Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Kbh. Rosinante 2013
Description
Rescuing and raising an abandoned baby girl in the woods, a man enters the child in a singing competition when she develops an astonishingly beautiful voice, a performance that leads to the girl's encounter with another youngster with whom she triggers a horrifying force.
Media reviews
John Ajvide Lindqvist har för tillfället lämnat hembygdshorror och förortsvampyrer bakom sig. Han har denna gång skrivit en mörkare bok.
Ajvide Lindqvist är djävulskt skicklig på att låta det förfärliga liksom explodera innanför det normala. Han gör ondskan så oladdad och konkret.
I den bloddrypande och förtvivlade slutscenen framstår romanen därför till slut som en både mer uppgiven, uppriktig och dovare variation av föregångarens grundackord. Men också som nyktrare i sin gestaltning av utanförskap, mindre romantisk.
Romanens styrka är skildringen av flickornas ensamhet och utsatthet. Men som helhet har romanen flera allvarliga brister.
John Ajvide Lindqvist parar ihop två tonårstjejer och låter på typiskt sätt det vardagliga svenska möta det oförklarligt aparta.
User reviews
LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
A washed-up musician finds a baby girl in the forest, barely alive in a shallow grave. She is strange and almost catatonic. But she sings in the most perfect pitch anyone has ever heard and can imitate any song after hearing it just once. The musician believes her gift must be protected in order
At the same time another girl is born into a much more regular family. She has no exceptional abilities whatsoever. In fact, she’s just like anybody – perhaps just a little more fat, ugly and lonely. She’s like a million other girls on the outside, learning the hard way that the world is a cold and difficult place.
When these two girls meet, fourteen years later, something happens. They do something with each other. They become something apart, something strong, something dangerous. And music is their weapon. Or, well, one of their weapons. And soon they are not alone anymore.
I was rather taken by this, Lindqvist’s fifth book. He does a beautiful and heart-breaking job at showing everything that is hard about not fitting in – both in an extreme and a mundane scenario - and he creates an ambience right up until the inevitable, frightening end on Sweden’s biggest TV show. As ever, he juggles many voices, letting whoever is best fitted at the moment, telling the story. Really, this is another book of his where I can’t turn the pages fast enough.
There are also some flaws. The supernatural streak of this book is very discreet for a long time, and when Lindqvist puts more emphasis on it towards the end, it comes across just a little clumsy (those of you who had a slight problem with the ending of Handling the Undead will know what I mean). He also completely loses Jerry, one of his main characters, in the last hundred pages.
The genuine horror elements of this are pretty few and far between, but fans of Lindqvist will know what to expect. For new readers, be aware that explicit gore is part of the fare. If stuff like drilling through someone’s temple is too much for you, this is not your book.
What remains for me in the end, even after the horror of the final turns of events, is after all a tale of friendship and community. That and a glimpse of the power that could rest inside that silent, invisible, scared girl who’s always sitting at the front of the classroom.
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not to be destroyed, and him and his abused wife raise the girl in their basement, not telling anyone about her. Until a truly gruesome turn of events forces her out into the world.At the same time another girl is born into a much more regular family. She has no exceptional abilities whatsoever. In fact, she’s just like anybody – perhaps just a little more fat, ugly and lonely. She’s like a million other girls on the outside, learning the hard way that the world is a cold and difficult place.
When these two girls meet, fourteen years later, something happens. They do something with each other. They become something apart, something strong, something dangerous. And music is their weapon. Or, well, one of their weapons. And soon they are not alone anymore.
I was rather taken by this, Lindqvist’s fifth book. He does a beautiful and heart-breaking job at showing everything that is hard about not fitting in – both in an extreme and a mundane scenario - and he creates an ambience right up until the inevitable, frightening end on Sweden’s biggest TV show. As ever, he juggles many voices, letting whoever is best fitted at the moment, telling the story. Really, this is another book of his where I can’t turn the pages fast enough.
There are also some flaws. The supernatural streak of this book is very discreet for a long time, and when Lindqvist puts more emphasis on it towards the end, it comes across just a little clumsy (those of you who had a slight problem with the ending of Handling the Undead will know what I mean). He also completely loses Jerry, one of his main characters, in the last hundred pages.
The genuine horror elements of this are pretty few and far between, but fans of Lindqvist will know what to expect. For new readers, be aware that explicit gore is part of the fare. If stuff like drilling through someone’s temple is too much for you, this is not your book.
What remains for me in the end, even after the horror of the final turns of events, is after all a tale of friendship and community. That and a glimpse of the power that could rest inside that silent, invisible, scared girl who’s always sitting at the front of the classroom.
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LibraryThing member wodfest
Read it and never be able to listen to ABBA's 'thank you for the music' the same way again.
There is always a point in reading each Lindqvist book where I regret ever having started it but I cannot deny their effectiveness in horrifying me and making my skin crawl for weeks afterward.
I suspect that
I'm struck each time by how well Lindqvist portrays the interactions of children and youth with each other and also the way in which he builds sympathy for frankly unsympathetic characters. I think it is this that sucks you so deeply into the stories so that even when the horror starts you cannot put the book down.
I don't know that this is the definitive attempt to unravel the mystery of cold, calm-looking sociopaths and the people that follow them but I will admit that I was thinking throughout this book about the Charles Manson Helter Skelter murders, the Norwegian Breivik massacre and all those high school rampages.
This is an author I would love to do a Q&A session with. In fact I'd love to find a book club willing to read it and talk about it.
There is always a point in reading each Lindqvist book where I regret ever having started it but I cannot deny their effectiveness in horrifying me and making my skin crawl for weeks afterward.
I suspect that
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I'm susceptible in part due to a shared 70s and 80s childhood and I suspect that goes double if you happened to be Swedish through that time.I'm struck each time by how well Lindqvist portrays the interactions of children and youth with each other and also the way in which he builds sympathy for frankly unsympathetic characters. I think it is this that sucks you so deeply into the stories so that even when the horror starts you cannot put the book down.
I don't know that this is the definitive attempt to unravel the mystery of cold, calm-looking sociopaths and the people that follow them but I will admit that I was thinking throughout this book about the Charles Manson Helter Skelter murders, the Norwegian Breivik massacre and all those high school rampages.
This is an author I would love to do a Q&A session with. In fact I'd love to find a book club willing to read it and talk about it.
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LibraryThing member erikschreppel
Little Star is Lindqvist's most disturbing work in a while. It creeps up on you, and he does a great job bringing you along at his pace. This isn't King and his verbosity, Lindqvist has written this length because he needs you to understand. Difficult read, primarily because this is his least
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supernatural work, the most based in reality that makes it a tough read at times. But all in all easily his best book since Let the Right One In. Show Less
LibraryThing member hairball
Meh. This would've been a far better book if he'd skipped the preface, since that made the eventual outcome fairly obvious. Let the Right One In was a far superior work. This one had some good bits, but overall, I didn't feel that it brought anything new to the table.
LibraryThing member Nickidemus
The Basics
A man finds a baby alone and dying in the woods. He gives the baby mouth-to-mouth, and when she begins to cry, a pitch perfect music note comes out. This man just so happens to be a former pop star settling into his older years, and to him this child is a miracle in the making. This being
My Thoughts
Around this same time last year, I read Lindqvist’s most popular work, Let the Right One In, and it’s possibly the best vampire novel written since Salem’s Lot. Needless to say, I couldn’t stop there. I needed more of his work. Little Star caught my attention immediately. I have this strange weakness for horror novels that involve the entertainment industry. A strange child that has a magical talent for singing and becomes some kind of monster via her fame; I knew this was the book for me.
And it didn’t disappoint. I’ll go ahead and warn those of you who like explanations for your monsters that you won’t find one here. I have lots of theories about Theres, but nothing concrete is ever given in the book. Nothing’s even truly speculated about. This book exists solely in the present. Theres’s past is not explored; none of these characters seem overly interested or worried about the future. There’s a sense of focus on the here and now that makes the strange path the two, main characters are on seem even more immediate and speedy, despite the book’s length.
This is a hefty book, speaking of. Yet I read it in two days. The cliche applies: I couldn’t put it down. Even though the prologue is actually an epilogue, I had to find out how we got there. What led to this. And the further it went, the more fascinated I became to see what would come next. This book is a perfect example of how stories aren’t about endings, they’re about the journey. The crazed, bizarre journey.
This book is incredibly character driven, and these are not likeable characters. They are engaging, interesting characters whose inner workings may repel you, but you won’t be able to look away. Most bothersome of all, if you were the sort of kid who was ostracized or picked on or didn’t quite fit in, you might even relate on some level. And when things get really dark, that’s when it will really start to get under your skin, making you question how this makes you feel, if you want to be as attached to these characters as you are. It’s a disturbing experience that got right inside me and left me feeling unlike any book has made me feel before. In short, it was Let the Right One In turned up to eleven, and only the stout of heart need apply.
Final Rating
5/5
A man finds a baby alone and dying in the woods. He gives the baby mouth-to-mouth, and when she begins to cry, a pitch perfect music note comes out. This man just so happens to be a former pop star settling into his older years, and to him this child is a miracle in the making. This being
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a horror novel, she’ll turn out to be quite the opposite.My Thoughts
Around this same time last year, I read Lindqvist’s most popular work, Let the Right One In, and it’s possibly the best vampire novel written since Salem’s Lot. Needless to say, I couldn’t stop there. I needed more of his work. Little Star caught my attention immediately. I have this strange weakness for horror novels that involve the entertainment industry. A strange child that has a magical talent for singing and becomes some kind of monster via her fame; I knew this was the book for me.
And it didn’t disappoint. I’ll go ahead and warn those of you who like explanations for your monsters that you won’t find one here. I have lots of theories about Theres, but nothing concrete is ever given in the book. Nothing’s even truly speculated about. This book exists solely in the present. Theres’s past is not explored; none of these characters seem overly interested or worried about the future. There’s a sense of focus on the here and now that makes the strange path the two, main characters are on seem even more immediate and speedy, despite the book’s length.
This is a hefty book, speaking of. Yet I read it in two days. The cliche applies: I couldn’t put it down. Even though the prologue is actually an epilogue, I had to find out how we got there. What led to this. And the further it went, the more fascinated I became to see what would come next. This book is a perfect example of how stories aren’t about endings, they’re about the journey. The crazed, bizarre journey.
This book is incredibly character driven, and these are not likeable characters. They are engaging, interesting characters whose inner workings may repel you, but you won’t be able to look away. Most bothersome of all, if you were the sort of kid who was ostracized or picked on or didn’t quite fit in, you might even relate on some level. And when things get really dark, that’s when it will really start to get under your skin, making you question how this makes you feel, if you want to be as attached to these characters as you are. It’s a disturbing experience that got right inside me and left me feeling unlike any book has made me feel before. In short, it was Let the Right One In turned up to eleven, and only the stout of heart need apply.
Final Rating
5/5
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LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
A very strong start! The mystery baby, the music, the hiding. Then, Teresa's story, which slowed things down. Then the girls together, which results in actions, and an ending, that seem too far fetched, at least for me. Strange happenings in these pages.
LibraryThing member Violetthedwarf
I really should have liked this. I love horror books that explore the dark and vicious corners of female experience. I loved all the previous Lindqvist books I read.
But I struggled with this one. I kept putting it down and reading other books.
My main problems with it were these:
- Lindqvist works
- The writing was much more clumsy than I have come to expect. It may have been a poor translation. But there was far too much telling and repetition for my tastes.
I still finished it, but I thought it could have been better.
But I struggled with this one. I kept putting it down and reading other books.
My main problems with it were these:
- Lindqvist works
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very hard to capture the thoughts and experiences of outcast girls, and mostly does well, but at the most important times it doesn't ring true.- The writing was much more clumsy than I have come to expect. It may have been a poor translation. But there was far too much telling and repetition for my tastes.
I still finished it, but I thought it could have been better.
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LibraryThing member Violetthedwarf
I really should have liked this. I love horror books that explore the dark and vicious corners of female experience. I loved all the previous Lindqvist books I read.
But I struggled with this one. I kept putting it down and reading other books.
My main problems with it were these:
- Lindqvist works
- The writing was much more clumsy than I have come to expect. It may have been a poor translation. But there was far too much telling and repetition for my tastes.
I still finished it, but I thought it could have been better.
But I struggled with this one. I kept putting it down and reading other books.
My main problems with it were these:
- Lindqvist works
Show More
very hard to capture the thoughts and experiences of outcast girls, and mostly does well, but at the most important times it doesn't ring true.- The writing was much more clumsy than I have come to expect. It may have been a poor translation. But there was far too much telling and repetition for my tastes.
I still finished it, but I thought it could have been better.
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LibraryThing member figre
At some point you have to give up on authors. You saw something, you enjoyed their work, you hoped for more. But then you try and you try again and it isn't there. And then there will be that work that lets you know "Give it up. Life's too short and whatever you saw before isn't going to happen
Little Star represents the end of my struggles with John Ajvide Lindqvist.
It all started so well with Let Me In. The movies were good, but the book was excellent. His strange turn on vampirism and the way he intertwined it with the young people who were the focus of the book were masterful – taking a worn out cliché (vampires) and giving it something new. I took a stab at his next book, Handling the Undead. Not so much this time. His take on zombies (another overly used trope that could stand some refreshing) did nothing but rehash the stories that have been heard before.
And now it all comes to an end because Little Star is nothing more than a disturbing story full of people with whom we have no sympathy, unmotivated actions, and somewhat sick and twisted scenes that seem to exist simply because they are somewhat sick and twisted.
Right off the bat the people are unlikeable. We are introduced to a couple who were almost rock stars in the 70s. It takes all of 18 of the 530+ pages before he slaps her. And something in the way Lindqvist writes it makes us feel that, well, it may not have been deserved, but it was just the way these two interact. They are only secondary characters, but it points to the way Lindqvist treats everyone in the book. Warts and all is fine, but give me more humanity behind the inhumanity. (Sorry, inhumanity overstates it. But for every piece of half-decency explored or exhibited, there seems to be an overabundance of wrongness.)
The crux of this story is actually the small child saved by Lennart – the "gentleman" discussed above. At six months, she has a pure singing voice and, while everything else is stunted, her voice builds to something great. This exploration of her development and the unusual skill that arises are the best part of the book – an interesting premise that Lindqvist starts to do interesting things with.
But then, as if it is time to turn a switch (we're on page 137 and no blood has been spilled yet) murder and death arrive. Such is one of the problems with the book: It feels like Lindqvist is busily writing away when a lightbulb suddenly goes off and he thinks, "Aha, time for some more gore."
Eventually, the now-young-girl finds a somewhat kindred spirit, and they begin writing music together. And then, they develop a rather creepy following. Damaged individuals become twisted.
I will not fault Lindqvist for trying something that seems different. His attempts to lay the foundation for what occurs in the way the children are raised while still admitting they have natural flaws, and the use of music as a catalyst are interesting. However, there seems to be too much effort in making sure that the story is disturbing. It is a reach that feels false and misleading.
There is a bloodbath at the end (I don't think I give away too much with this) and it all just feels contrived, tacked on, an attempt to show for shows sake.
I'll end with the caveat that this is not a genre I read often because, when I do, it usually doesn't work for me. So, you have to take my comments with a certain grain of seasoning that works for you. But good stories transcend the genre. And this neither transcends, nor is it any good.
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again."Little Star represents the end of my struggles with John Ajvide Lindqvist.
It all started so well with Let Me In. The movies were good, but the book was excellent. His strange turn on vampirism and the way he intertwined it with the young people who were the focus of the book were masterful – taking a worn out cliché (vampires) and giving it something new. I took a stab at his next book, Handling the Undead. Not so much this time. His take on zombies (another overly used trope that could stand some refreshing) did nothing but rehash the stories that have been heard before.
And now it all comes to an end because Little Star is nothing more than a disturbing story full of people with whom we have no sympathy, unmotivated actions, and somewhat sick and twisted scenes that seem to exist simply because they are somewhat sick and twisted.
Right off the bat the people are unlikeable. We are introduced to a couple who were almost rock stars in the 70s. It takes all of 18 of the 530+ pages before he slaps her. And something in the way Lindqvist writes it makes us feel that, well, it may not have been deserved, but it was just the way these two interact. They are only secondary characters, but it points to the way Lindqvist treats everyone in the book. Warts and all is fine, but give me more humanity behind the inhumanity. (Sorry, inhumanity overstates it. But for every piece of half-decency explored or exhibited, there seems to be an overabundance of wrongness.)
The crux of this story is actually the small child saved by Lennart – the "gentleman" discussed above. At six months, she has a pure singing voice and, while everything else is stunted, her voice builds to something great. This exploration of her development and the unusual skill that arises are the best part of the book – an interesting premise that Lindqvist starts to do interesting things with.
But then, as if it is time to turn a switch (we're on page 137 and no blood has been spilled yet) murder and death arrive. Such is one of the problems with the book: It feels like Lindqvist is busily writing away when a lightbulb suddenly goes off and he thinks, "Aha, time for some more gore."
Eventually, the now-young-girl finds a somewhat kindred spirit, and they begin writing music together. And then, they develop a rather creepy following. Damaged individuals become twisted.
I will not fault Lindqvist for trying something that seems different. His attempts to lay the foundation for what occurs in the way the children are raised while still admitting they have natural flaws, and the use of music as a catalyst are interesting. However, there seems to be too much effort in making sure that the story is disturbing. It is a reach that feels false and misleading.
There is a bloodbath at the end (I don't think I give away too much with this) and it all just feels contrived, tacked on, an attempt to show for shows sake.
I'll end with the caveat that this is not a genre I read often because, when I do, it usually doesn't work for me. So, you have to take my comments with a certain grain of seasoning that works for you. But good stories transcend the genre. And this neither transcends, nor is it any good.
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LibraryThing member Alphawoman
500+ pages and I wish I could say I enjoyed it. Maybe the "horror " genre is not my thing.
School is so different now. Cell phones, the Internet, yadda yadda yadda. Life may have been simpler but no less complicated. Just people are much more hardened for lack of a better word.
The good: writing
The bad: not so nice and likeable characters.
The ugly: please hide the electric drill.
School is so different now. Cell phones, the Internet, yadda yadda yadda. Life may have been simpler but no less complicated. Just people are much more hardened for lack of a better word.
The good: writing
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keeps you engaged with the characters. The bad: not so nice and likeable characters.
The ugly: please hide the electric drill.
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Language
Original language
Swedish
Physical description
490 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
9788763820783
Local notes
Omslag: Jens Magnusson
Omslaget viser et nærbillede af en lille pige
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra svensk "Lilla stjärna" af Jesper Klint Kistorp
Omslaget viser et nærbillede af en lille pige
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra svensk "Lilla stjärna" af Jesper Klint Kistorp
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Pages
490
DDC/MDS
| 839.73 |