100) will include the following: • All five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard • Outer case disguised as a wizarding textbook from the Hogwarts library • Exclusive reproduction of J.K. Rowling’s handwritten introduction • 10 new illustrations by J.K. Rowling not included in the Standard Edition or the original handcrafted edition • Velvet bag embroidered with J.K. Rowling’s signature • Metal skull, corners, and clasp • Replica gemstones • Emerald ribbon

The Standard Edition ($7.59) will have: • All five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard • A new introduction by J.K. Rowling • Illustrations reproduced from the original handcrafted book • Commentary on each of the tales by Professor Albus Dumbledore"

Collector's Edition Pre-Order

Standard Edition Pre-Order