shutter island dennis lehane book review

In the film, there’s a lot less time to get to know the protagonist than in novels, and Teddy is established as more of a decent and upright marshal to imply that the denizens of the island are off-kilter. Marshal Teddy Daniels has come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Because someone is trying to drive them insane. However, Scorsese’s approach also makes sense given the medium he’s working in. The closer Teddy and Chuck get to the truth, the more elusive it becomes, and the more they begin to believe that they may never leave Shutter Island. Readers are likely to find him harsh and unforgiving, but unlikely to guess the extent of the evil he is capable of.

If Teddy were too morally upright and well-behaved, readers of the novel would likely guess the movie's shocking final twist (that he is actually a patient in this institution, not a Marshall investigating it, and that he murdered his wife and children before the book’s action began).Īs is, the novel throws readers off the scent as it portrays Teddy as a man with demons, haunted by his experiences in the war and his difficult line of work. As his long bibliography proves, most of Lehane’s antiheroes are deeply complex, morally ambiguous figures, some of whom are almost as bad (and occasionally worse) than the villains they are pursuing. The crime author doesn’t generally write uncomplicated, morally upright, friendly heroes. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, are sent to Shutter Island to find a mass murderer who has escaped from Ashecliffe Hospital, a fortress-like federal institution for the criminally insane. Part of this is down to Scorsese’s ability to make anyone from unrepentant scumbag Henry Hill to unhinged kidnapper Robert Pupkin into a likable protagonist, but part of it is also likely intentional on Lehane’s part. Dennis Lehane's masterpiece of mystery and suspense-brought to life for the first time as a graphic novel In 1954, U.S. In the original novel version of Shutter Island, Teddy isn’t as likable as he is in the movie adaptation.

Shutter island dennis lehane book review