“If you are deemed insane, then all actions that would otherwise prove you are not do, in actuality, fall into the framework of an insane person’s actions. Your sound protests constitute denial. Your valid fears are deemed paranoia. Your survival instincts are labeled defense mechanisms. It’s a no-win situation. It’s a death penalty really.”
― Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island
When shutter Island became a movie, I wasn't excited about interested in seeing it because it sounded like a grizzly horror film, and I also couldn't stomach another movie staring Leonardo DiCaprio. (Surely, I'm not the only one that doesn't like Leo.)
However, I thought I might try the book, and I found it for cheap at my favorite semiannual used book sale at the Iowa Fair Grounds. It wasn't until I had read "A Drink Before the War" by Lehane and realized he was also the author of "Shutter Island" that I decided to dive in. After I finished I read some of the reviews of the book, and it seems that the reasons that people didn't like it were exactly the reasons that I loved it. The reviewers that panned it were hoping for horror and were disappointed by the great psychological dilemma that evolves through the book. I suspect it is like expecting to bite into a lemon cookie only to find that it is a butter cookie instead; no matter how good the butter cookie is and how much you like butter cookies, your mind was expecting one thing and got another, and thus, was disappointed.
This book was not as bloody and violent as "A Drink," but had that same level of grit. It is also set at an earlier time - the 1950s rather than the 1980s. Lehane provides a good depiction of post-war issues suffered by people who fought in WWII and returned with what we would now call, and hopefully treat, as post-traumatic stress disorder. He also gives some insight into the history of treating mental illness and the debates about the efficacy of various forms of treatment.
There is also an element of 'buddy story' here as two US Marshals who had not worked together on solving a crime are put together and the main character, Teddy Daniels, has to decide how to work with his new partner, and whether he can trust him. They are assigned to investigate the disappearance of a female prisoner being held in the high-security facility for the criminally insane on Shutter Island. They are not only faced with a locked-room mystery, but Teddy has a score to settle with an inmate/patient who he believes is being held on the island in secrecy. Throw in a hurricane that cuts off communication with the mainland and a little paranoia and you've got a Gothic story but good.
Will I reread "Shutter Island"? The answer is yes. Lehane's writing is multi-layered, and you simply must reread it to get it all. Will I read more of Lehane? Almost certainly, but I will also get some Lehane books for He-who-caters-to-my-every-whim. He would read a book almost every day if he had something good to read, but he has grown tired of the more pedestrian offerings from Amazon that he can get for cheap for his Kindle. I think Lehane might reignite his excitement for the written word.
I wanted more of "Shutter Island" when I was done with the book, but couldn't handle the thought of watching Leo put Lehane's words into action. So, I did something even better than watching the movie. I bought Christian de Metter's graphic novel adaptation of "Shutter Island." I told myself that I couldn't open it until I had written this blog post. So...I'm diving in and don't expect me to come up for breadth until I'm done....
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