Hello in the hatch! Unfortunately, there won’t be any April Fools’ jokes in this week’s Bokbrevet, even though we are writing on 1 April today. There has been so much fake news and conspiracy theories out there that the idea that the media should lie to people is not entirely productive anymore. But, I offer a rant about Nordic crime, a poem about #denkjensla, picture of the week, the podcast that makes me laugh, a little Dickens tribute, and a little Easter quiz at the end. We are celebrating that the Easter crime is 100 years old this year, and it is time to settle the status of Norwegian and, to an extent, Nordic crime. Apparently, Nordic crime is a wild success. Jo Nesbø is one of the world’s best-selling crime writers, and new names are constantly being added to the great family tree of Nordic crime. Sjöwall and Wallö put the Swedish welfare state under the microscope in their ten-volume work “Roman about a crime”, which was published in 1965-75. It set the standard for Nordic crime, which is often about SOMETHING IMPORTANT, such as social problems or the essence of evil. The action in Nordic noir is often set in an idyllic small town, where no one would think that evil could dwell. (Jørn Lier Horst’s Stavern crime is an excellent example.) Foreign readers like to think of the Nordic countries as a land of happiness. But in our Crimea they can read that despite the welfare society and sky-high ranking on the happiness barometer, the peaceful Scandinavians still have a need to kill each other! SNØ: Winter and cold are obviously an important element when Nordic crime fiction is to be sold to foreign readers. When I say that Nordic crime has become dull, I do not mean that it has become bad or that the plots are not exciting. I believe that it has become monotonous, despite the large number of crime books that are published every year. Here are three things I miss in Nordic crime 1. Humor Nordic crime has only one temperament: The serious mood. I imagine Nordic crime writers hammering away at their important crime novels with furrowed brows. No one laughs prematurely in a Nordic noir! But isn’t it good to have a little fun every now and then? When I started listening to Agatha Christie on audiobook, read by Richard E. Grant, I was struck by how funny the British crime queen is, and that without sacrificing anything on the level of intrigue. Miss Marple looks at people’s passions with a wry smile, while Hercule Poirot is a comic figure in his own right. In the 80s, jazz musician and writer Dan Turèll delivered a crime series that was so playfully and wittily written that every sentence was a drop. As far as I know, none of the contemporary writers has taken up the Danish gauntlet. 2. Historical action Nordic crime almost always takes place in a recognizable contemporary Again, look west for inspiration. The British are generally a very history-obsessed people, also in the Crimea. In the USA, historian Caleb Carr experienced great success with “The Alienist”, which takes place in New York City in 1896. Historical crime: Action set in New York in 1896, England in, respectively. Elizabethan times and Tudor times Why can’t we have a Viking detective or a mysterious murder on the foot in the Danish era in our crime flora? 3. Supernatural elements The explanation in Nordic crime fiction is always realistic. I was so excited once some mysterious crop circles appeared in a Norwegian crime drama, but alas, there was a natural explanation behind it. Why can’t there be an unnatural explanation behind it? It is fiction after all. Swedish Stefan Spjut was inspired by Sami supernatural beings in the book “Stallo” in 2012, so it works. Nothing in the way of pulling the crime a little towards the horror genre. At the crime festival in Oslo in March, Scottish Val McDermid said something wise about the crime genre: It can contain anything, as long as you have a dead body and the killer has run away. This is how you can have hard-boiled crime, urban crime, gothic crime, psychological crime, etc. “The success of Nordic crime is that it mixes social and political conditions with the logic of tension,” said Danish Jussi Adler-Olsen in the Book Program in 2012. Then Nordic noir rode on a wave out into the world. Over ten years later, the recipe is the same, despite the fact that the number of crime writers has multiplied since then. Several authors have not led to greater variation. Nordic crime has become like a pair of black trousers. Everyone needs a good pair of black trousers, but you don’t need 20 pairs. Feel free to advise me of more good crime books that break the formula! Picture of the week The painter Kitty Kielland was close friends with the writer Arne Garborg for many years, and probably hoped that the friendship would develop in a romantic direction. Here she has painted the author when he was visiting her studio in Paris. Despite the fact that it is dark inside, we see from the light through the curtains that it is sunny outside, and the daffodils in the vase reveal that it must be March/April. “Arne Garborg in the artist’s studio in Paris”, 1887 Photo: Kitty Kielland / The National Museum In December of the year this picture was painted, Kitty learned that Arne had married Hulda, who was already pregnant at the wedding. The picture was probably painted before the big disappointment. Kitty Kielland experienced great success as a painter, but remained unmarried. Can there be too much Dickens on TV? This week the BBC premiered a new TV adaptation of “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens. The Guardian’s TV reviewer believes that 17 film adaptations of the book are enough, and that she will never need to see a Dickens book on TV ever again. For my part, I associate holidays and holidays with a good British costume drama, as we grew up with when news had a monopoly. From that point of view, on the contrary, it has been a long time since there has been anything Dickens on Norwegian screens. As Dickens himself published his stories as a weekly serial, his dramaturgy is the made-for-TV series format. The lines are quick and the cliffhangers numerous. This is how the serial Dickens published. Readers had to wait a week to find out how it went, and Dickens took input from readers into account. Photo: Amherst College Also: Dickens should only be filmed by British people. His Victorian literary universe is full of repulsive characters with hairy warts and evil intentions. British actors are so happy to show up with their flaws to portray leading and supporting roles. In comparison, the American film version of “Great Expectations” with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow was reasonably clean and the actors far too beautiful. The director of the new BBC series, Steven Knight, has previously made the gangster series “Peaky Blinders” from 20th-century England. He has supposedly made Dickens’ tale even darker. The series has not been bought by news, but will presumably come on Disney+ in time. In the meantime, you will find Dickens’ books both as a paper book, e-book and audio book, in Norwegian and English. Olivia Colman as Miss Havensham smokes opium and spits out some newly written rude lines Photo: Pari Dukovic / BBC/FX Networks I note that … … Åsne Seierstad has received the Bjørnson prize. It is given to individuals who have particularly promoted freedom of expression. She is thus in good company with, among others, Edward Snowden and Bruce Springsteen. Now her book “To søstre” is highly relevant again, as the two women have just been brought home to Norway. Although Seierstad never got to talk to the sisters for his book, we get close to why two successful barroom girls made the completely crazy choice to join IS and go to Syria. The book is well written and is actually very exciting. Haven’t you read it? This is the right time. Seierstad’s books are also available in Arabic, here at the book fair in Cairo Photo: Privat Dobbelgrinings The podcast “Brenner deler dict” just turned one year old. For me it has become the great laughing podcast. I am surprisingly often moved by the stories that emerge in the conversation around the poems, and by the poems themselves. As is well known, the concept is that Hans Olav finds a poem to share with the guest, and that the guest brings a poem back, in each episode. Most often, presenter and guest find each other over the selected poem, but not always. (Leo Ajkic sounded like he gave zero fucks when he was visiting the studio, for example.) One evening I curled up in bed with the two episodes with writer Brynjulf Jung Tjønn, which I hold dear. First, Brynjulf has a poem with him that made him go from being 100 per cent a football boy to realizing that literature was something for him. It was then that the Norwegian teacher played Arnulf Øverland’s reading of his poem “You must not sleep!” Nowadays, not many people care about Arnulf Øverland. A stanza from the poem has almost become a platitude: “You must not bear so heartily the injustice that does not affect you!”. Øverland wrote the poem in 1936, and warns in strong terms against the invasion of fascism in Europe. When I heard his urging voice recite the poem, his words felt relevant again: Don’t you too feel like the world is burning now? When Hans Olav was going to give Brynjulf a poem back, he chose to talk about one of the poems in Tjønn’s last prize-winning book, “Kvit, norsk mann.” One of the poems is about the death of Arve Beheim Karlsen. The story of the Indian-born boy was close to me because I had heard the podcast The whole story, about how Arve was persecuted by racists in 1999, until he ran into Sogndalselvi. Arve Beheim Karlsen was the same age as Bynjulf Jung Tjønn and they grew up not far from each other. Photo: Private For Tjønn, who was adopted from South Korea to become a nobleman in an idyllic village in Sogn og Fjordane, Arve’s death gave a chilling insight: Looking different can be life-threatening. In the poem, Brynjulf writes that he accompanies Arve down to the river, but only one of them returns. Again the tears flowed. I sent a thank you email to Hans Olav and producer Christine, with documentation of the grinning face. Photo: Siss Vik I suggested that they should get a tag line for their podcast: “Brenner shares poems” – the podcast for those of you who like to laugh. Thanks for the tips! In the previous book letter, I encouraged infidelity with your favorite crime heroes and asked for tips for anyone who wanted to try a new relationship. You sent in a lot of great tips! I have already heard Romy Hausman’s first novel on audiobook, and it was both different and terribly exciting. (A small minus was that the narrator pronounced the names in English, even though the people were German and the action took place in Germany.) Romy Hausman’s second book certainly maintains the same high level, according to crime reporter Leif Ekle. It is among the recent crime publications that he and Ola Hegdal recommend, along with both Australian and Canadian crime. Easter fun from news One of this year’s Easter novels on news TV is Hendelser ved vann, based on the suspense novel written by Kerstin Ekman in 1993. I’m a little nervous about watching the series, because that book is one of my great reading experiences. “Händelser vid vatten” illustrates how powerful a book can be. I devoured the novel in the sun on the beach on idyllic Hovedøya in the Oslofjord. Nevertheless, Ekman’s descriptions of the cold, dark northern Swedish forests gave me chills. If someone spoke to me, I snapped as if the murderer himself had appeared. The book’s reality exceeded my physical one in every way. Now, fortunately, I’ve forgotten who the murderer was, and the series has received rave reviews, so I’ll probably be tempted to take a look anyway. Is Norway’s first Easter crime story worth reading today? Critic Knut Hoem has reviewed “Bergenstoget looted last night!” from 1923 as if it had been published today. The book is written under the delightful pseudonym Jonathan Jerv. Quiz No Easter without a quiz! I have enjoyed creating 10 literature questions for you, from slightly different genres. Happy Easter, dear reader! Wishing you sunshine and good books. Say 10 questions about literature
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The book letter Nordic crime has become monotonous – news Culture and entertainment
