Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
I read this book as a student in Bergen in the 80s. Gunnar Staalesen is a crime writer of the Chandler school. And he was the sort of Norwegian Chandler who wrote from Bergen and based many of his novels there. And it was a guide book to the Bergen mentality and the city of Bergen.
At Night All Wolves Are Grey by Gunnar Staalesen.
I read that book as a student in Bergen in the 80s. Gunnar Staalesen is a crime writer of the Chandler school. He was a sort of Norwegian Chandler who wrote from Bergen and based many of his novels there. And it was a guide book into the Bergen mentality and the city of Bergen.
What is the Bergen mentality?
Bergen isn’t the biggest city in the Norway but it is the most urban. It has connections with the rest of Europe, places like Germany and also England. So it’s very small but still an international city on the west coast of Norway. People from there say they are not a Norwegian city; they feel they have their own identity. It is a charismatic city which they are proud of. So they are both funny and snobbish about their city at the same time.
It reminds me of the Inspector Morse series set in Oxford. I know there are lots of people who go on tours around the city to see where the action took place. Did you do that with this book?
The centre of Bergen is so small that I was always coming across streets or places that were in the book, and that was fun. It was like you almost couldn’t avoid the crime scenes in his books!
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The Snowman is Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø’s fifth internationally acclaimed novel featuring Inspector Harry Hole to be translated into English. Winner of the Glass Key Award for best Nordic crime novel (an accolade shared with Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson), Jo Nesbø’s books have been translated into 30 languages and he is regarded as one of Europe’s leading crime writers. Jo Nesbø played football for Norwegian team Molde and topped the charts in Norway with rock band Di Derre.
