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

[drakkar]

The immediate thought I had was that they were going in order to try and find Eli and Oskar to ask them to turn Stefan to keep him from dying.

Mine too.
A bit earlier in the story the now mortally ill Stefan ( ) tells the narrator that death isn't the worst, the worst thing is that all your dreams also are going to die. And then at last the narrator receives the postcard from the airport saying "Let the Old Dreams Die, we're dreaming new ones." (wasn't it like this? Must listen to it again - the paperback still is on its way). Karin was rather obsessed with the Oskar Eriksson case and Stefan had nothing to lose.
So yes, they obviously went searching for Oskar and Eli, but even if my first (and still most of) my thoughts is that they wanted to become infected, but it is also a possibility they wanted to meet them and die. They were never found, which could indicate that they met with Eli and Oskar one way or another.
Man, how I love this story!

[covenant6452]

Pheeew, I finally managed to find the book in a book store (Bokskotten in case anyone's interested) yesterday, so now I didn't have to resist the urge to read this thread any longer

I couldn't resist AT ALL! Not one bit!
So you finally got the book?! Eeeeexcellent, Smithers! Eeexcellent!
Just one week too late though, for me to get the bedtime story of a lifetime. Forget Dr. Seuss, I wanted a Lindqvist!
Oh well, they say patience is a virtue...NOT!

[covenant6452]

Somehow I don't think Eli would be all that happy to share her vampirism with anyone else other than Oskar. He was a special case, true love and all that considered.

[moonvibe34]

Somehow I don't think Eli would be all that happy to share her vampirism with anyone else other than Oskar. He was a special case, true love and all that considered.

Agreed, although a couple of indebted and infected adults could have their uses.

[danielma]

Well I finally gave into temptation and read the spoilers

First of all. I am kind of glad that Elias did turn him. But on the other hand, I'm almost a little disapointed...not in a bad way...from every spoiler I've read here, it just makes me want to read this Epilouge all that much more.

So on one hand I'm happy Oskar became one of the infected (if you will). But at the same time almost a little disapointed. Let me explain...One of the aspects I loved about LTROI was that it never quite went the direction I expected it too. Whilst reading I truly believed that it would end with Oskar being turned...so Imagine my surprise when I read the line of

"Would you like to become like me"
"No I would like to be with you"

First time reading LTROI I truly thought Elias would turn him, I truly thought that was where it was going, which was a great surprise that JAL didn't take it in that route. And actually it became one of the strongest aspects of the relationship to me. That Oskar just wanted to be with Elias. (which is still obviously there, just because Oskar takes the infection doesn't cheapen that in anyways, just to clarify what I mean)

Although on the other hand, and in the back of my mind. I always had a feeling that Oskar would take the infection eventually down the line as he grew a little older. Sort of goes into my own "follow up story" that I devised in mind after reading LTROI. I didn't think it would happen so soon as to after the train ride out of Blackeberg...i thought it might have been a few years removed from the events at Blackeberg...but I did have the feeling he would eventually take the infection.

My own personal take was actually that it would be a struggle for the both of them to survive. That they would live as street kids (if you will) and that it would become a struggle for survival on both of their behalfs...I always kind of thought Oskar would turn eventually but I thought it would come as he got slightly older (like maybe a year or two)...I would explain further but then I would be here all day posting...and one day I plan to write my own take on an ending so yeah i'll leave it for then.


But anyways, skip to the end...reading the spoilers has just made me more excited to get my hands on a translated copy of the Epilouge. From the spoilers I've read here I do like the sounds of it

[intrige]

I allready knew that Oskar would let him self get turned when I got to lisen to the last part of LTODD. But when you say that JAL doesn't write in the direction we all didn't expect. Well, who expected that Oskar would bons with Eli that soon? So, in a way, he did wirte something we didn't expect I like that they to a blood bond, and not, I'l bite your wrist, or neck.. Kidn of thing. It's cute .. "Let's finnish off what we started".. If I am ver going to write a fanfic. I'l write about that moment from Oskar or Elis point of view. Their feelings, theyr faces. Theirs: "There, then we are going to be together forever.." (Eli doesn't say that in LTRDD, I just made that up.) But I can inagine Eli say something like that. And then Oskar: "A new start, a new life." or something simelar. Reraly, it is.. For both of them..

[rgh]

Obviously, the length of the train ride was all the time Oskar needed to conclude that the only way he and Eli could really be together was to mix and for him to becoime infected. He already knew he wanted to be with Eli in LTROI, he just figured out what it required sooner than I would have thought. It is a shame that they are handled from such a distance here. Oh well, I still look forward to reading it myself.

They cannot release the English translation soon enough!

[drakkar]

First of all. I am kind of glad that Elias did turn him. But on the other hand, I'm almost a little disapointed...not in a bad way...from every spoiler I've read here, it just makes me want to read this Epilouge all that much more.

So on one hand I'm happy Oskar became one of the infected (if you will). But at the same time almost a little disapointed. Let me explain...One of the aspects I loved about LTROI was that it never quite went the direction I expected it too. Whilst reading I truly believed that it would end with Oskar being turned...so Imagine my surprise when I read the line of

"Would you like to become like me"
"No I would like to be with you"

What I've written on this board is of course not doing full justice to the story. It is much more to it - IMO it has the same magic and beauty as LtROI, even if it is short. Eli and Oskar are very distant, more like a legend, enveloped (?) by Stefan and Karin (= John and Mia) and on top of that the narrator with no name.

My own personal take was actually that it would be a struggle for the both of them to survive. That they would live as street kids (if you will) and that it would become a struggle for survival on both of their behalfs...I always kind of thought Oskar would turn eventually but I thought it would come as he got slightly older (like maybe a year or two)...I would explain further but then I would be here all day posting...and one day I plan to write my own take on an ending so yeah i'll leave it for then.

IMHO this is an important point. The two last winters has been just as hard as the one indicated in LtROI. And frankly I cannot see how Oskar and ELi could keep Oskar alive for very long. He would freeze to death pretty soon, or else he would turn himself in to the ppolice in Karlstad - say sunday at the latest, after two blistering cold nights. Or getting turned on sunday, as a last resort to be together with Eli.
Of course there are ways to keep him alive, but these solutions comes across to me as some kind of Deus Ex Machina, since no clues are given in LtROI. What JAL does in the epilogue is a direct elongation of the novel, most elegantly.

And then we are left to ponder how Oskar came to the conclusion of wanting to be turned. Was it because he really wanted it because he then could be with ELi forever, or was it because he realized he could freeze to death, and then chose to be turned in order to be with ELi. There is a slight but important differenc between these two arguments.

[editrice]

Oh, I just love to read your musings about LtODD. I'm so glad that (most of) you feel the same way about it as I did, and that I didn't mislead you in my verdict of it!

Drakkar, if you want to start your bedtime readings and haven't got the book yet, let me know - I trust you with a pdf-file!

[drakkar]

Drakkar, if you want to start your bedtime readings and haven't got the book yet, let me know - I trust you with a pdf-file!

I don't know if Covenant is still alive ,
But, I havent received the paperback yet - so yes please!

The only thing annoying me a bit is that in Karlstad I parked my car about twenty metres from the grove! And I don't normally take pictures of my car, but this time I wish I had.