Status
Available
Call number
Library's review
Sverige, Stockholm, august 2002
Et elektrisk uvejr eller måske noget værre har lagt sig over Stockholm. Folk får hovedpine og fjernsyn, telefoner, komfurer, emhætter vil ikke slukke med mindre man trækker stikket og det er de heller ikke meget for. Pacemakere er heller ikke upåvirkede. Små
De relativt nyligt døde begynder at vågne til live igen. Selv håbløst skadede trafikofre og afpillede terminalpatienter med obduktionsar.
Vi følger en række personer tæt. David Zetterberg, som lige har mistet sin kone Eva gennem 10 år i et trafikuheld, men nu vågner hun igen. De har sønnen Magnus, som det hele nok er lidt vanskeligt at forklare. Den gamle journalist Gustav Mahler får et praj om at de døde er ved at vågne og er med næsten fra starten. Hans datter Anna har mistet sin lille søn Elias på 6 år for to måneder siden og både hendes og Gustavs liv har været gået i stå siden. Børnehavebarnet Elias faldt ud over altanen, da han forsøgte at fange en mariehøne. Elvy er bedstemor til Flora og de er begge synske til en vis grad, men Elvy tror på Gud og Flora er ateist. Elvy er heller ikke mere synsk end at hun er uforberedt på at hendes afdøde mand Tore dukker op og kradser på døren for at komme ind. Han døde for tre uger siden og var dybt dement.
De genkomne er ikke i god stand. De er fysisk skadede som inden døden og mentalt tilbage. Eva er den eneste, der kan snakke. Gustav graver med hænderne ned til Elias, der også er vågnet, men er opsvulmet og indtørret på samme tid og ikke rigtig den samme Elias som før. Myndighederne kigger hurtigt i arkiverne og finder 1042 personer, der er døde indenfor de sidste to måneder og ikke begravet. Forresten tænker de også på de begravede og får dem gravet op. De udøde bliver samlet på et epidemihospital, men hvad skal man stille op med dem? Politi og militær bliver sat ind. Udenom går livet videre helt som før, selv om Elvy får en religiøs vækkelse og sammen med en veninde begynder at gå rundt og fortælle folk at det er Genopstandelsen, der er begyndt.
Anna og Gustav hælder sukkervand på Elias og bader ham, men han ligner stadig et to måneder gammelt lig. Langt hovedparten af de udøde, eller omlevende som det officielle term er, interneres på en epidemiafdeling, men plejepersonalet er plaget af en slags tankedeling, som er ved at drive dem til vanvid. Fænomenet opstår kun når der er mange af de udøde på eet sted, så regeringen flytter dem til et ufærdigt boligområde kaldet Heden. De udøde virker 'tomme' og ser ikke ud til at behøve næring eller varme. Videnskabsmændene skynder sig at eksperimentere lidt med dem, sålænge 'pestflaget' stadig er oppe.
Langsomt ser det dog ud til at også de udøde begynder at brænde ud. De fungerer som et spejl af de tanker, de omgives med, mest vrede, had og frygt, så det ender ikke ret kønt. Gustav bliver kvalt af en strandvasker ude på den lille ø, hvor han har flyttet Anna og Elias ud på. Anna tager Elias med ud på havet og der giver han slip og dør endeligt. De levende har alle en fornemmelse af at de dødes sjæle ikke kan blive her og må tage afsted igen. Politiet er nødt til at køre de udøde ned for at forhindre et oprør og Flora ser på og forfærdes. Evas sjæl letter også og i et syn møder David hende og ser en larve, der klækkes og smutter væk. Måske er der noget, Fiskeren, der er efter sjælene?
Meget spændende bog om død, tab og sorg. Og menneskers forskellige reaktion på det. Slutningen efterlader flere spørgsmål end svar, men det er jo nok også meningen.
Et elektrisk uvejr eller måske noget værre har lagt sig over Stockholm. Folk får hovedpine og fjernsyn, telefoner, komfurer, emhætter vil ikke slukke med mindre man trækker stikket og det er de heller ikke meget for. Pacemakere er heller ikke upåvirkede. Små
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larver falder ned fra himlen og borer sig ind i de døde. Elektriciteten bliver normal igen, men der er lige en sideeffekt.De relativt nyligt døde begynder at vågne til live igen. Selv håbløst skadede trafikofre og afpillede terminalpatienter med obduktionsar.
Vi følger en række personer tæt. David Zetterberg, som lige har mistet sin kone Eva gennem 10 år i et trafikuheld, men nu vågner hun igen. De har sønnen Magnus, som det hele nok er lidt vanskeligt at forklare. Den gamle journalist Gustav Mahler får et praj om at de døde er ved at vågne og er med næsten fra starten. Hans datter Anna har mistet sin lille søn Elias på 6 år for to måneder siden og både hendes og Gustavs liv har været gået i stå siden. Børnehavebarnet Elias faldt ud over altanen, da han forsøgte at fange en mariehøne. Elvy er bedstemor til Flora og de er begge synske til en vis grad, men Elvy tror på Gud og Flora er ateist. Elvy er heller ikke mere synsk end at hun er uforberedt på at hendes afdøde mand Tore dukker op og kradser på døren for at komme ind. Han døde for tre uger siden og var dybt dement.
De genkomne er ikke i god stand. De er fysisk skadede som inden døden og mentalt tilbage. Eva er den eneste, der kan snakke. Gustav graver med hænderne ned til Elias, der også er vågnet, men er opsvulmet og indtørret på samme tid og ikke rigtig den samme Elias som før. Myndighederne kigger hurtigt i arkiverne og finder 1042 personer, der er døde indenfor de sidste to måneder og ikke begravet. Forresten tænker de også på de begravede og får dem gravet op. De udøde bliver samlet på et epidemihospital, men hvad skal man stille op med dem? Politi og militær bliver sat ind. Udenom går livet videre helt som før, selv om Elvy får en religiøs vækkelse og sammen med en veninde begynder at gå rundt og fortælle folk at det er Genopstandelsen, der er begyndt.
Anna og Gustav hælder sukkervand på Elias og bader ham, men han ligner stadig et to måneder gammelt lig. Langt hovedparten af de udøde, eller omlevende som det officielle term er, interneres på en epidemiafdeling, men plejepersonalet er plaget af en slags tankedeling, som er ved at drive dem til vanvid. Fænomenet opstår kun når der er mange af de udøde på eet sted, så regeringen flytter dem til et ufærdigt boligområde kaldet Heden. De udøde virker 'tomme' og ser ikke ud til at behøve næring eller varme. Videnskabsmændene skynder sig at eksperimentere lidt med dem, sålænge 'pestflaget' stadig er oppe.
Langsomt ser det dog ud til at også de udøde begynder at brænde ud. De fungerer som et spejl af de tanker, de omgives med, mest vrede, had og frygt, så det ender ikke ret kønt. Gustav bliver kvalt af en strandvasker ude på den lille ø, hvor han har flyttet Anna og Elias ud på. Anna tager Elias med ud på havet og der giver han slip og dør endeligt. De levende har alle en fornemmelse af at de dødes sjæle ikke kan blive her og må tage afsted igen. Politiet er nødt til at køre de udøde ned for at forhindre et oprør og Flora ser på og forfærdes. Evas sjæl letter også og i et syn møder David hende og ser en larve, der klækkes og smutter væk. Måske er der noget, Fiskeren, der er efter sjælene?
Meget spændende bog om død, tab og sorg. Og menneskers forskellige reaktion på det. Slutningen efterlader flere spørgsmål end svar, men det er jo nok også meningen.
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Genres
Publication
Kbh. Forum 2008
Description
Something very peculiar is happening in Stockholm. There's a heatwave on and people cannot turn their lights out or switch their appliances off. Then the terrible news breaks. In the city morgue, the dead are waking up .... What do they want? What everybody wants: to come home.
Media reviews
Lecturalia
Algo muy extraño está ocurriendo en la capital de Suecia: en medio de una inusual ola de calor, la gente se da cuenta de que no puede apagar la luz ni los aparatos eléctricos. De repente, una noticia sacude a la nación: en la morgue los muertos están resucitando. ¿Qué es lo que quieren?
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Lógicamente, volver a casa... Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member bragan
One unusually warm night in Stockholm, Sweden, something very strange happens. Everyone in the city experiences a terrible headache. Electrical appliances refuse to turn off, even when they're unplugged. And the recent dead begin to rise...
It sounds like a bog-standard setup for a zombie story, but
It is kind of an odd book. If you go into it looking for plot, or even for big drama, you might well be disappointed. Ditto if you're hoping for simple, logical, scientific explanations for everything in the end. And the writing can feel a little awkward, in a hard-to-pin-down way that I'm inclined to blame on the translation. But there are lots of fascinating subtleties to it, things that invite you to contemplate the mysteries of life and death and to take a new look at a horror trope that's become so familiar that we no longer bother to consider too closely at what it's really made of. Plus, there were a surprising number of moments when I found myself thinking, "Wow, zombies that don't' eat people are a thousand times creepier than ones who do. Who would have thought?"
It sounds like a bog-standard setup for a zombie story, but
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what John Ajvide Lindqvist gives us is something very different: a deconstruction of the zombie genre, or a subversion of it, or maybe just a very different take. Because these zombies do not rise up and immediately begin hungering for human flesh. They are merely your loved ones, dead and rotting, not what they were, but not entirely gone, either. And, ultimately, it's a novel that's more concerned with the people that once belonged in those shuffling corpses than in the bodies themselves. It is kind of an odd book. If you go into it looking for plot, or even for big drama, you might well be disappointed. Ditto if you're hoping for simple, logical, scientific explanations for everything in the end. And the writing can feel a little awkward, in a hard-to-pin-down way that I'm inclined to blame on the translation. But there are lots of fascinating subtleties to it, things that invite you to contemplate the mysteries of life and death and to take a new look at a horror trope that's become so familiar that we no longer bother to consider too closely at what it's really made of. Plus, there were a surprising number of moments when I found myself thinking, "Wow, zombies that don't' eat people are a thousand times creepier than ones who do. Who would have thought?"
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LibraryThing member sensitivemuse
Before you actually dive into this book expecting mad rabid zombies trying to get into your house, while the characters try to survive and scrounge whatever resources they can to make it out into a world turned upside down, you’re not going to find it here. Yes it was disappointing. Is it worth a
In this case, besides the fact that the dead have risen. They’re shells of their former self. Not rabid things we’re so used to seeing. They feed and react to the living’s feelings. (For example if you react with disgust, or hatred, they’ll lash out). Seems interesting. Certainly a different approach. Zombie purists out there probably wouldn’t give this book a second glance. I like trying out different things (just like food!) as there are times when you do come across a gem. Do I consider this one a gem? Not really.
Although it deals with several issues; such as the loss and acceptance of a loved one, or how far would someone go to protect the love one had for someone who was deceased. So in a sense, it’s a book that does make you think (well that mixed with zombies? Sacrilege!) so if you want something for the action fast paced plot, you’re not going to find it here. You want something to slowly digest (har!), read on character development and thinking, and for something to think about then maybe, just maybe this is for you.
My view on this book, take it or leave it. I found it all right. Not the best read, certainly but worth a try just to have a book that actually makes you think about what would really happen in scenarios such as this. Would you sacrifice everything? Or curl up and cry on the floor as the world burns? It’s worth to mull over. Those that want something with raging undead at your doorstep, skip this and go to the next one.
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try? Maybe...maybe not. In this case, besides the fact that the dead have risen. They’re shells of their former self. Not rabid things we’re so used to seeing. They feed and react to the living’s feelings. (For example if you react with disgust, or hatred, they’ll lash out). Seems interesting. Certainly a different approach. Zombie purists out there probably wouldn’t give this book a second glance. I like trying out different things (just like food!) as there are times when you do come across a gem. Do I consider this one a gem? Not really.
Although it deals with several issues; such as the loss and acceptance of a loved one, or how far would someone go to protect the love one had for someone who was deceased. So in a sense, it’s a book that does make you think (well that mixed with zombies? Sacrilege!) so if you want something for the action fast paced plot, you’re not going to find it here. You want something to slowly digest (har!), read on character development and thinking, and for something to think about then maybe, just maybe this is for you.
My view on this book, take it or leave it. I found it all right. Not the best read, certainly but worth a try just to have a book that actually makes you think about what would really happen in scenarios such as this. Would you sacrifice everything? Or curl up and cry on the floor as the world burns? It’s worth to mull over. Those that want something with raging undead at your doorstep, skip this and go to the next one.
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LibraryThing member titania86
In the summer, there are strange happenings in Sweden that are hard to ignore. First, people have headaches and electrical items refuse to turn off. They can’t even be unplugged and if this is attempted, the person gets an electric shock. When things suddenly return to normal, the unthinkable
This is an entirely unexpected zombie novel. John Ajvide Lindqvist has done for zombies what he did for vampires in his previous novel Let the Right One In; he practically reinvented the genre. The novel is like a slow burn. It moves slowly, but succeeds in being extremely suspenseful and an altogether different kind of horror than is common in the genre. The focus of the novel isn’t the gore or the zombies or the reasons for these strange happenings, but the living people that have close family members returning as zombies. The people focused on are about as different as can be, but they all share in this bizarre experience. Each character is described eloquently, complete with histories that directly influence how they deal with the zombies. Their reactions are realistic and believable, ranging from religious fanaticism to hysteria to anger to disgust to delusions of normalcy. Each chapter focuses on a different group of characters. Lindqvist is skilled at capturing different individuals’ voices, getting into the hearts and minds of each character, and making it all ring true. The most chilling situation is with Gustav Mahler, his daughter, and her young, undead son.
One thing that I really enjoyed is the presence of the rest of the world in the novel. Many other zombie books and movies are just focused on one country with no reactions or events from other countries. Newspaper articles, television interviews, and radio broadcasts from all over the world are placed in between chapters through most of the book. It lets the reader know that this is an isolated incident and what other countries think about it, as well as giving the story a sense of realism.
There are only a few things in the novel that are flawed. The cause of the uprising is never revealed. I don’t find this a flaw, but I think other fans of the genre would. This isn’t the focus of the story, so it essentially doesn’t really matter what caused it. The ending of the novel is pretty much unresolved. I feel like it could have been tied together a little better. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wrote a follow up novel to continue the story.
Although it has a few flaws, Handling the Undead really blew me away with its originality and eloquence. I can’t wait to see what John Ajvide Lindqvist will do next.
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happens: the dead rise. These zombies seem to just walk around with no capacity to understand or speak or even harm the living. This is only happening in Stockholm which leads the world to ask: what caused this? Why such a small area? While the rest of the world is trying to make sense of the event, the inhabitants of Stockholm are dealing with their dead loved ones with interesting results. David’s wife had died minutes before the uprising, making his wife the only zombie that can speak. Elvy and her granddaughter Flora are both psychic and don’t know what to make of Elvy’s dead husband showing up at their door. Journalist Gustav Mahler and his daughter have been in a stasis since his grandson died and now see new hope in the dead rising. They just have to dig him out of his grave. This is an entirely unexpected zombie novel. John Ajvide Lindqvist has done for zombies what he did for vampires in his previous novel Let the Right One In; he practically reinvented the genre. The novel is like a slow burn. It moves slowly, but succeeds in being extremely suspenseful and an altogether different kind of horror than is common in the genre. The focus of the novel isn’t the gore or the zombies or the reasons for these strange happenings, but the living people that have close family members returning as zombies. The people focused on are about as different as can be, but they all share in this bizarre experience. Each character is described eloquently, complete with histories that directly influence how they deal with the zombies. Their reactions are realistic and believable, ranging from religious fanaticism to hysteria to anger to disgust to delusions of normalcy. Each chapter focuses on a different group of characters. Lindqvist is skilled at capturing different individuals’ voices, getting into the hearts and minds of each character, and making it all ring true. The most chilling situation is with Gustav Mahler, his daughter, and her young, undead son.
One thing that I really enjoyed is the presence of the rest of the world in the novel. Many other zombie books and movies are just focused on one country with no reactions or events from other countries. Newspaper articles, television interviews, and radio broadcasts from all over the world are placed in between chapters through most of the book. It lets the reader know that this is an isolated incident and what other countries think about it, as well as giving the story a sense of realism.
There are only a few things in the novel that are flawed. The cause of the uprising is never revealed. I don’t find this a flaw, but I think other fans of the genre would. This isn’t the focus of the story, so it essentially doesn’t really matter what caused it. The ending of the novel is pretty much unresolved. I feel like it could have been tied together a little better. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wrote a follow up novel to continue the story.
Although it has a few flaws, Handling the Undead really blew me away with its originality and eloquence. I can’t wait to see what John Ajvide Lindqvist will do next.
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LibraryThing member drneutron
John Ajvide Lindqvist is well known his unique approach to the vampire story. Now, with Handling the Undead, he's done it again with zombies - a genre that's almost as oversaturated as the vampire. In Stockholm, a strange field of some unknown kind has made it impossible to turn off electronics,
Lindqvist's book is a quiet story. Tension builds gradually as we see how the families of the "reliving" react to their sudden reappearance. The story is more a musing on life, death and the nature of the soul than an out-and-out zombie gorefest. Don't worry though, the tension does build to a satisfying climax in the end.
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generated a massive thunderstorm, and raised the recently deceased back to life. But these aren't your typical George Romero brain-eating zombies; something much more mysterious is going on here. Lindqvist's book is a quiet story. Tension builds gradually as we see how the families of the "reliving" react to their sudden reappearance. The story is more a musing on life, death and the nature of the soul than an out-and-out zombie gorefest. Don't worry though, the tension does build to a satisfying climax in the end.
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LibraryThing member sdobie
After a freak electrical storm, all the recently dead people in the Stockholm area come back to life. The dead seem to have very little left of their former personalities and mostly just wander about while the government and their families try to figure out what to do with them.
This is a different
This is a different
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take on the zombie novel, where the dead are not a threat unless they are made so by the living. It is really about the reactions of the living to having their loved ones return in a very diminished form, and does not feel like a horror novel at all. I found it extremely slow moving, and didn't care much what happened to the main characters, so I felt I had to force my way to the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member kmaziarz
In the city of Stockholm, the power grid has gone out of control. Electrical appliances won’t shut off and the high-pitched whine from the uncontrolled current is drops the city’s inhabitants to their knees with unbearable headaches. And then…it’s over. Or so it seems. As people pick
The dead have begun to come back to life.
David, a wildly grieving husband still by the side of a hospital bed in which his wife Eva has only just died following a car accident, is shocked and terrified when she opens her one remaining eye and attempts to croak his name, despite the huge hole in her chest and the piece of her head that is no longer attached. Mahler, an aging, overweight journalist rushes to the graveyard in which his grandson Elias was recently buried and desperately digs up the partly mummified…but horribly animated…corpse of the little boy, taking him home to Mommy. Elvy, a psychic grandmother and Flora, her equally psychic though emotionally disturbed granddaughter, are shocked when the corpse of Granddad comes knocking at their door, pretending to be alive—though the deeply religious Elvy believes the Resurrection has come.
Unlike a gory Romero-type zombie movie, these undead—or “reliving,” as they are dubbed—do not hunger for brains. They barely do anything at all unless prompted by outside influences or situations. Much more of the focus of this novel is upon just how the government might actually react to a plague of undeath, and, more than that, how the families of those resurrected would cope with or feel about their loved ones coming back to them in such grossly altered form.
Slow-paced, but burning with tension under the surface, this is a thoughtful novel. Those looking for mile-a-minute chills and gooey zombie slayings will be mostly disappointed. Those looking for a reinvention of the zombie genre along the lines of the author’s earlier reinvention of the vampire genre will find much of interest.
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themselves back up, one more side effect becomes apparent. The dead have begun to come back to life.
David, a wildly grieving husband still by the side of a hospital bed in which his wife Eva has only just died following a car accident, is shocked and terrified when she opens her one remaining eye and attempts to croak his name, despite the huge hole in her chest and the piece of her head that is no longer attached. Mahler, an aging, overweight journalist rushes to the graveyard in which his grandson Elias was recently buried and desperately digs up the partly mummified…but horribly animated…corpse of the little boy, taking him home to Mommy. Elvy, a psychic grandmother and Flora, her equally psychic though emotionally disturbed granddaughter, are shocked when the corpse of Granddad comes knocking at their door, pretending to be alive—though the deeply religious Elvy believes the Resurrection has come.
Unlike a gory Romero-type zombie movie, these undead—or “reliving,” as they are dubbed—do not hunger for brains. They barely do anything at all unless prompted by outside influences or situations. Much more of the focus of this novel is upon just how the government might actually react to a plague of undeath, and, more than that, how the families of those resurrected would cope with or feel about their loved ones coming back to them in such grossly altered form.
Slow-paced, but burning with tension under the surface, this is a thoughtful novel. Those looking for mile-a-minute chills and gooey zombie slayings will be mostly disappointed. Those looking for a reinvention of the zombie genre along the lines of the author’s earlier reinvention of the vampire genre will find much of interest.
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LibraryThing member ocgreg34
Stockholm bakes under a late-Summer heat wave. Something odd comes with the uncommon heat: anything electric won't turn off. Lights that were flipped off grow brighter and brighter. The volume knobs of TVs and radios have no effect. Even the very plugs refuse to be pulled from their sockets. Worse
And just like that, the headaches disappear. No one knows why -- and no one seems to care at this point. Life slowly begins to return to normal. Until frightening reports from the city morgue that the recently deceased are waking up.
What do you do when someone you believed to be dead suddenly steps back into your life? John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel explores those questions and the consequences with his novel "Handling the Undead".
These aren't your typical George Romero living dead, with the sole aim to eat the brains of the living. These undead, or the "reliving", act very . . . normal. As the elderly Elvy puts in when her dead husband Tore shows up on her doorstep, goes his desk and begins shuffling through papers,
"I think," she said, "that he is pretending to be alive."
I like that twist on the genre. Rather than filling the pages with blood, guts and gore -- which might have been an easy route to take -- it allows Lindqvist to explore the human side of death and the grieving process. Each person handles death in his or her own way. Some, like the elderly Elvy, see the return of the dead as a sign from God that the End of Days are approaching and believes that she must help to prepare everyone for what's to come. Gustav Mahler believes it to be the one way to bring his daughter Anna out of her stupor since her son Elias fell from a window. And David Zetterberg, who's wife Eva was the first to re-animate, struggles with how to tell his son, first of his Mother's death and second of what she's become.
As a fan of horror, I find that the story also maintains its supernatural/horror edge with the government trying to uncover just what made the recently deceased return and what it means for the living. Not to mention the rash of telepathy that seems to occur when in close proximity to the reliving; the effects of it on both the living and the reliving are a nice touch. Oh, and let's not forget the mysterious hooded creature with hooks for fingers . . . .
"Handling the Undead" offers another dimension to the zombie tale, mixing human tales of grief with the living dead. A very appealing book, even for those who might not normally read horror.
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still, every resident seems to be suffering from the same intense headache causing tempers to flare.And just like that, the headaches disappear. No one knows why -- and no one seems to care at this point. Life slowly begins to return to normal. Until frightening reports from the city morgue that the recently deceased are waking up.
What do you do when someone you believed to be dead suddenly steps back into your life? John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel explores those questions and the consequences with his novel "Handling the Undead".
These aren't your typical George Romero living dead, with the sole aim to eat the brains of the living. These undead, or the "reliving", act very . . . normal. As the elderly Elvy puts in when her dead husband Tore shows up on her doorstep, goes his desk and begins shuffling through papers,
"I think," she said, "that he is pretending to be alive."
I like that twist on the genre. Rather than filling the pages with blood, guts and gore -- which might have been an easy route to take -- it allows Lindqvist to explore the human side of death and the grieving process. Each person handles death in his or her own way. Some, like the elderly Elvy, see the return of the dead as a sign from God that the End of Days are approaching and believes that she must help to prepare everyone for what's to come. Gustav Mahler believes it to be the one way to bring his daughter Anna out of her stupor since her son Elias fell from a window. And David Zetterberg, who's wife Eva was the first to re-animate, struggles with how to tell his son, first of his Mother's death and second of what she's become.
As a fan of horror, I find that the story also maintains its supernatural/horror edge with the government trying to uncover just what made the recently deceased return and what it means for the living. Not to mention the rash of telepathy that seems to occur when in close proximity to the reliving; the effects of it on both the living and the reliving are a nice touch. Oh, and let's not forget the mysterious hooded creature with hooks for fingers . . . .
"Handling the Undead" offers another dimension to the zombie tale, mixing human tales of grief with the living dead. A very appealing book, even for those who might not normally read horror.
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LibraryThing member yoyogod
I didn't really care much for this book for several reasons. It's not really a bad book. In fact I think it's pretty good, but it's really not for me.
First off, this is being marketed as a horror novel, but isn't really a horror novel at all. Yes there are reanimated corpses, but I tend to be of
Secondly, I don't much care for the translation. This is an American edition of the book, but the publishers seem to have gone with a British translation. I know what the British words mean, but for an American audience, you'd be better off using a translation geared for Americans.
Thirdly, this book is kind of slow moving. The dead come back. The government hauls them off. Their families fret a bit. Some try to hide the "reliving." Really, there's far to little action.
This is the sort of book that's supposed to make you think, and it does that, but fiction should also be entertaining, and this really wasn't very entertaining at all.
First off, this is being marketed as a horror novel, but isn't really a horror novel at all. Yes there are reanimated corpses, but I tend to be of
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the opinion that, much like vampires, that doesn't make a horror novel. What horror needs is to be horrifying. This book is not horrifying in any way. The titular undead aren't standard flesh eaters. They don't kill people. They're figures of pity, not terror.Secondly, I don't much care for the translation. This is an American edition of the book, but the publishers seem to have gone with a British translation. I know what the British words mean, but for an American audience, you'd be better off using a translation geared for Americans.
Thirdly, this book is kind of slow moving. The dead come back. The government hauls them off. Their families fret a bit. Some try to hide the "reliving." Really, there's far to little action.
This is the sort of book that's supposed to make you think, and it does that, but fiction should also be entertaining, and this really wasn't very entertaining at all.
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LibraryThing member Jacey25
A slow and thoughtful look at the reanimation of corpses. Not at all a horror novel, these aren't brain hungry monsters but confused sad shells of the people they once were. It will of course be compared to Let the Right One In and inevitably suffer as it is a quieter, less impactful book but truly
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it's just different and equally as good of a read. Show Less
LibraryThing member danizinha
Well, it's no "Let the Right One in", but still great and original read, delivered by Lindqvist. His dark and grim writing is a breath of fresh air in the multitude of trivial and predictable paranormal books that are spurting out in numbers every day now.
LibraryThing member callmecayce
A completely unique take on zombies. Set in Sweden, a strange buzzing brings Stockholm to it's knees -- and when it ends, the dead have come back. We follow the lives of three people, a teen girl, a grandfather and journalist and a young father who's also a comedian. Their lives are all touched by
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the return of the dead, called both zombies and the reliving. Instead of a grotesque violence-filled story, Lindqvist's novel is an intimate look at how hard life would be if our recently departed loved ones returned to us. Show Less
LibraryThing member lesleydawn
Hmmmm. . . kind of pointless and not very interesting. Surprised that I got all the way through it, but I kept waiting for something to happen. It never really did.
LibraryThing member Groovybaby
I like the way this author comes up with inventive new story ideas for traditional monesters (vampires, zombies)and yet follows in the footsteps of the best tellers of classic horror tales by making sure that the humanity in creatures formerly human is never forgotten.
I really liked this tale
I really liked this tale
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just as much as 'Let the Right One In' but would be tempted to rate it as a less exciting book. Perhaps becasue I was a little less surprised by it after having read that other great book. I was held less in suspense by knowing ahead that no matter what unfathomable horrors the author wrote about in the telling of the tale, there was going to be a happy ending of sorts. Still, I really liked this work and will seek out others, predictable in a sense perhaps, but no less enjoyable than any random Stephen King novel is, for it's predictability. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sarahfine
An interesting take on the zombie mythos...after white caterpillars rain from the sky, the dead mysteriously return to life in a Swedish city. The underlying reason remains somewhat mysterious: large numbers of the dead confer telepathy; they do not wax violent until humans think negative thoughts
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about them; and ***spoiler alert*** a being (which is visible to humans in different forms) must harvest them to save them from oblivion. The novel is told through news reports, military records, and the intersecting storylines of 3 families affected by the appearance of the "reliving." Ultimately, the end is somewhat unsatisfying, but perhaps something was lost in translation. It is the characters' stories which make this worth sinking your teeth into. Show Less
LibraryThing member Virtual_Jo
A very different kind of horror story; what would happen if the people we'd loved came back to life? How would we react?
LibraryThing member bibliobeck
Well, I take back my previous review of a zombie novel :
the whole reason that I've never really gone for zombies in the past - I don't see how the stories can be anything but predictable. There is no character development with one of oozing, groaning reanimated dead. They are inevitably going to
This book was entirely different. In fact I can't call it a zombie novel as the characters who re-awaken here are actually re-living. Not scary by any stretch of the imagination but stomach churning in parts due to the graphic nature of the descriptions of those who re-live.
The premise is that some electrical disturbance in Stokholm causes those who have died during the past couple of months to re-live. Lindqvist is queasily-uncompromising about the details of how those who have been burried for a couple of months would look. But what I loved about this book is the philosophical and moral questions it raises. The re-living here are no shuffling, flesh-eating zombies; they are people who are loved by their relatives, some of whom cling to the hope that their loved ones can re-join the families who have been devastated by their death. It quickly becomes apparent that this will never happen - rather than zombies in the traditional horror sense, they are zombified: no personality and no connection with their nearest and dearest, no matter how hard the living try to cling to them.
The discussions about what to do with these people, where to keep them, whether to allow relatives to see them and so on is the crux of the book. I suspect those who have rated the book as low and suggested that very little happens are more fans of traditional zombielit, but I loved this alternative take. I thought it was very clever and beautifully written and enjoyed it even more than 'Let the right one in' although I have to agree that if this book is being pigeon-holed as horror that is entirely misleading.
the whole reason that I've never really gone for zombies in the past - I don't see how the stories can be anything but predictable. There is no character development with one of oozing, groaning reanimated dead. They are inevitably going to
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want to attack those still living as without this there would be no story and so the living have to hide/go on the run maiming as many of the shufflers as they can along the way.This book was entirely different. In fact I can't call it a zombie novel as the characters who re-awaken here are actually re-living. Not scary by any stretch of the imagination but stomach churning in parts due to the graphic nature of the descriptions of those who re-live.
The premise is that some electrical disturbance in Stokholm causes those who have died during the past couple of months to re-live. Lindqvist is queasily-uncompromising about the details of how those who have been burried for a couple of months would look. But what I loved about this book is the philosophical and moral questions it raises. The re-living here are no shuffling, flesh-eating zombies; they are people who are loved by their relatives, some of whom cling to the hope that their loved ones can re-join the families who have been devastated by their death. It quickly becomes apparent that this will never happen - rather than zombies in the traditional horror sense, they are zombified: no personality and no connection with their nearest and dearest, no matter how hard the living try to cling to them.
The discussions about what to do with these people, where to keep them, whether to allow relatives to see them and so on is the crux of the book. I suspect those who have rated the book as low and suggested that very little happens are more fans of traditional zombielit, but I loved this alternative take. I thought it was very clever and beautifully written and enjoyed it even more than 'Let the right one in' although I have to agree that if this book is being pigeon-holed as horror that is entirely misleading.
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LibraryThing member BookAddictDiary
Handling the Undead is not your typical zombie book. When I first picked it up, however, I thought it would be -you know, something possibly serious (due to the cover art) like 28 Days later or possibly something humorous like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland or World War Z. What I got however, was
In Handling the Undead, several individuals around Stockholm who have been dead for two months or less suddenly start coming back to life -scratching their way out of coffins, walking out of hospitals and mortuaries...some falling apart from previously fatal wounds, others with remnants of speech or even memories of their past life. Though their appearance causes panic throughout the city and eventually the world, several people, including the characters Lindqvist explores, have their own, more human experiences with the reliving -mostly in an attempt to continue lives with their previously dead families and friends.
An interesting take on the zombie genre, Handling the Undead reads more like a literary, emotional novel than a horror story. While I have to admit it's different and interesting, it did disappoint the little zombie horror fan in me, especially since the book probably should have just been a short story. The middle especially feels like there just isn't much going on -there are news clippings and timeline reports about the strange zombie events, which offer quick, interesting snapshots of the world, but seemed to be fluff more than anything. The story also seems like it's staying in the same place for much of the time and not really adding anything new plot-wise -it's so bad that probably around 100 pages of this book could be removed from the middle and it would still have the same impact (possibly even more).
Not a great book, but certainly unique and different -but, sadly, not truly for zombie-horror fans, but more for fans of emotional literary tales of family and human connections.
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completely different and unexpected. Instead of some kind of humorous zombie-fighting or horrifying zombie apocalypse story where characters are running for their lives, Handling the Undead focuses on a more realistic and somewhat more human approach to zombies. Rather than battling the undead, author John Ajvide Lindqvist studies a range of possible, realistic human reactions to reanimated dead, or "reliving" as they are called in the novel, ranging from horror to religious fanaticism, panic and even acceptance.In Handling the Undead, several individuals around Stockholm who have been dead for two months or less suddenly start coming back to life -scratching their way out of coffins, walking out of hospitals and mortuaries...some falling apart from previously fatal wounds, others with remnants of speech or even memories of their past life. Though their appearance causes panic throughout the city and eventually the world, several people, including the characters Lindqvist explores, have their own, more human experiences with the reliving -mostly in an attempt to continue lives with their previously dead families and friends.
An interesting take on the zombie genre, Handling the Undead reads more like a literary, emotional novel than a horror story. While I have to admit it's different and interesting, it did disappoint the little zombie horror fan in me, especially since the book probably should have just been a short story. The middle especially feels like there just isn't much going on -there are news clippings and timeline reports about the strange zombie events, which offer quick, interesting snapshots of the world, but seemed to be fluff more than anything. The story also seems like it's staying in the same place for much of the time and not really adding anything new plot-wise -it's so bad that probably around 100 pages of this book could be removed from the middle and it would still have the same impact (possibly even more).
Not a great book, but certainly unique and different -but, sadly, not truly for zombie-horror fans, but more for fans of emotional literary tales of family and human connections.
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LibraryThing member seekingflight
As the story opens in Stockholm, things seem slightly off kilter. Its unseasonably warm, something weird is happening with electrical appliances, and everyone is sharing a monster of a headache. Suddenly, the pressure that’s been building lifts. But life has not gone back to normal, for
Lindquivst spins a compelling scenario and skilfully paints the implications of developments for a range of characters that you come to care about. I was drawn into the mystery of what had happened, and fascinated with the way in which events played out. Simultaneously, however, I wondered where on earth this was going. And, perhaps, worried that my reaction to the ending was going to influence the way that I felt about the whole story.
I really enjoyed the first three-quarters of this novel. And for fear of spoilers, I don’t want to say much more than that. I think I’d come to a conclusion in my own head about where I thought it was going – which I loved – and I was disappointed that Lindqvist did something different. But my reaction certainly may not correspond to your own, and I would recommend this as a very different take on the ‘zombie’ genre ...
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Stockholm’s dead are waking – in morgues, and in cemeteries – and are returning to their homes and families. Lindqvist skilfully paints a picture of the implications of this bizarre turn of events. How would you deal with the return of someone you loved and lost? Or someone you had complicated ambivalent feelings towards – and lost? To what extent would you see them as the person you’d lost? To what extent would they seem a stranger? How would the authorities try to deal with such a phenomenon? Lindquivst spins a compelling scenario and skilfully paints the implications of developments for a range of characters that you come to care about. I was drawn into the mystery of what had happened, and fascinated with the way in which events played out. Simultaneously, however, I wondered where on earth this was going. And, perhaps, worried that my reaction to the ending was going to influence the way that I felt about the whole story.
I really enjoyed the first three-quarters of this novel. And for fear of spoilers, I don’t want to say much more than that. I think I’d come to a conclusion in my own head about where I thought it was going – which I loved – and I was disappointed that Lindqvist did something different. But my reaction certainly may not correspond to your own, and I would recommend this as a very different take on the ‘zombie’ genre ...
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LibraryThing member snaprebelx
This was definatly not the book I expected it to be. I found it dragging at points and got frustrated by the switching of characters because just as I was starting to care, it would switch me elsewhere.
I did have a lot of sympathies for the dead and thier families. It was a great twist on typical
I did find it much more interesting in the last 4th of the book, but then of course, it ends. It left me with a lot of questions at the end too. But all in all I'm glad I read it.
I did have a lot of sympathies for the dead and thier families. It was a great twist on typical
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zombies.I did find it much more interesting in the last 4th of the book, but then of course, it ends. It left me with a lot of questions at the end too. But all in all I'm glad I read it.
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LibraryThing member Aerrin99
Handling the Undead is a 'zombie' story in about the same way that Let the Right One In was a 'vampire' story. That is, portions of the mythology fit, but the point of the story is entirely different, moving in a very different way. It's definitely not horror.
In Stockholm, the recently-dead begin
The story here focuses no on events, but on people - a grandfather and mother whose child died several months earlier and who take him away to hide him from authorities; an elderly woman whose husband returns and who struggles with her vow 'til death do us part'; a man whose wife died in a horrible car accident and rose only hours later.
Each story is interesting and moving. It explores what death means, what it might mean to have our grieving interrupted, what it means to be human, what part of each other we love and cherish. It's no surprise that Lindqvist does interesting things with these questions in an unconventional fashion.
Unfortunately, the rest of the mechanics of the novel fall short. As a character study, it sort of works, but as a story, it fails - there is basically no plot to speak of, the mechanics of the how and why are so tacked on it's almost embarrassing, and in the end none of it really seems to /mean/ anything.
I'm glad to have read the book, because I think it has interesting ideas, but it's definitely not one to re-read.
In Stockholm, the recently-dead begin
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to rise after an electrical power surge. For the most part they are just that - dead, in many cases rotting, unable to heal, in most cases unable to speak or communicate.The story here focuses no on events, but on people - a grandfather and mother whose child died several months earlier and who take him away to hide him from authorities; an elderly woman whose husband returns and who struggles with her vow 'til death do us part'; a man whose wife died in a horrible car accident and rose only hours later.
Each story is interesting and moving. It explores what death means, what it might mean to have our grieving interrupted, what it means to be human, what part of each other we love and cherish. It's no surprise that Lindqvist does interesting things with these questions in an unconventional fashion.
Unfortunately, the rest of the mechanics of the novel fall short. As a character study, it sort of works, but as a story, it fails - there is basically no plot to speak of, the mechanics of the how and why are so tacked on it's almost embarrassing, and in the end none of it really seems to /mean/ anything.
I'm glad to have read the book, because I think it has interesting ideas, but it's definitely not one to re-read.
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LibraryThing member johnklima
One of Lindqvist's strengths as an author is taking the stereotyped, the over-used, and turning it on its ear. His amazing novel LET THE RIGHT ONE IN did this with vampires, and was one of my favorite books of 2009. I knew this going in, and I was still surprised by how he treated zombies in
Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. While I was able to let the story build and grow in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, I couldn't move pasts my preconceptions of zombies to really enjoy what Lindqvist was doing. He's a phenomenal writer, and he really tackles the idea of "How would you deal with your loved one coming back from the dead?" incredibly well. But I struggled getting past what I expected of zombies and eventually decided I couldn't get past them.
I was looking forward to this book and was definitely disappointed with it.
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HANDLING THE UNDEAD.Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. While I was able to let the story build and grow in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, I couldn't move pasts my preconceptions of zombies to really enjoy what Lindqvist was doing. He's a phenomenal writer, and he really tackles the idea of "How would you deal with your loved one coming back from the dead?" incredibly well. But I struggled getting past what I expected of zombies and eventually decided I couldn't get past them.
I was looking forward to this book and was definitely disappointed with it.
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LibraryThing member BeeQuiet
Having fallen in love with Let the Right One In by Lindqvist, my eyes lit up when I saw Handling the Undead on the shelf at my local book shop. At first, I thought it was going to be brilliant, perhaps on the same scale as the book I had taken to my heart before. Unfortunately as the book
As in Let the Right One In, Linqvist uses a classic horror theme and turns it on its head, using it to examine human nature at its worst and its best. At times subtle and heart wrenching, at its peaks, the author's talent of developing characters the reader can really care for shines. However by the end of the book it felt like Lindqvist had lost his way, traversing into areas he had little knowledge about, and even less ability to describe. This clumsy handeling of faith issues and pseudoscience left me cringing.
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progressed, I found myself feeling disappointed, as the reasons behind the events detailed in the book seemed unconvincingly explained, propping up an idea of the soul which made little sense to me.As in Let the Right One In, Linqvist uses a classic horror theme and turns it on its head, using it to examine human nature at its worst and its best. At times subtle and heart wrenching, at its peaks, the author's talent of developing characters the reader can really care for shines. However by the end of the book it felt like Lindqvist had lost his way, traversing into areas he had little knowledge about, and even less ability to describe. This clumsy handeling of faith issues and pseudoscience left me cringing.
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LibraryThing member CynDaVaz
This book was more of a drama than a horror - a realistic portrayal of how we might react if the dead ever reanimated. As engaging as most of the book was (including the downward spiral of events that happened at the end), the conclusion ultimately seemed to fizzle out. It was as if the author
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didn't quite know how to wrap everything up, and as a consequence the ending was a bit of a disappointment. For this reason I can't give this book a 4 star or higher rating. But because of how well it delivered in other aspects, I've given it a 3 star (I liked it) rating. I do believe that a movie version of this would work very well. I also appreciated the underlying spiritual/afterlife message which was revealed at the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mijk
I don't usually read horror, but I had seen the Swedish original film of Let the Right One In, which convinced me to buy this, as I needed to read a zombie novel (don't ask!). This is not mainstream zombie genre stuff, but something completely different and for most of the novel, far more subtle
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and insightful. It is for the most part succesfully creepy, and conveys the mixture of horror, repulsion and desperate desire experienced by the leading characters. The story is told through the experiences of a set of characters, in parallel narratives that do not converge, allowing the author to explore different dimensions of the effects on society and the self, for the living, of the phenomenon of the risen dead. The story's resolution I found unsatisfactory, a simplistic restoration of equilibrium in Hollywood style, with everything returned to the way it 'should be'. Perhaps the author had begun to think of the rights, anticipating the cuts and revision that US film producers would demand of a more challenging, disturbing ending. The resulting conclusion to the story, however, is almost laughably ridiculous, visually absurd, and the writing completely lacks the conviction and complexity which the author ascribes so insightfully to the experiences of the characters through the rest of the novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member brokenangelkisses
I had heard of ‘Let the Right one in’, Lindqvist’s previous novel, and had vaguely thought that I’d quite like to read it. I was interested in the way it played with the old story of vampires. Similarly, when I heard the premise of this book, I was pleasantly intrigued: this is a zombie
The undead arise
In the middle of a terribly oppressive heatwave in Stockholm, odd things are happening. Everyone has a horrific headache and their electrical items are surging with energy, apparently unable to power down. Then something even stranger happens: the dead begin to wake…
I found this premise intriguing and was willing to suspend disbelief to follow the arc of the story. Although I would never read or watch a ‘straight’ zombie story (far too gory and dull) I have enjoyed films and books which play with the concept of the undead so I was fairly confident that this would suit me. However, if you’re someone who isn’t willing to suspend belief or if the undead is a concept that you are deeply uninterested in then this obviously wouldn’t be the right book for you as the reanimation of the corpses is the foundation of the rest of the story.
This isn’t a horror story in the conventional sense, although there are certainly moments of horror and there are some concise descriptions of the physical condition of the dead which provoked a grimace from me. Lindqvist’s dead are not flesh eating monsters. Instead, they simply want to go home and be with their families. The reaction of their families, and society as a whole, forms the core of the plot as Lindqvist explores the devastation of loss, the difficulty in moving on and the way society handles outsiders.
The reliving awake
The plot follows several characters, although the blurb only mentions one. David, a particularly highly-strung individual, (he’s a comic, of course,) is sobbing dejectedly at the bedside of his very recently deceased wife when, to his shock and confusion, she awakens. Of course, the dead have their limits and David struggles to communicate with her while worrying about what he will tell their young son. As this episode makes clear, the emphasis in the novel is on realistic reactions of people to the surreal circumstances. I hesitate to use the verb ‘enjoyed’ in relation to this text as the various plotlines are intensely sad and the tone of the novel often elegiac, but I certainly appreciated the approach Lindqvist adopts. In essence, this is a story of loss and denial rather than a ‘horror’ story. The horror is found in our human frailties and the inevitability of our death.
All the main characters have some kind of interaction with the undead and the three storylines coexist in a logical fashion. Sometimes the characters from each interact and this helps to give the book coherence. It does feel like a story rather than a collection of stories. The characters are convincingly drawn and are generally sympathetic. Their relationships are also convincingly nuanced and allow Lindqvist to explore several perspectives on the events. Amusingly, although I was perfectly willing to have the dead rise out of their graves, I didn’t really like the fact that two of the characters were psychic and experienced various psychic phenomena. I suppose it felt like the dead arising was so obviously a sci-fi moment, whereas people claim to be psychic in the ‘real world’, so it felt more like an endorsement of something I am extremely sceptical of. Regardless of my reasons, I liked this perspective less than the others and did not follow this storyline as avidly as the other two. I think having the three separate storylines increased the chances of engaging readers as there are a range of characters to empathise with.
One of the elements of the book I found most appealing was the focus on society’s reactions. Lindqvist occasionally includes a few small snippets from contemporary newspapers or from government reports. These were so convincing in terms of the attitudes conveyed that they made me smile. I’m sure that if the dead were to awaken, Lindqvist has captured exactly how people would respond. To give one example, some writers and columnists use the government’s handling of the affair to call for resignations in the cabinet. I thought that this realism was a real strength of the book. Some reviewers have complained that this is too much tell and not enough show, but I liked the concise way the snippets expressed information and created a sense of a broader reaction than just the individuals followed by the storyline.
The fantastical
I actually dislike fantasy stories and, as such, there were several elements of the story that I was less comfortable with. While I was happy to suspend disbelief regarding the awakening of the dead, I was less comfortable about the psychic angle and the increasing personification of Death as the novel drew on. By the end of the novel I was almost outright ignoring small sections that I just felt were too fantastical. I think that if you are not a fan of fantasy, the novel becomes more difficult as it moves towards its conclusion. That said, the metaphorical aspect of these elements is so evident that you could probably almost ignore the fantastical aspect and treat it as a metaphor.
Indeed, the whole work is really metaphorical. The zombies could be victims of autism or alzheimers (something some reviewers have criticised Lindqvist for making too obvious). Society’s treatment of them clearly represents real people’s attitude towards difference, outsiders and the most vulnerable. I think this evidently metaphorical element made it much more interesting for me to read and encouraged me to reflect on human nature. In fact, this layer of meaning is so important to Lindqvist that he skimps a little on the fantasy layer: there is no full explanation for the awakening of the dead or the way they function. I thought this was a shame but that it did not detract from my enjoyment. I think that, contrary to some comments elsewhere, readers don’t really expect a zombie story to fully explain the science. The science isn’t the focus of the story. However, if you do like all yours i’s dotted and t’s crossed then this isn’t the novel for you.
“He was the only one who saw it.”
The novel opens with a short prologue that is deeply atmospheric and helps to create a distinct ‘sci-fi’ feel. In a scene that reminded me of ‘The Faculty’ (a weak alien takeover film) a white caterpillar acts in an unusual way. This is a big tease because Lindqvist does not return to the caterpillar until much later in the novel. When he does, I do not feel that the prologue is satisfactorily explained, which was mildly irksome – it seemed like the writer had changed his mind halfway through writing the book. However, this was a very minor criticism and few books would stand up to thorough scrutiny without revealing a plot hole or two. At least the prologue linked to the ending, giving a sense of completion to the story.
A more serious complaint could be made about the middle of the book. Several reviewers have compared Lindqvist to Stephen King (indeed, this link appears on the back cover of the book, so the publishers evidently think this is a Good Thing) and argued that the book is a little bloated. I didn’t really feel that when I was reading it, but I did feel that the middle section dragged a little. All the characters are just…getting on with life. Realistic, yes. Compelling, no. I kept reading because I was genuinely interested in the character’s storylines, but perhaps some material could have been reduced here.
The ending was rather strange and a lot happened quite quickly. There are few definite answers but the events felt like logical progressions and there was enough information given to predict what wasn’t seen. I wouldn’t have minded a little more clarity because it all felt rather fantastical, but I wasn’t frustrated by the ending. I would have liked a bit more detail about what happened after and thought this could have been provided in the same style as earlier in the book (reports and articles). According to Wikipedia, there is an epilogue but it has yet to be translated, which seems rather odd.
“Solidarity is always directed at ‘one of us’ and ‘us’ cannot refer to everyone…”
Although there are some minor flaws in the crafting of the story – perhaps it is a little bloated and a little too metaphysical in places – I felt that the story itself was absorbing, the characters convincing and the issues compelling. I think this edition must be very well translated as it is easy to read and often atmospheric, especially in the early descriptions of the electrical storm. This isn’t a book for the flesh eating zombies fan but a more serious meditation of love, loss and fear. Although not, as stated earlier, a conventional ‘horror’ story, the novel does create moments of intense horror at various points and, of course, deals throughout with the horror of experiencing a form of living death. I would recommend this and will look to read ‘Let the Right one in’ in due course.
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book that isn’t really about the zombies. It’s cleverer than that.The undead arise
In the middle of a terribly oppressive heatwave in Stockholm, odd things are happening. Everyone has a horrific headache and their electrical items are surging with energy, apparently unable to power down. Then something even stranger happens: the dead begin to wake…
I found this premise intriguing and was willing to suspend disbelief to follow the arc of the story. Although I would never read or watch a ‘straight’ zombie story (far too gory and dull) I have enjoyed films and books which play with the concept of the undead so I was fairly confident that this would suit me. However, if you’re someone who isn’t willing to suspend belief or if the undead is a concept that you are deeply uninterested in then this obviously wouldn’t be the right book for you as the reanimation of the corpses is the foundation of the rest of the story.
This isn’t a horror story in the conventional sense, although there are certainly moments of horror and there are some concise descriptions of the physical condition of the dead which provoked a grimace from me. Lindqvist’s dead are not flesh eating monsters. Instead, they simply want to go home and be with their families. The reaction of their families, and society as a whole, forms the core of the plot as Lindqvist explores the devastation of loss, the difficulty in moving on and the way society handles outsiders.
The reliving awake
The plot follows several characters, although the blurb only mentions one. David, a particularly highly-strung individual, (he’s a comic, of course,) is sobbing dejectedly at the bedside of his very recently deceased wife when, to his shock and confusion, she awakens. Of course, the dead have their limits and David struggles to communicate with her while worrying about what he will tell their young son. As this episode makes clear, the emphasis in the novel is on realistic reactions of people to the surreal circumstances. I hesitate to use the verb ‘enjoyed’ in relation to this text as the various plotlines are intensely sad and the tone of the novel often elegiac, but I certainly appreciated the approach Lindqvist adopts. In essence, this is a story of loss and denial rather than a ‘horror’ story. The horror is found in our human frailties and the inevitability of our death.
All the main characters have some kind of interaction with the undead and the three storylines coexist in a logical fashion. Sometimes the characters from each interact and this helps to give the book coherence. It does feel like a story rather than a collection of stories. The characters are convincingly drawn and are generally sympathetic. Their relationships are also convincingly nuanced and allow Lindqvist to explore several perspectives on the events. Amusingly, although I was perfectly willing to have the dead rise out of their graves, I didn’t really like the fact that two of the characters were psychic and experienced various psychic phenomena. I suppose it felt like the dead arising was so obviously a sci-fi moment, whereas people claim to be psychic in the ‘real world’, so it felt more like an endorsement of something I am extremely sceptical of. Regardless of my reasons, I liked this perspective less than the others and did not follow this storyline as avidly as the other two. I think having the three separate storylines increased the chances of engaging readers as there are a range of characters to empathise with.
One of the elements of the book I found most appealing was the focus on society’s reactions. Lindqvist occasionally includes a few small snippets from contemporary newspapers or from government reports. These were so convincing in terms of the attitudes conveyed that they made me smile. I’m sure that if the dead were to awaken, Lindqvist has captured exactly how people would respond. To give one example, some writers and columnists use the government’s handling of the affair to call for resignations in the cabinet. I thought that this realism was a real strength of the book. Some reviewers have complained that this is too much tell and not enough show, but I liked the concise way the snippets expressed information and created a sense of a broader reaction than just the individuals followed by the storyline.
The fantastical
I actually dislike fantasy stories and, as such, there were several elements of the story that I was less comfortable with. While I was happy to suspend disbelief regarding the awakening of the dead, I was less comfortable about the psychic angle and the increasing personification of Death as the novel drew on. By the end of the novel I was almost outright ignoring small sections that I just felt were too fantastical. I think that if you are not a fan of fantasy, the novel becomes more difficult as it moves towards its conclusion. That said, the metaphorical aspect of these elements is so evident that you could probably almost ignore the fantastical aspect and treat it as a metaphor.
Indeed, the whole work is really metaphorical. The zombies could be victims of autism or alzheimers (something some reviewers have criticised Lindqvist for making too obvious). Society’s treatment of them clearly represents real people’s attitude towards difference, outsiders and the most vulnerable. I think this evidently metaphorical element made it much more interesting for me to read and encouraged me to reflect on human nature. In fact, this layer of meaning is so important to Lindqvist that he skimps a little on the fantasy layer: there is no full explanation for the awakening of the dead or the way they function. I thought this was a shame but that it did not detract from my enjoyment. I think that, contrary to some comments elsewhere, readers don’t really expect a zombie story to fully explain the science. The science isn’t the focus of the story. However, if you do like all yours i’s dotted and t’s crossed then this isn’t the novel for you.
“He was the only one who saw it.”
The novel opens with a short prologue that is deeply atmospheric and helps to create a distinct ‘sci-fi’ feel. In a scene that reminded me of ‘The Faculty’ (a weak alien takeover film) a white caterpillar acts in an unusual way. This is a big tease because Lindqvist does not return to the caterpillar until much later in the novel. When he does, I do not feel that the prologue is satisfactorily explained, which was mildly irksome – it seemed like the writer had changed his mind halfway through writing the book. However, this was a very minor criticism and few books would stand up to thorough scrutiny without revealing a plot hole or two. At least the prologue linked to the ending, giving a sense of completion to the story.
A more serious complaint could be made about the middle of the book. Several reviewers have compared Lindqvist to Stephen King (indeed, this link appears on the back cover of the book, so the publishers evidently think this is a Good Thing) and argued that the book is a little bloated. I didn’t really feel that when I was reading it, but I did feel that the middle section dragged a little. All the characters are just…getting on with life. Realistic, yes. Compelling, no. I kept reading because I was genuinely interested in the character’s storylines, but perhaps some material could have been reduced here.
The ending was rather strange and a lot happened quite quickly. There are few definite answers but the events felt like logical progressions and there was enough information given to predict what wasn’t seen. I wouldn’t have minded a little more clarity because it all felt rather fantastical, but I wasn’t frustrated by the ending. I would have liked a bit more detail about what happened after and thought this could have been provided in the same style as earlier in the book (reports and articles). According to Wikipedia, there is an epilogue but it has yet to be translated, which seems rather odd.
“Solidarity is always directed at ‘one of us’ and ‘us’ cannot refer to everyone…”
Although there are some minor flaws in the crafting of the story – perhaps it is a little bloated and a little too metaphysical in places – I felt that the story itself was absorbing, the characters convincing and the issues compelling. I think this edition must be very well translated as it is easy to read and often atmospheric, especially in the early descriptions of the electrical storm. This isn’t a book for the flesh eating zombies fan but a more serious meditation of love, loss and fear. Although not, as stated earlier, a conventional ‘horror’ story, the novel does create moments of intense horror at various points and, of course, deals throughout with the horror of experiencing a form of living death. I would recommend this and will look to read ‘Let the Right one in’ in due course.
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Awards
Language
Original language
Swedish
Original publication date
2009-03-05
Physical description
322 p.; 22.1 cm
ISBN
9788763807456
Local notes
Omslag: Camilla Jørgensen
Omslaget viser et tåget omrids af en person tæt på
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra svensk "Hanteringen av odöda" af Jesper Klint Kistorp
Side 67: At påtage sig nogen forpligtelser efter døden havde hun ikke lovet præsten der havde viet dem for treogfyrre år siden.
Side 98: Han så ud som noget man betragter inde i en montre.
Omslaget viser et tåget omrids af en person tæt på
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra svensk "Hanteringen av odöda" af Jesper Klint Kistorp
Side 67: At påtage sig nogen forpligtelser efter døden havde hun ikke lovet præsten der havde viet dem for treogfyrre år siden.
Side 98: Han så ud som noget man betragter inde i en montre.
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Pages
322
DDC/MDS
| 839.738 |