Thoughts about Let The Old Dreams Die !!!SPOILERS!!!

[N.R. Gasan]

The way John wrote this story is so kewl. The ending allows for as many interpretations as did the ending of LTROI. John, if you're reading this (and even if your not), you really did your fans a great service with this story. Obviously, a lot of thought went into not only the storyline itself, but how it is presented to the reader.

I'm really looking forward to buying the collection LET THE OLD DREAMS DIE, not only to read the official translation but to also see how many of the other stories in the book stack up to "Let The OId Dreams Die"; are they as open to interpretation and discussion as this one (as well as the novels)?

[EEA]

Well I don't think that Oskar and Eli would ask Karin and Stefan to join them. Stefan and Karin just want to enjoy their love to the fullest and thats why they live for one another. Oskar and Eli like them want to be left alone and be together.

[Ash]

I thought their plan was to not necessarily join then, but just to be turned so they could spend eternity together. I gather vampires aren't very gregarious and wouldn't want to live in a "clan" with others. Nor do I think an elderly couple would like to live with a couple of 12 year olds, or vice versa.

[TΛPETRVE]

Have you ever eaten too much candy? Do you remember how it doesn't really taste that good anymore when you do?

Even worse, it makes your teeth hurt, after a while. And I wouldn't want to be an infected with a toothache.

[a_contemplative_life]

I liked the way that Oskar & Eli's story was gradually revealed, almost in stages, throughout the story. A wonderful construction that coincided with the advancement in age of Karin and Stefan. I found the structure of the story interesting in this regard.

[covenant6452]

Eli didn't bite Oskar.

No she didn't, but what is your point? Are you quoting something or someone?

Sorry for being so crytpic. It was a response to the suggestion that the young vampires would not turn the oldies because of the taste of Stephan's blood, cancer flavoured and laced with morphine as it is. I was simply pointing out that tasting is not a requirement.

Ahhh, now I see. Sorry, I just didn't get what your statement was referring to, but now, with further exposition...I do!
Thank you.

[drakkar]

I liked the way that Oskar & Eli's story was gradually revealed, almost in stages, throughout the story. A wonderful construction that coincided with the advancement in age of Karin and Stefan. I found the structure of the story interesting in this regard.

I was reading LtODD to my wife on the plane last sunday. Afterwards I begun to think of the narrator as the Oskar who never left Blackeberg, while Stefan is the Oskar who eventually did. Not only the persons seems similar to me, but the narrator also has his ticket checked at the morning train to Karlstad. However he continues to Oslo, watches "The Kiss" and "Vampyr", and then returns to Blackeberg, still living there when the story ends.

[rgh]

I liked the way that Oskar & Eli's story was gradually revealed, almost in stages, throughout the story. A wonderful construction that coincided with the advancement in age of Karin and Stefan. I found the structure of the story interesting in this regard.

I was reading LtODD to my wife on the plane last sunday. Afterwards I begun to think of the narrator as the Oskar who never left Blackeberg, while Stefan is the Oskar who eventually did. Not only the persons seems similar to me, but the narrator also has his ticket checked at the morning train to Karlstad. However he continues to Oslo, watches "The Kiss" and "Vampyr", and then returns to Blackeberg, still living there when the story ends.

Interesting take on it. I hadn't thought of that.

[drakkar]

An interesting question raised by LTODD is what motivated Oskar to change his mind about being turned from the end of the LDRKI. I would posit the pool incident and Eli saving his life.

I believe Oskar didn't fully grasp how much ELi meant to him - and vice versa - until their parting kiss below Eli's balcony. After this, Oskar seems so distanced from everything, as if nothing really matters anymore.
After the subway incident, when Eli asks if Oskar want to become like him, Oskar answers

"No. I would like to be with you, but..."

But what?
- Wasn't Oskar quite pushed over the edge yet, the pool incident making the last push?
- If given time, had Oskar been ready to accept the offer if it had come after the parting kiss?
- In retrospection: Could it even be that Oskar realised he would have problems coping with the freezing cold winter together with Eli? An Eli being impervious to cold? That they might need the help of another adult like Håkan to get through it?. Not tempting. If that was the case, Oskar already back then might have made up his mind about going with Eli also meant becoming a vampire.

[crazychristina]

In going with Eli Oskar had completely rejected society and normal life. Hardly surprising, given how society had rejected him. I see the bullies not as personal enemies but as representatives of society as a whole, there would always be those who treated Oskar like that, and precious few, if any, to support him. I believe that on the train he realized that he had indeed burned his bridges, and so he embraced the alternative.