#John Ajvide Lindquist

[mycupofstars]

17, 21, 26!

Thank you!

17. A book you’re currently reading

I'm reading Neon Yang's The Genesis of Misery for my book club and it's soooooo good highly recommend queer NB Joan of Arc in post-apocalyptic space. I'm also nearly finished with John Ajvide Lindquist's Harbor which is good but sad and also very Swedish.

21. What colour would you like to dye your hair

I used to dye my hair so much in high school I miss it. Probably if I did it again like a mix of blue and green and teal like really mermaidy.

26. If you could be doing anything you like right now, what would you do?

Already answered this once with how I'm spending my Sunday, this time I will answer less realistically and say I would be in Paris or Prague or wherever spying on S2 filming >.>

[freddiespencerchapman]

Cool vampire books with more sex less violence that I recommend

[a list for @blogbunnyrabbit​] [queer edition]

Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu (lesbian vampire)

The Vampyre - John William Polidori (available via project gutenberg, based on lord byron)

Certain Dark Things - Silvia Moreno Garcia (Mexico City vampire gangs, cops, and the police collide. probably more violence.)

Dracula (get the annotated version for maximum gay subtext. Note the heavy breathing and emissions)

Master of the Universe by IceQueenSnowDragon (many of you know this as fifty shades of grey: this is the origin story)

Interview With A Vampire (also gay, Southern Gothic, angst, child vampires)

Morganville series- Rachel Caine (I really only recommend books 1-8 but book two does have iffy consent if I remember right. Genius Claire moves to small town Texas and discovers the town is run by Vampires.)

Anno Dracula - Kim Newman (the greatest vampire mashup. Genevieve is a senior vampire and tracking down Jack the Ripper in an alternate history. Violence.)

The Historian - Elizaeth Kostova (slow burn featuring vampires and a mystery.) 

Let The Right One In - John Ajvide Lindquist (very violent but gender neutral vampire. Bullied child Oskar meets Eli, a girl who only comes out at night and looks and smells filthy. tw attempted rape, violence, murder, bullying)

Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

The Quick - Lauren Owen ( do not read if you hate WIPs, more victorian vampires, also queer)

[wishmachines]

sorted alphabetically by first name dates are when I began and finished reading

currently reading Arkady Martine, A Memory Called Empire [28.12.2020 —] Marlon James, Black Leopard, Red Wolf [28.12.2020 —]

on pause

Andri Snær Magnason, LoveStar Becky Chambers, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Italo Calvino, The Castle of Crossed Destinies, translated by William Weaver Michel Faber, The Book of Strange New Things

finished

Angélica Gorodischer, Kalpa Imperial, translated by Ursula K. Le Guin [18 — 26.12.20] Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic, translated by Olena Bormashenko Asja Bakić, Mars: Stories, translated by Jennifer Zoble [11 — 1.12.20] Cormac McCarthy, The Road [26 — 29.12.2020] Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, translated by William Weaver [20.11.20 — 9.12.20] Italo Calvino, The Nonexistent Knight, translated by Achiblad Colquhoun Jeanette Winterson, The Stone Gods Lidia Yuknavitch, The Book of Joan [4.12.20] Lord Dunsany, The Book of Wonder [14.11.20] Marie Darrieussecq, Our Life in the Forest, translated by Penny Hueston [28.12.2020] Rodrigo Fresán, The Bottom of the Sky, translated by Will Vanderhyden [20 — 23.12.20] Stanisław Lem, Solaris, translated by Bill Johnston [21 — 24.11.20] Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed [24 — 26.11.20]

to read

Alejandro Jodorowski Aleksandar Tesic, Kosingas: The Order of the Dragon Alex Dally MacFarlane, Feed Me the Bones of Our Saints Andrus Kivirähk, The Man Who Spoke Snakish *Angélica Gorodischer, Trafalgar Anjali Sachdeva, All the Names They Used For God Anna Kavan, Ice Annalee Newitz, Autonomous Annalee Newitz, The Future of Another Timeline Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Hard To Be A God Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Noon: 22nd Century A.S. Byatt, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few Berit Ellingsen, Not Dark Yet Beth Plutchak, Liminal Spaces Carmen Boullosa, Heavens on Earth Carol Emshwiller, Carmen Dog Carolyn Ives Gilman, Dark Orbit Catherynne M. Valente, Six-Gun Snow White Catherynne M. Valente, Space Opera Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making Catherynne M. Valente, The Habitation of the Blessed Charles Yu, How To live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe Charlie Jane Anders, All the Birds in the Sky Charlie Jane Anders, The City in the Middle of the Night Christina M. Rau, Liberating he Astronauts Cixin Lui, The Three-Body Problem Dan Simmons, The Hyperion Cantos Daniel Kehlmann, Tyll Daniel Mallory Ortberg, The Merry Spinster Eleanor Arnason, Hwarhath Stories: Transgressive Tales by Aliens Ellen Kushner, Riverside Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven Guido Morselli, Dissipatio H.G.: The Vanishing Herbert Rosendorfer, The Architect of Ruins, translated by Mike Mitchell *Iain M. Banks, Consider Phlebas Ian McDonald, Luna: Wolf Moon Isaac Asimov, Foundation James Blish, Cities in Flight Jan Morris, Hav *Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation Jeff VanderMeer, Authority Jeff VanderMeer, Acceptance Jeff VanderMeer, The Compass of His Bones and Other Stories Johanna Sinisalo, Troll: A Love Story Joe Haldeman, The Forever War John Conolly, The Book of Lost Things John Keene, Counternarratives Kameron Hurley, The Stars Are Legion 
*Kazuo Ishiguro, The Buried Giant Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go Leigh Brackett, The Big Jump Linda Nagata, Vast Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honor *Lola Robles, Monteverde: Memoirs of an Interstellar Linguist, translated by Lawrence Schimel L. Timmel Duchamp, Love’s Body, Dancing in Time L. Timmel Duchamp, Alanya to Alanya Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake Marlen Haushofer, The Wall Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast Olga Tokarczuk, Primeval and Other Times Olga Tokarczuk, House of Day, House of Night *Patricia A. McKillip, In the Forests of Serre Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn Samuel R. Delaney, Nova Samuel R. Delany, Babel-17 Samuel R. Delaney, Return to Nevèrÿon Samuel R. Delany, They Fly At Ciron Sergey & Maria Dyachenko, The Scar Sergey & Maria Dyachenko, Vita Nostra Seth Dickinson, The Monster Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson, The Traitor Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant Sjón, Codex 1962 Sofia Samatar, The Winged Histories
 Stanisław Lem, His Master’s Voice Stanisław Lem, Return from the Stars Stanisław Lem, The Cyberiad Stanisław Lem, The Star Diaries Tanith Lee, Space Is Just a Starry Night Tatyana Tolstaya, The Slynx Vladimir Sorokin, The Ice Triology Vonda N. McIntyre, Dreamsnake Yoss, Condomnauts, translated by David Frye Yoss, Red Dust, translated by David Frye Zoran Zivkovic, The Library

**

Anja Sachdeva, All the Names They Used For God Anna Kavan, Machines in the Head: Selected Stories
 Catherynne M. Valente, The Bread We Eat in Dreams Diana Wynne Jones, Believing is Seeing Emma Donoghue, Kissing the Witch Italo Calvino, The Complete Cosmicomics John Ajvide Lindquist, Let The Old Dream Die and Other Stories *Kanishk Tharoor, Swimmer Among the Stars Karen Russell, Saint Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised by Wolves Karin Tidbeck, Jagannath: Stories Kelly Link, Monstrous Affections Kelly Link, Stranger Things Happen Leena Krohn, Collected Fiction (translated by various) Leigh Brackett, Sea-Kings of Mars Peg Alford Pursell, A Girl Goes Into the Forest Tatyana Tolstaya, Aetherial Worlds
 Ted Chiang, Exhalation Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others

** Desirina Boskovich (editor), It Came from the North: An Anthology of Finnish Speculative Fiction Eugenio Lisboa and Helder Macedo (editors), The Dedalus Book of Portguese Fantasy Eric Dickens (editor), The Dedalus Book of Flemish Fantasy Johanna Sinisalo (editor), The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy Margaret Jull Costa and Annella McDermott (editors), The Dedalus Book of Spanish Fantasy Mike Mitchell (editor), The Dedalus Book of Austrian Fantasy: 1890-2000 David Connolly (editor), The Dedalus Book of Greek Fantasy Richard Huijing (editor), The Dedalus Book of Dutch Fantasy Yvonne Howell (editor), Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction

[falling-through-lost-spaces]

Books Owned But Unread

Fiction:

Joe Hill - The Fireman

Patricia Highsmith - The Talented Mr Ripley

Emma Cline - Girls

Kirsty Logan - The Gracekeepers

Seth Patrick - Lost Souls

Slyvain Neuval - Waking Gods

Mark Z. Danielewski - The Familiar Vol 1

Graeme Macrae Burnet - His Bloody Project

Austin Wright - Tony & Susan

Patricia Highsmith - Carol

Darcie Wilder - Literally Show Me A Healthy Person

Tracy Chevalier - New Boy

Andy Weir - Artemis

Michelle Paver - Dark Matter

Robert Daws - The Posisoned Rock

Laura Lam - False Hearts

Italo Calvino - If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler

Megan Bradbury - Everyone Is Watching

Sunil Yapa - Your Heart Is A Muscle the Size of A Fist

George R.R. Martin - A Clash of Kings

Sarah Moss - The Tidal Zone

Matthew Blakstad - Lucky Ghost

Toni Morrison - Tar Baby

Jeff Vandermeer - Annihilation

Colson Whitehead - Zone One

Kathy Reichs - Death Du Jour

Ann Cleeves - The Crow Trap

Ward Moore - Bring the Jubilee

Lisa McInerney - The Glorious Heresies

Chuck Palahniuk - Haunted

Michael Crichton - State of Fear

Neil Gaiman - How the Marguis Got His Coat Back

Agatha Christie - The Double Clue

James Patterson - NYPD Red 2

Maud Pember Reeves - Round About A Pound A Week

Paul Torday - Salmon Fishing In the Yemen

Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Daniel H Wilson - Robopocalypse

Yann Martel - Life of Pi

David Wong - John Dies At the End

Lauren Weisberger - The Devil Wears Prada

James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man

John Ajvide Lindquist - Let the Right One In

Gregory Maguire - Wicked

Richard Yates - Revolutionary Road

Paul Beatty - The Sellout

Jane Shemilt - Daughter

Jane Isaac - The Truth Will Out

Karin Slaughter - Genesis

S.K. Tremayne - The Fire Child

Isaac Marion - The Burning World

Adrien Bosc - Constellation

Laura Power - Air-Born

Laura Power - Earth-Bound

Keith DeCandido - House of Cards

Wayne Simmons - Flu

Harper Lee - Go Set A Watchman

Dean Koontz - The City

Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre

Ali Smith - The Accidental

John Burnside - Glister

Lauren Owen - The Quick

Tom McCarthy - Satin Island

Dave Eggers - The Circle

Donna Tartt - The Secret History

Robert Harris - The Ghost

Michel Faber - The Fire Gospel

Michel Faber - The Book of Strange New Things

James Patterson - Pop Goes the Weasel

Jeff Lindsay - Dexter’s Final Cut

Gaston Leroux - The Phantom of the Opera

Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen

Sinclair Lewis - It Can’t Happen Here

Kurt Vonnegut - Cat’s Cradle

Joseph Heller - Catch 22

Mark Twain - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Bram Stoker - Dracula

Cory Doctorow - Makers

YA/Children's Fiction:

A.S. King - Still Life With Tornado

Patrick Ness - More Than This

Andrew Smith - Stand Off

Andrew Smith - The Alex Crow

Johan Harstad - 172 Hours on the Moon

Ernest Cline - Ready Player One

Tommy Wallach - We All Looked Up

Karen Thompson Walker - The Age of Miracles

Tess Sharpe - Far From You

Leila Sales - This Song Will Save Your Life

Darragh McManus - Shiver the Whole Night Through

Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Laura Lam - Pantomime

Laura Lam - Shadowplay

Cassandra Clare - The Bane Chronicles

Cassandra Clare - Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy

Cassandra Clare - The Shadowhunters Codex

Cassandra Clare - Lady Midnight

Cassandra Clare - Lord of Shadows

Andrew Smith - 100 Sideways Miles

Karen Nesbitt - Subject To Change

Anna Day - The Fandom

Brendan Reichs - Nemesis

Chinelo Okparanta - Under the Udala Trees

Nina LaCour - We Are Okay

Sarah Alexander - The Art of Not Breathing

Liz Kessler - Read Me Like A Book

Lisa Williamson - The Art of Being Normal

Laurie Halse Anderson - Wintergirls

Marie Lu - Legend

Eve Ainsworth - 7 Days

Lesley Walton - The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

Malinda Lo - Ash

Larry Duplechan - Blackbird

Makina Lucier - A Death Struck Year

James Patterson - Witch & Wizard

Jandy Nelson - I’ll Give You the Sun

Nick Burd - The Vast Fields of Ordinary

Libba Bray - Beauty Queens

Jack Cheng - See You In the Cosmos

Jennifer Niven - Holding Up the Universe

Becky Albertalli - The Upside of Unrequieted

Lauren Oliver - Replica

Ken Catran - Deepwater Black

Will McIntosh - Burning Midnight

Tahereh Mafi - Shatter Me

Libba Bray - The Diviners

Emily M Danforth - The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Carolyn Jess-Cooke - The Boy Who Could See Demons

Bali Rai - Killing Honour

Gayle Forman - If I Stay

Andre Aciman - Call Me By Your Name

E. Lockhart - We Were Liars

Katie Coyle - Vivian Versus the Apocalypse

Leah Thomas - Because You’ll Never Meet Me

David Arnold - Mosquitoland

Laure Eve - The Graces

Lisa Heathfield - Paper Butterflies

Ransom Riggs - Hollow City

Em Bailey - Shift

Francesca Haig - The Map of Bones

Rainbow Rowell - Carry On

Bryony Pearce - Phoenix Rising

Lou Morgan - Sleepless

Graham Marks - Bad Bones

Jess Vallence - Birdy

Teri Terry - Slated

Non-Fiction:

Brian Cox - Human Universe

D’Arcy Jenish - The NHL: A Centennial History

Greg Oliver - Don’t Call Me Goon

Andrew Hodges - Alan Turing: The Enigma

Susan Cain - Quiet: The Power of Introverts

Carl Sagan - Cosmos

Rebecca Skloot - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Brian Cox - E = mc“?

Stacey Schiff - The Witches

Julian Sayarer - Interstate

404 Ink - Nasty Women

Lynn Povich - The Good Girls Revolt

Michael Finkel - The Stranger In the Woods

Kent Russell - I Am Sorry To Think That I Have Raised A Timid Son

Luke Harding - Snowden

Mary Roach - Stiff

Yuval Noah Harari - Homo Deus

Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent

Naomi Klein - No Is Not Enough

Dave Cullen - Columbine

Ian Nathan - Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts

Bob McCabe - Harry Potter Page To Screen

Adharanand Finn - Running With the Kenyans

Aurellien Ferenczi - Masters of Cinema: Tim Burton

Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner - Think Like A Freak

Olivia Lang - The Lonely City

Michelle Tea - The Chelsea Whistle

Simon  Singh - Big Bang

Tristan Taormino - The Feminist Porn Book

Kurt Vonnegut - A Man Without A Country

Nick Frost - Truths, Half Truths & Little White Lies

Russell Brand - Revolution

Robert M Pirsig - Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Francis Spufford - The Child That Books Built

Dominic Hibberd - Wilfred Owen

George Vecsey - Baseball

Richard Wiseman - Paranormality

Neil Gaiman - Adventures In the Dream Trade

Nicola Field - Over the Rainbow

Jaclyn Friedman & Jessica Valenti - Yes Means Yes

Elizabeth Kolbert - The Sixth Extinction

Eddie Izzard - Dress To Kill

Stephen Smith - Underground London

Plays/Poetry/Short Story Collections:

Tom Hanks - Uncommon Type

Joe Hill - Strange Weather

Dean Atta - I Am Nobody’s N*****

Amerlle - Because You Love To Hate Me

Roxanne Gay - Difficult Women

Mark Gatiss - Queers: Eight Monologues

Graphic Novels/Manga:

Tsugumi Ohba - Death Note Vol 6

Tsugumi Ohba - Death Note Vol 7

Tsugumi Ohba - Death Note Vol 8

[karthik82]

Let the Right One In (2008) Directed by Tomas Alfredson I had been meaning to watch this movie for quite some time, and got to see it as part of the Cinephiles Film Club's Swedish Retrospective, last month. Last week, CFC also held a panel discussion on the Swedish movies watched in June, of which I was a part. I discussed this movie and gave my analysis of it. Some of those points are spoilers, but I still want to cover them here. So, I'll move them to the first comment on this post (if you are reading this elsewhere, on Facebook for example, you can come to Instagram and see the comment). The movie is an adaptation of the book by John Ajvide Lindquist (who also wrote the screenplay). It's about the relationship between the lonely 12 year old Oskar and a girl Eli, who moves in next door. The exact nature of what Eli is considered a spoiler by some, so I won't mention it here. Suffice to say she is different, and lonely in her own way, so the two find a connection. The movie was very well made. It had a relatively slow pace, and was very subtle. Nothing called attention to itself (sound, music, violence, drama), except when it needed to, which made it more effective. I loved the cinematography (Hoyte Van Hoytema, "Interstellar" and Alfredson's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"), the movie had a clean look and lovely visuals. I really liked the movie and would rate it an 8/10. I intend to watch the remake "Let Me In" as well. This is a sketch of Eli from the movie, from a particular scene that I discussed during my talk on the movie (details again, in the first comment). I believe it's one of the important scenes in the movie as it reflects many of the themes, and was very well crafted. The sketch was done with pencil and a red colour pencil, and scanned. #273 / 12-Jul-17 (at Marredpally)

[ralekhou]

Jag råkade tänka på Ajvides "Himmelstrand" i två sekunder och nu har jag ont någonstans på insidan av bröstkorgen. :(((((((

[lopezsantanamarie]

30 Day Reading Challenge- Day 1

Day 1- Best Book I read this year

I'll go with "best book I read that I hadn't read before." And I can't narrow it down, so I have three.

Last Bridge by Teri Coyne- an alcoholic young woman comes back to her childhood home after her mother commits suicide, leaving a note addressed to her reading "He's not who you think he is."  this was seriously depressing at first because the narrator, Cat/Alex, has had a sincerely horrendous life and as an adult is struggling from the fallout, but it was realistically written and she does ultimately manage to find contentment. 

The Radleys by Matt Haig- Helen and Peter are your average British couple- except that they're hiding from the world and their children that they are actually abstaining vampires. When their daughter loses control and attacks a boy, not understanding who she is, their world is shot. not at all your typical "our family is a pack of vampires" book. It's an adult book, for one, and it's written with with and style and makes a lot of social commentary. It's more about a normal family who just happens to also be secret vampires. I loved it. 

Little Star by John Ajvide Lindquist- a baby is discovered in the woods capable of singing on perfect pitch, and the man who finds her takes her home with him, locks her in the basement, and continues to teach her while isolating her from the world. What happens when she grows up is quite disturbing. 

creepy and unsettling, like an odd fairy tale traffic jam where you see what's coming and keep holding your breath until it finally happens. I loved Theres, as very odd and disturbing as she was.

[fountains-and-fluorescent-l-blog]

Who can say what is just a mire of dark needs and desires, and what is true love? Does such a thing exist? Can't it be that if we say, 'I love you' to another person and know that we mean it, then that is love, regardless of the motive?

Harbor, John Ajvide Lindquist, Page 446

[heartandthesoul]

Omg they are gonna make a movie of Handling the Undead! *flail*

If they handle it as well as Let the right one in it's going to be amazing!

Then hopefully they'll do Harbour as well, it's my favorite Ajvide Lindquist novel

[markhaa-blog]

Let The Right One In: John Ajvide Lindquist

I confess I saw the film (US version) before the book, so some of the elements weren't a surprise. Although, the book is obviously the source of the surprising way Lindquist uses all the stock elements of the vampire myth and re-casts them in a very non-traditional manner.

The seediness and grubbiness of the culture in which the characters live wasn't captured in the film. (Or maybe I just can't understand American suburbia.) The subculture of all the alcoholics is really well done in the book, I think.

In the US film, the whole paedophilia, castrated boy vibe was completely missed out.

Other notable things:

Lindquist is happy to devote a lot of time to very minor characters. But this means when they meet the horror it makes it more painful. When the characters carry their own subplot the results can be very affecting, such as the Veronica/ Lacke relationship.

Brilliant on the horrors of being a schoolchild.

Slightly unremitting in that there doesn't seem to be a single parent or guardian who isn't absolutely useless at it. (Mainly, the men, but the mothers too.)

It had all these real strengths (Lindquist can bloody well write!) but I suppose I felt it lacked depth in that:

1. the evil characters weren't really evil, they were just possessed with the vampire-virus-sub brain. (Possibly the real evil character was the aristo who infected Eli -- that the scene of the children's meal is the horrific memory that stays in my mind the most rather proves the point) 

2. The grubbiness and child's viewpoint took away the attractive (sometimes uncomfortably attractive) elements of the vampire. The sex, control, eternal life, debauched-aristo-with-nothing-better-to-do stuff that gives, even the non-glamorous ones an attraction.) A call to the reader's own temptations.

I guess point 2 was done specifically to be anti-Twilight. And yet, by taking out those elements the vampire just becomes another variant on a zombie.

Perhaps the vampire myth is fucked.