I have been reading, Let the Right One In, a superior book about a vampire in the form of a 12 year old girl. Yet it is not about vampire, even there are many grotesque scenes of horror.

As I neared the end, I realized that it is mostly about the pains and some joys of emerging into adulthood. The characters are deeply changed and deeply felt. It is an amazing book which relies on some of the major themes of twenty century literature, especially the conflict between life and death, fear of sexuality and many other things that a boy or a girl would encounter while growing up.

Have anyone read this amazing book? It is better than the movie which is not really faithful to the plot of the book.

No, but I may decide to read the book thanks to your description of it.

After begrudging the movie, I realized that it must be difficult to make a movie about a book since it only relys on sounds and sights. The third to last scene of the movie in which the horror was unleashed was masterfully done, and I should have been more open minded about that. You should all check out the near end, the pool scene in which Eli makes his or her move on the bullies. It is very comical and at the same time, terrifying.

I'm not one for horror and gruesome images, but it does indeed sound like a good book/movie. The funny thing is, It seems like I have seen the beginning of the movie before, but I am not sure about it. I'll be sure to look into the book, as you made it sound pretty cool .

Typically I've found that movies cannot capture the true meaning and plot behind a well-placed book. Take, for example, Harry Potter. There is an abundant amount of mis-placed parts, as well as excluded parts that, when you read the book, seem utmost important. I enjoy movies solely because they enhance your visionary of the characters, and most of the large scenes of the book.

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"Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery; but today is a gift. That is why they call it the Present."

while i shouldn't be surprised that the movie (that i'd heard of) was a book first (which i hadn't heard of until now.) you're right, patrick: books and films are entirely different media, and a film is beholden to a much more rigid formula, IMO. plot points, three act structure, amalgamated characters, etc. i haven't watched the film yet, and am wondering if i ought to invest some time in the book instead. is it really worth it??

Read the book first. The movie, while worthwhile watching, will influence the images in your head, making the characters look like actors who play them, no matter how excellent they are. Then watch the movie. The ending alone at the pool scene is very, very, very, masterfully done! Comical and terrifying.

thanks, patrick - i appreciate it! i'll give the book a read.

I am curious to see if any one of you recalled the difference between the scene in the end of the book when Eli makes his/her attack and the scene in the movie. I felt the movie scene was masterfully done for the scene that the author purposely left out of the book and relies on the reader's imagination on what a fierce vampire she/he is. The same thing that I can recall was Lord of the Ring when King Aragon makes his move against the Nines. The passage in that describes King Aragon leaping from the darkness, with wood and sword in either hand before Frodo passes out in the midst of furious fighting while the movie shows the awesome scene of the king handing the Nines, their asses.

sounds interesting....

I did love this book when I read it. I was disappointed when I watched the movie afterwards. I watched the original swedish version of the movie as was told that the English version had massacred the plot. The former left out what was one of the most central story strands of the novel.
I thought the theme of sexuality excellently addressed through the protagonists and individual identity. The friendship i did consider to be touching and I did have that sense of spurring on revenge against the bullies.

In regards to that final attack scene, I do think the movie worked well but I am still a classicist in terms of believing that the imagination can bestow much more horror than the portrayal on screen and thought it had been an intelligent move of the author to have omitted that from the novel.