BOOK 190: THE SNOWMAN: JO NESBØ

BOOK 190: THE SNOWMAN: JO NESBØ

The Snowman (Norwegian: Snømannen, 2007) is a novel by Norwegian crime-writer Jo Nesbø. It is the seventh entry in his Harry Holeseries.

The book was adapted into a film. The film was released in the UK on 13 October 2017. Unlike the novel, the film was poorly received by critics.

MY VERDICT: I enjoyed the book. It’s always hard to tell whether a book is written well when you’re reading a translation so I won’t comment on this but I did feel that the narrative was a little disjointed. It could have been written much clearer with much more suspense. The whole idea behind the murders and the investigation was interesting though, the book kept my attention. 

I did however guess who the killer was pretty early on, which is very rare for me (although I am getting better), I don’t know if that’s a mark against the book or not?

Film 1072: Headhunters

Trivia:  Casting for the twin police officers Monsen proved particularly difficult because the twins had to weigh over 220lbs and be identical. Lars Skramstad Johnsen and Gunnar Skramstad Johnsen fit the bill.

Summit Entertainment bought the rights to produce an American remake of this film, even before its initial release.

Upon its release, the film has been sold to over 50 countries - a record for any Norwegian film.

The film features several references and tributes to Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy. Diana watches the second film from the trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), on TV the night Roger comes home late. Also, aerial shots from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) were used to fill in some missing scenes. One of the clips features a car driving over a bridge. The car from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) was digitally replaced with the car Roger Brown drives in this film.

Book 76: Hunger – Knut Hamsun

Hunger (Norwegian: Sult) is a novel by the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun and was published in 1890. Parts of it had been published anonymously in the Danish magazine Ny Jord in 1888. The novel has been hailed as the literary opening of the 20th century and an outstanding example of modern, psychology-driven literature. Hunger portrays the irrationality of the human mind in an intriguing and sometimes humorous manner.