Jo Nesbø’s L’homme chauve-souris
(original title:Flaggermusmannen)
Harry Hole #1
(published 1997 in Norway; 2002 in France)
I had not read Jo Nesbø’s books yet, although not from lack
of interest. I had been buying them and even receiving a free copy or two from
a friend at Random House of Canada. So I decided I’d better start at the
beginning and went with L’homme
chauve-souris. This book is not yet available in English but it will
probably be soon (the literal translation would be The Bat Man)*. The second Harry Hole book hasn’t been translated yet
either (it would be The Cockroaches).
Book three was the first one to be translated in English, under the title The Redbreast.
It is interesting to see where it all started for Norwegian
author Jo Nesbø and his Oslo investigator Harry Hole (pr. Holy). As a first
novel, it gives the reader an impressive plot that has Harry travel to
Australia to investigate the death of Inger Holter, a Norwegian woman. Far from
his jurisdiction and his comfort zone, Hole will obviously have to work with
the Australian police. Nesbø must have been very confident about his own
abilities (that or he already knew Australia very well) to decide to set his
first novel in such a faraway land. Hole is partnered with detective Andrew
Kensington. Andrew, a former boxer known as ‘Tuka’, is aboriginal and as the
story develops, his shady past is revealed. Not only that, he’s also good
friends with a boxer named Robin “The Murri” Toowomba and a performing artist
(a clown in a circus) named Otto Rechtnagel, who also happens to be a
transvestite. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it plays a role in
the schemes of things.
During the course of the investigation, Hole falls for a
beautiful Swedish waitress, Birgitta, who works at the Albury, the club where
the victim used to work. During his relationship with her, Hole opens up and we
discover some of his troubled past; an accident during a high speed car chase,
in Oslo, resulted in the death of Hole’s police partner (who was riding shotgun)
and a young man driving another car is now paraplegic. Hole was under the
influence of alcohol while driving but the police covered it all up by saying
the partner was driving; he was ejected out of the car on impact and Hole was
found on the backseat, so no blood testing was done on Hole. We also learn that
Hole’s first love, Kristin, killed herself a few years after their relationship
had ended. Hole still carries these two events inside him like the weight of
the world. He hasn’t had a drink since the accident but he’s not fully
recovered yet.
The novel is kept together by the many interesting characters
and by their interactions; they often discuss the history of Australia, of its
aboriginal people (who were there long before the British), of local food and
other subjects. It is certainly one of Nesbø’s gifts to be able to go off tangent
here and there without losing the interest of the reader.
Harry Hole is one of the most interesting main characters of
today’s crime literature and, although it’s not a necessity, it’s probably
because he was so well developed right from the start. He’s complex, with a few
obligatory flaws that make him real, but he’s also an average guy who makes
mistakes and knows that he can’t solve every problem, even though he’d like to
think he could. He’s a realist who hasn’t entirely given up hope on the world
in general and on love in particular, but it doesn’t come without angst; Hole
realizes that he’s lucky to be a free man and he tries to give back by
investing himself wholly in his quest, while never forgetting that his dark
shadow follows him everywhere, waiting for a moment of weakness. We could debate also on Harry’s surname,
taken as it is written “Hole” and as it is pronounced “Holy”. I won’t start
here though.
Although the story is gripping and the suspense keeps
mounting, I had some problems reading it, but the fault lies entirely on the
translation. The French slang just didn’t suit the story of a Norwegian
detective working in Australia; call me picky, but if I want a French polar I won’t read a Norwegian author,
and vice versa. (I know there are
exceptions). The story is excellent but I wish I could have read it in its original version. The slang, combined with some weird turn of phrases and sentences
that read too much like literal translation, took me out of the story many
times. The translation was by two persons and that might be the main reason.
Every following book in the series was translated by the same person; one of
the two translators from the original duo. I’m guessing it’s much better now.
The originality of plot and the many likeable characters of L’homme chauve-souris kept me reading until
the end and I wasn’t disappointed that I did.
I’m already reading more of Nesbø and will tell you all
about that soon. I also had lots of fun reading one of his YA novels, Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder, but that's for another public and for another post.
JF June 2011
-30-
Jo Nesbo is one on my to be read list. I haven't so far because I'm suspicious of any publishing bandwagon - ie the wave of Scandinavian authors that have been pushed at us. However, I had the opportunity to hear Nesbo talk at a book event and he was hilarious and charming - made me want to buy his books.
ReplyDeleteSame here, that's why I waited this long, especially since I'm not a big fan of Stieg Larsson (still haven't read the third one). But friends kept telling me he was really worth it, and apparently with his new one The Leopard he surpasses himself and should be up there with the best crime writers. So I decided to go for it; but I can't start a series in the middle, so I've got 8 more to go. Which is great if they're good books!
ReplyDeleteI've seen a few interviews and he seems like a nice guy.