Shutter Island

I finished Shutter Island rather quickly; maybe I am on a roll.

Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule are US Marshals sent to Shutter Island, a mental institute, to solve the disappearance of a patient, Rachel Solando, convicted of killing her three children. Right from the get go, things are sketchy; the Vice Warden and Head Psychiatrist refuse to surrender patient and staff files, people are withholding information, and the Warden remains illusive.

I was one of those people who saw the movie first; actually, I have seen it numerous times, but always miss the very beginning. I actually did enjoy watching it, so finding the book version randomly got me excited, even though, obviously, it will not be the same. Despite that, I was not disappointed.

I flew through Shutter Island; the language is simple yet engaging. There is nothing wrong with that, I am finding that books of that mystery/horror genre tend to be less descriptive. I have yet to read a book that disagrees with this, but I am sure that they are out there. I believe this is one of the first books of this genre that was not written by Mark Z Danielewski, and I rather enjoyed it. I did not find it scary, but LeHane made a story that leads you on, like you want to know more.

I liked the set-up; like I have mentioned that WWII, Titanic, and Ancient Egypt are favorite subjects, so is the system of the mental institution. Seeing how it has developed culturally over time into what we know of it now is a great reflection of society. For that environment, even for a lot of people today, whether we admit it or not, the concept of that facility is shameful, hidden, scary, and a place of punishment for people who do not have a “normal” daily mindset. I appreciate that Doctor Cawley was genuinely working his ass off to push forward a new approach to mental health, whereas everyone else was still stuck on lobotomies and more inhumane treatment. I mean, I get it, the facility specializes in criminals of the most heinous crimes, but Cowley never breaks compassion.

I would go into an opinion of Teddy, but if I do, I would only just give the whole book away. Just for that, this leads to being a possible discussion point.

If anyone is concerned about the comparison between the two forms of media, I cannot as of this moment be entirely truthful because, again, it has been awhile since I saw the movie in its entirety. From what I remember, I would say it runs pretty parallel to the book.

I would read this again for pure entertainment. I am not planning on keeping the book, though, just to be honest. If you are interested on getting into something scary because of Halloween just as I am, you can find Shutter Island here.

9/10