![]() The bleak Icelandic landscape in these books gets under your skin and stays there long after putting them down. Each book finds him coming closer to terms with his own past as he struggles to keep his present life together. Erlendur is another hero in the mold of brooding, gruff, but humane detective with a dysfunctional family who resolutely pursues justice. Peter HøegĪrnaldur Indriðason's Detective Erlendur series is popular around the globe, and not just for its local Icelandic flavor (boiled sheep's head for take-out anyone?). ![]() ![]() The first book in the series, and one of the last to be published, is The Bat. NYPL has many of the books in ebook, audiobook and even large print versions. The Harry Hole series never disappoints with clever plot construction and interesting scientific and historical facts woven in as bonus material. Nesbø's colorful detective Hole is a soul-searching, intermittantly recovering alchoholic who maniacally hunts down his perp. Each book stands on its own but leaves a certain cliffhanger element with regards to the characters' fates. Each book sports a well-structured theme and Nesbø's narrative moves with the frenetic pace of a first-person shooter. The popular Harry Hole series is clever, violent, and loaded with dark humor. The arthouse crowd has seen his book Headhunters (Hodejegerne) adapted into a film recently and are trembling with anticipation for Tomas Alfredson's interpretation of The Snowman to hit the big screen. If Karin Fossum is Norway's queen of crime, Jo Nesbø is their darling prince, grabbing much of the market share of the Scandicrime wave reaching American shores in the wake of Stieg Larssen's posthumous popularity. It was recently announced that The Girl in the Spider's Web, an independent title based on the franchise, written by David Lagercrantz, will be published. Larsson originally devised Millennium as a 10-part series. Even David Fincher's remake was a presentable alternative for the subtitle-averse, but the Swedish original is a must-see (Noomi Rapace will simply own you). The movie adaptations of the Millennium Trilogy were faithful and quite thrilling. Larsson scholars will be interested to note that Salander is based partly on the picture book rebel Pippi Longstocking. But the real bonus of the trilogy is the tattooed goth hacker Lisbeth Salander, who becomes Blomkvist's unlikely partner. Our sleuth is Mikael Blomkvist, disgraced editor of the alternative press magazine Millennium, who is privately hired to solve a 36-year old mystery. The series is infamous partly because it lacks a proper detective. Stieg Larsson's bestselling Millennium Trilogy begins with the first book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (the true title, Män som hatar kvinnor, is Men Who Hate Women). Immigration, xenophobia, misogyny, racism, and larger issues of intolerance and social inequality are recurring themes that often form the core of the mystery at hand. We're All VictimsĪnother important element of the Scandicrime genre is its traditional willingness to incorporate larger social issues into the narrative of police work. Readers will also find fascinating the supernatural strain pervading this literature: Ancient beliefs in ghosts, changelings, and other natural spirits thrive in contemporary Nordic noir as if upholding the ancient lineage of the Icelandic saga. Vast alvars, ancient stone, and dark shores inhabit these stories such that the soul of the landscape becomes an important narrative agent, even a character in itself. Another narrative component just as vital is the often bleak Scandinavian landscape which serves to mirror the thoughts of the characters. One conjures up a brooding Bergmanesque figure contemplating the long dark winter (they do have their share of hot summers too). Key to the appeal of Scandinavian crime literature is the stoic nature of its detectives and their peculiarly close relationship with death. This is not my sea, Van Veeteren thought to himself. The waves dying a natural death on the beach seemed to have traveled vast distances bearing neither life nor hope. You know you have no life when the serial killer you're hunting chides you about your cholesterol. ![]() Some even develop relationships with the victims or, even worse, the criminal. Some are alcoholics whose human interactions are limited to station and squad car. They doggedly pursue the criminal element, usually (but not always) winning the day at the expense of maintaining a normal family or social life. Many are unkempt, unhealthy and sometimes fatalistic characters, but are nevertheless humane and brilliant sleuths. The detectives in Scandinavian crime fiction share many attributes with their American and British counterparts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |