Hello. My name is Cheryl Berzanskis and I’m from Amarillo.
Let’s talk about crime, the chase, the human heart and some excellent writing by best selling author Norwegian Jo Nesbo (You(g) Nes-buh). Or as he’s introduced to English speaking readers, Jo Nesbo. Nesbo.
Yes, I had to learn to pronounce his name and others in his writing, is a contributor to the genre called Nordic noir. He’s penned 12 novels with a 13th set for release in 2023, in a series featuring Oslo police detective, Harry Hole (Harry Hoo-leh). Or as Nesbo himself says in some English language interviews, Harry Hole. Nesbo is more than prolific in Nordic noir, he’s written short stories, children’s books, composed music, and in youth, worked as a stockbroker and hard giggin’ rock ’n’ roller.
Novel writing didn’t come to him until age 37, but with Nesbo’s introduction of Harry Hole he secured a spot as a master storyteller, plotter and examiner of men. Nesbo’s crime novels follow in the tradition of a pair of Swedish writers, Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, who are credited with creation of the genre in the 1960s. Their policeman, Martin Beck, the main character in 10 mysteries, vaulted pulp fiction to serious bookstores.
Writing Scandi noir gained prestige and Harry Hole burnishes the image. Story telling comes naturally, Nesbo said. In a 2012 interview at Book Expo America, Nesbo called story telling a social reflex. I’m sure he’s not the first to articulate that — a professor years ago called communication an instinct on par with self-preservation, but it was a tradition in his family and coupled with exposure to good writing brought us Harry Hole.
Nesbo noted in an interview that at age seven, he read Lord of the Flies, a book I’d expect you to say is too advanced for that age, but it was precisely early exposure that engendered a love of writing.
For this BookByte I read The Thirst, which was published in Norway in 2017 and translated to English by Neil Smith and published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf. The 462-page book, the 11th in the Harry Hole series, is a mystery employing mythological-cum-criminal characters — — vampirism, obsessive needs for blood and control. If you read The Thirst, you’ll likely be put off Tinder all together were it ever an interest of yours because the literally blood-thirsty killer hunts from tiny tables in dark bars. It’s not a place you want to be on a first Tinder date with a man who wears dentures fabricated to bite your pretty neck.
About three quarters of the way through The Thirst, I began to get suspicious about a certain character while another character didn’t ring the bad guy bell. Boy, was I surprised when the hunt ended. But that’s Nesbo for you.
Don’t get complacent with your expectations. I am not comfortable with Harry Hole. I don’t want to know him in real life as I’ve wanted to know other famous crime busting characters like Jonathan Kellerman’s Dr. Alex Delaware or Elizabeth George’s Thomas Linley and Barbara Havers. Maybe it’s because though none of the aforementioned are perfect people, they are dependably good people. Harry Hole is too flawed for my taste. If he can make the doubtful decision he will, giving in to his raging thirst for Jim Beam and penchant for the dark side. This doesn’t mean I don’t respect him, just that I’m often left feeling the sun never shines for Harry Hole.
For the Radio Readers Book Club on High Plains Public Radio, this has been Cheryl Berzanskis.
