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Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane | Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

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Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Cannonball Read / Genny (also Rusty)

Book Reviews | July 29, 2009 | Comments (12)

Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island is a disorienting read. It is narrated from the perspective of US Marshall Teddy Daniels, and the questions that hangs over most of the novel is the question of Teddy’s sanity. Is he paranoid or right? Is he a man haunted by some past demons or one controlled by them? Can we actually trust anything he tells us, or can we only trust what he tells us? The more you read, the less certain you are of any of this.

Shutter Island starts with Teddy and his new partner, Chuck Aule, going to investigate the disappearance of a patient behind held at a hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island near Boston. The patient, called Rachel Solando, disappeared from a locked room in the middle of the night, past guards and onto an island that’s 11 miles from shore, yet there’s no trace of her. However, the longer Teddy and Chuck are on the island, the more you find out that Rachel’s not the only reason they came to the island and begin to wonder if they were deliberately brought there somehow. All the doctors, nurses, and even some patients seem to be in on something that Teddy and Chuck aren’t being told, and when Teddy reveals his ulterior motives for wanting to investigate the island all bets are off.

The conclusion (or “twist”) at the end of Shutter Island is satisfying. And, as good twists generally do, it sheds just enough new light on all the preceding events to make them worthwhile. One of my biggest pet peeves in literature and movies is when the twist at the end doesn’t fit with the rest of the movie or illuminate it in any new way, because it leaves you wondering why, exactly, you sat through everything that came before the ending. Lehane avoids that trap, and makes the twist a somewhat believable but tragic reveal about the true nature of several characters.

Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island is a quick and intriguing read good for anyone who enjoys suspense type novels.

This review is part of the Cannonball Read series. For more of Genny (also Rusty)’s review, check her blog, Rusty’s Ventures.


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Comments

Nice review, Genny. I may have to read this before the film opens.

Posted by: Cindy at July 29, 2009 8:31 AM

Leo is suspicious. Who farted? Whoever it is owes him a match.

Posted by: Kballs at July 29, 2009 9:43 AM

is that leo with that match?
is he starting a fire for us to make sweet, sweet love by?

Posted by: gp at July 29, 2009 9:47 AM

Great book. I am still confused by the book.

Posted by: eddie at July 29, 2009 10:16 AM

Can't remember what the twist was, but I remember it being pretty worthwhile.

Lehane's stuff is pretty damn good. I'm glad to see decent writers get their stories turned into movies sometimes too. Every "Shutter Island" success nullifies a Dan Brown.

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 29, 2009 10:22 AM

I'm not reading the review b/c I haven't read the book yet, but Dennis Lehane is a terrific writer. "Gone Baby Gone" is fabulous, as is "Mystic River." Much more compelling than the movie in both cases, and I really liked both movies. The books are even more enjoyable if you're familiar with Boston and Mass. in particular. I remember my hometown was mentioned as being "out in the sticks", which made me laugh.

Posted by: samantha t at July 29, 2009 11:06 AM

I have to disagree with your assessment of the twist. I thought it was convoluted and completely implausible. It made me think of a lower tier M. Night film. I'm curious as to why Scorcese would bother with it, it's below him just as it was below Lehane.

Posted by: gez27 at July 30, 2009 5:17 AM

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

gez27, I didn't think it outside the realm of possibility that an individual who was likely suffering from PTSD from the War would react to psychological trauma of that magnitude by wholly retreating into themselves and creating a new version of reality. The other possibility that I jumped to was Korsakoff's syndrome, which is a form of dementia brought on by lack of thiamine which is a secondary symptom of alcoholism. Sufferers of Korsakoff's are compulsive liars but they believe their own lies. If you google that syndrome, there's several symptoms that seem very similar to the ones the character in the book displayed.

END SPOILERS

Posted by: Genny (actually Rusty now) at July 30, 2009 11:35 AM

Dennis Lehane was the commencement speaker at my brother's graduation in May. He was really funny and earnest; I can't help but hope many people checked out his books thinking they were the same.

My aunt loved this. I should read it.

Posted by: vikky at July 30, 2009 12:10 PM

Lehanes's worst book by far. Turns out he was distracted because while writing this he was also spending a lot of time working on and for the HBO show The Wire.

Horrible crap.

Posted by: Fappy McFappalot at July 30, 2009 3:47 PM

@Genny

I have no doubt that such conditions exist. The problem I had was the large scale conspiracy that was at the centre of the proceedings. In no 1950s institute would the entire staff go to such lengths in order find out the true extent of one man's illness, hell, even the book hints upon the unlawful and unjustified treatment of mental patients during the 1950s. They would have just lobotomised him, and be done with it.

The ending was a real shame because other than that the book was trully captivating. Unfortunately, it was relegated to James Patterson after the last two chapters.

Posted by: gez27 at July 30, 2009 5:51 PM

im looking forward to the new movie release.

Posted by: watch shutter island at September 16, 2009 5:25 PM





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