Shutter Island

Pensaba que el mejor Thriller psicológico que había leído era el de Terapia de Sebastian Fitzek, pero eso era porque no había leído antes Shutter Island de Dennis Lehane.

Que pedazo de historia, que pedazo de libro y que pedazo de escritor, es que todavía estoy sin palabras, ni siquiera sé cómo hacer esta reseña, imposible decir de que va este libro porque cualquier cosa que escriba sería hacer un spoiler.

Tengo que hacer además un grande “Mea culpa” ya que había cometido el enorme error de no haber leído antes a Dennis Lehane, si este libro es una pauta para otros, creo que me espera una fiesta literaria en el futuro, creo que he leído muy pocos escritores que me hayan llevado a través de sus líneas a un punto de no show more retorno.

Sin duda Lehane no solo escribe bien, tiene una prosa magnifica, claro, pero es que además me ha llevado a una locura tal, me ha trasmitido todo lo que leía, este libro realmente me ha metido en la verdadera enfermedad mental que se respira en Shutter Island y a pesar de que había tantas cosas ahí, no pude, ni por error adivinar el final.

De verdad me faltan palabras para poder expresar lo mucho que me ha gustado e impactado este libro, el final es una verdadera genialidad, no solo es sorprendente, además es tan controlado, llevado a cabo con bisturí, impactante, cuando he leído ese final podía perfectamente imaginarme que el autor se imaginó primero ese final y a base de eso desarrollo toda su historia.

Por supuesto no había visto la película, no pude evitarlo, tuve que verla una vez que termine el libro, aunque el final está algo cambiado, nada importante realmente y por supuesto hay cosas algo diferentes, hay que decir que la película está bastante bien hecha y refleja mucho el libro, pero la cuestión aquí es que a la película le falta alma, imposible que transmita los pensamientos y sentimientos que refleja el libro.

Un thriller psicológico sin parangón, de lo mejor que he leído en mi vida en este género y obviamente me tengo que aplicar y leer todo lo que encuentre de este autor ¡Que bien escribe Lehane! show less

Shutter Island presents itself as a thriller novel with a kind of noir vibe to the story-telling. Set in the 1950s against the backdrop of the psychiatry and psychosurgery, the novel takes place in a remote location with two men relying on one another in an extreme situation. Though they are given due courtesy as U.S Marshals, it is clear from the outset that they are intruders upon the island and the environment of the hospital.

During the course of the novel, we are given glimpses into Teddy Daniels’ character in a manner that should allow the reader to infer that the story is just as much a love story as it is a crime novel. Teddy Daniels has been devastated by the death of his wife and spends just as much time remembering her in show more various ways as he does trying to solve the riddle of the missing patient.

The novel does a wonderful job of presenting you with a character who is driven, but flawed. Each moment he is not focusing on the task at hand, Teddy’s thoughts are always drawn back to Dolores and his fervent wish that her loss would just fade from him, become less sharp and immediate. But also, we are given the sense that diminishing her is the last thing he would want.

Chuck’s narrative is non-existent due to the third person limited viewpoint, but he is often in contrast to Teddy in the sense that he is charming, well liked, and easy going. He plays more of a side-kick role to Teddy as the lead in the book more than anything. This isn’t to say the character isn’t well thought out, he is. It is just that he exists only as the rock against which Teddy can break himself upon during their dialogue.

For those that have already seen the film adaption, I would recommend picking up the book anyway, as the insight into Teddy’s character seen through the immediate eyes of his loss is worth experiencing despite full knowledge of the plot. show less

The less you know the better can be truly said about this thriller that takes the reader on a stumbling journey through the battlefields of the human mind with an epic storm and setting that may well ruin a good night’s sleep. This book has been made into a movie that I confess I watched many years before ever reading he book. Personally…I liked the movie better. The story is one that is best seen to get the entire horror and hopelessness of the hospital and the dreary atmosphere surrounding the entire place. The author is a brilliant writer and manages to combine the complexities of the past and the present to create a world that stays with the reader long after the book is closed or the movie runs to credits.

The thin veil of sanity sometimes wears thin, unraveling in patches. The breach allows a clear, unfiltered line of sight from both sides. In [Shutter Island], US Marshal Teddy Daniels is having a difficult time deciphering which side of the veil he is looking from.

Daniels and his new and colorful partner, Chuck Aule, arrive on Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of an inmate from the Ashcliff Hospital for the Criminally Insane. They are trapped there when a hurricane assaults the rocky island. Every day on the island brings more paranoia and doubt to Daniels' mind. Are the doctors and staff conducting inhuman experiments on the patients? Are they drugging him in an effort to scuttle his investigation? Is there a larger show more conspiracy targeting Daniels? In the end, the answers to these questions are bundled up with the question of whether or not Daniels is, or ever was, sane.

LeHane is clearly the standard bearer for the hard boiled style in the 21st century. No one currently writing can carry off the sarcastic banter and, at the same time, delve so deeply into the human mind and heart with his characters. Most who attempt such a feat are only ever able to get half of that formula right. Dashiell hammet would be proud.

Much of the criticism I've seen of this particular novel centers onLeHane's ending. To be sure, the climax and resolution of the story will leave you scratching your head. But I, for one, was pleased that LeHane could so effectively pull off such ambiguity in the conclusion. It leaves the reader in exactly the same conundrum that Daniels finds himself.

Bottom Line: 21st century hard boiled. A pleasure to read, and an ending that will send you back to the last few pages for a second read. show less

this is a fast paced thriller that feels pretty predictable (the storm that puts all the power out, the migraines, even the fear of water were all pretty convenient) until it picks up toward the end. i was thinking that it was probably my least favorite lehane until we got almost 300 pages in. but since i love it when an author screws with the reader like this, making the narrator unreliable without warning, i reallyenjoyed the last 70 pages of this. is he crazy or isn't he? are they fucking with him or aren't they? who can we trust? i am kind of pissed at myself for not seeing the obvious, although of course the point of the book is that the reader wouldn't. still, to not suspect that he was a patient there... i'm ashamed of myself, show more but it made the book so much more enjoyable to have that revealed. and his ending was perfect, as it wasn't likely he would actually recover his sanity, regardless of freud's theory that facing your fears can do that. i do also like that there is a point here, about psychopharmacology and the way the mentally ill are treated. (i'd thought for a bit that this was going to be the first book of his that i'd read without a social issue, and am glad to be wrong.) super strong ending pulls this book up for me, and made it super fun by the end.

"'Right now, the balance of power is in the hands of the surgeons, but that's going to change fast. The pharmacists will take over, and it won't be any less barbaric. It'll just seem so. The same zombiefication and warehousing that are going on now will continue under a more publicly palatable veneer.'" show less

"Shutter Island" opens just as U.S. Marshall Edward "Teddy " Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule arrive on Shutter Island, a prison for the criminally insane off the coast of Massechusetts. They're there to investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of the inmates, and the staff seem none too helpful. Sure that there there is something sinister going on, Teddy and Chuck start to dig into the secrets of Shutter Island. But Teddy has his own secrets, and as he goes deeper into his investigation, he learns just as much about himself as he does about Shutter Island.

As with all Lehane novels, the story is tightly plotted, the characters vivid, and the pacing fast and furious. It held my attention throughout the story, and the pages show more practically flew by. Lehane does a marvelous job fomenting an ominous and brooding mood, and the psychological aspect of the story is well-played. Much of the fun of the novel is trying to discern who really is insane--Teddy, or everyone else on the island.

My only gripe is that the twist ending was a little too easy to figure out. I won't ruin the surprise for those who haven't read the novel, of course, but I'd already called the ending about halfway into the book. But even though the ending was a little transparent (for me at least), it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book one iota. Lehane is a wonderful storyteller, and there are very few people who would be disappointed by this read. show less

Really good. I had seen parts of the movie and didn't really like it, but the book was much more engaging and does a much better job of involving the reader in the protagonists 'am I crazy, or not?' struggle. Even with a slight familiarity with the movie I was in suspense until the very end.