Jo Nesbø is presenting a modern Macbeth
Fans of deluxe detective stories by Jo Nesbø have something to look forward to again. His famous character Harry Hole is raring to go for the eleventh time. The master of Nordic detective novels has transported Macbeth, the classic play by William Shakespeare, into the present in his deluxe book within the terms of the Hogarth Shakespeare project.
Jo Nesbø the best-selling author of detective novels chose Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most powerful tragedies for his book. However, Nesbø has set his Macbeth in a city without a name. A city full of corruption, bankruptcy, crime, luxury, poverty and confusion. Enter police commissioner Macbeth, who is the promising right hand of new Chief Commissioner Duncan, who is trying to instil law and order in a city decimated by the drug mafia and gangs.
A man of two faces
When a failed raid against dealers turns into a bloodbath inspector Macbeth, the likeable and charismatic leader of the special SWAT unit, who is an example to his subordinates, arrives. But it wouldn’t be Nesbø if Macbeth were not revealed as having two faces. He is a recovered drug addict with a dark past. Just like the famous Harry Hole, who is an alcoholic and a ladies’ man. He can expect a deluxe reward for his success, but how to get to what he is entitled to?
“Macbeth shows perfectly how the play for power is capable of affecting and destroying people’s lives.”
The book will probably be a deluxe surprise for loyal readers, because the author deviates slightly from his own classic form. On the other hand he knows that there is no chance of competing with Shakespeare’s poetry, so he decided to use just the story from the original play. He liked the concept of the Hogarth Shakespeare project, which is to present Shakespeare’s stories in a new light, very much.
Before Nesbø the same challenge was accepted by Booker Prize winner Anne Tyler, who reworks the comedy “The Taming of the Shrew” and winner of the Whitebread Prize, now the Costa Book Prize and a BAFTA film award Jeanette Winterson, who started work on “A Winter’s Tale”. Other authors taking part in the project include Margaret Atwood (The Tempest) and Booker Prize winner Howard Jackobson (The Merchant of Venice), Gillian Flynn (Hamlet), Tracy Chevalier (Othello), Edward St. Aubyn (King Lear) and Howard Jacobson.
Jo Nesbo (28 March 1960, Oslo)
He originally trained as an economist and financial analyst and worked as a broker and reporter. In 1997 he became known thanks to the crime novel Flaggermusmannen (Bat). This book introduces unconventional investigator Harry Hole and launched his career as an author. Today he is one of the most famous authors of detective novels in the world. His books have been published in fifty languages and over 40 million copies have been sold worldwide. Nesbø has been awarded the prize by the Riverton Club for the best literary or dramatic work on the topic of crime called the Rivertonprisen and was presented the Scandinavian Glasnokkelen prize for the best crime novel.
In his book Hodejegerne (Headhunters, 2008) he created a new main character called Roger Brown. He has also written humorous books for children in which he appears as the main character Doctor Proctor. The contemporary children’s film “Doctor Proctor and the Bath of Time” is now in cinemas. A new book will be added to your shelf of books with Proctor soon, so expect a surprise.
As well as writing Jo Nesbø also has a band. He and his brother established their own band “Di Derre” and they are now idols of the Norwegian rock scene.
