THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD

TITLE: THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD

AUTHOR: PETER STJERNSTRÖM

Pages: 293

Date: 28/09/2013

Grade: 4

Details: Received from Hesperus Press Ltd

            Through Nudge

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Let’s start this review at the very beginning, with a look at the title. It is an incredibly smart title for a book of course. I dare any reader to stumble upon this book somewhere and not take a closer look at it out of pure curiosity. How could you possibly not investigate a book with a title like this? A title like “The Best Book in the World” warrants a closer look at the blurb at the very least. And what makes this title extra clever is that the label does describe the contents exactly. This is a book about the best book in the world.

During a literary festival two authors get drunk together. One is the young, popular, successful and charming poet Eddie X. The other, Titus Jensen is older. He has a successful career as an author of literary fiction behind him and now spends his time, mostly drunk, reading outrageous passages from obscure books at festivals. Titus is well on his way to becoming a washed-out has been. During their drunken conversation Titus comes up with the idea of writing a genre-transcending book:

“A single book that is all the other books at the same time.”

Titus Jensen knows that The Best Book in the World is his last chance. If he can’t write it he’ll be an alcoholic has been for the rest of his life. If he can’t sober up now he’ll never be a serious writer again but be condemned to making a fool of himself at festivals forever.

Despite this idea having sprung from a very intoxicated mind, Titus enlists his publishers’ assistance, and proceeds on a very strict writing regime. His life style is changed, alcohol banned and his writing monitored. And much to everybody surprise Titus makes great progress with his project about:

“an overweight and charismatic detective chief inspector who has cracked an important slimming code and will change the world’s view of leadership. On top of that, he has a polished serial killer, a frightfully tasty pizza and the best artist in the world throughout the ages, his soul mate Salvador Dali.”

But, as Titus writing goes from strength to strength he can’t help worrying about Eddie X. He told the young poet about his idea and he is convinced that Eddie is not only working on a similar project but also trying to get his hands on Titus’ work in progress. And that is a very worrying prospect because:

“The best book in the world can give eternal life. But only to one of them.”

The race is on!

In many ways this is a very clever book. In order to write a book about an author who tries to write a book that encompasses several, if not all, genres Peter Stjernström had to write a book that covers several different genres. So, while we have a fascinating and at times very funny novel to enjoy here, we also get a lot of non fictional information about pizza, art, Sweden, and writing, among other topics. And for the most part the balance between story-line and other information is very well struck and fits the story perfectly. The one thing I was less happy about was the final part of the book. It is only a few pages long but manages to put everything that has gone before on its head. I can’t help feeling that Stjernström was trying to be a bit too clever there and am convinced that this book would have been as good, if not better, if that last part had been left out.

Those last few pages not withstanding, this was a very enjoyable and anything but predictable read. And while a book that holds so many different facets might sound like hard work for the reader, this is in fact a surprisingly easy to read story. The narrative flows nicely, factual insertions never take the pace out of the story and although there is an awful lot going on - there isn’t a dull moment in this book = the story-line is easy to follow, until you get to those last few pages.

There is a lot to be found in this book for those who pay attention, with a recipe for the perfect pizza as one of the highlights. The writer doesn’t shy away from kicking a few hobby horses while he’s at it. The publishing industry is given a closer look and a not too subtle dig at Paulo Coelho may well offend some of his numerous fans. And I can’t help wondering – with a big grin on my face - how many authors, like Titus in this book, have wished they could put something like the following in their foreword:

“…and now I demand of you, you pathetic clown of a reviewer, that you read this magnificent book with the most open attitude that your withered and poisoned brain is capable of. May you burn in hell if you are incapable of appreciating the magnificence of this innovative work of literature.”

This may not be the best book in the world; it definitely is a very original and enjoyable way to spend a few of your reading hours.

THE NIGHTMARE

TITLE: THE NIGHTMARE

AUTHOR: LARS KEPLER

Pages: 500

Date: 23/01/2013

Grade: 4-

Details: no. 2 Joona Linna

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The blurb:

“On a summer’s evening a young woman’s body is discovered aboard an abandoned boat. The likely cause of death is drowning, but her clothes are completely dry.

A man is found hung in his apartment. His death looks like suicide, although there is nothing to climb on to reach the ceiling.

On the surface the deaths seem unconnected but Detective Inspector Joona Linna suspects something more sinister. He discovers that the woman is the sister of Penelope Fernandez, spokesperson for a peace organisation. The hanging man is Carl Palmcrona, General Director of a Swedish Arms committee.

A killer is at large with more targets suspected. Contracts have been broken and blood will be shed. The one certainty is that only Joona Linna can stop… The Nightmare.

Judging by the blurb this should have been a fascinating thriller. And it has all the hallmarks of one; people are being pursuit by a killer for reasons they are as unaware of as the investigators and the reader. A mysterious but innocent looking photograph seems to be the reason for all the violence, although initially nobody can figure out why. National and international politics are somehow involved in what is going on, but whether intentionally or by accident is unclear. And even when the reasons for the violence become clear it proves next to impossible to find enough proof to stop it. And, all these aspects of the story worked for me. The storyline involving the mystery, the investigation and the eventual resolution was both well plotted and intriguing.

What didn’t work as well for me is the way this book asked me to stretch my imagination a little bit further than is comfortable. Linna’s unfailing intuition, allowing him to perceive what is going on long before any evidence has been found, is a bit much to deal with anyway. But I could live with that if I didn’t also have to deal with the obscure back-stories some of the other characters carry with them. In fact, the multitude of back-stories, both for main, recurring, characters and for those who are unique to this book slowed the story down to an unnecessary extent. I don’t think we needed to know all the details we were told about Penelope’s time in Darfur, or the drama involving a musical competition in another characters’ youth. The story would have worked just as well without those details and would have moved a lot faster.

I also thought that the writing was an odd mixture between distant and intimate. We are told a lot about every single character yet it is told in a tone as if it doesn’t really matter; we learn a lot about characters without ever developing any emotions about them. And this means that even though the book ends on at least two personal cliff-hangers for Linna I find myself rather uncurious as to what will happen next.

This was in interesting thriller that would have greatly benefitted from being a good bit shorter.

Related post: The Hypnotist; no. 1 Joona Linna

DARK ANGEL

TITLE: DARK ANGEL

AUTHOR: MARI JUNGSTEDT

Pages: 280

Date: 08/04/2012

Grade: 4.5

Details: no. 6 Anders Knutas

            Received from Transworld Books

            through BookGeeks

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A new conference centre is officially opened in Visby, Gotland and everybody who is anybody is present, including Inspector Anders Knutas and his wife. It appears that the evening has been a huge success until the next day, when the body of Viktor Algard, the glamorous party-planner, is found in the centre by cleaners. It soon becomes clear that Algard died as a result of cyanide poisoning and Knutas and his team start an investigation.

It isn’t long before they discover that Algard had plenty of enemies. A 16 year old boy had been brutally beaten up outside a club for teenagers he owned, a boy who is now in a coma and fighting for his life. And the party-planner had recently told his wife of 30 years that he wanted a divorce, much to her surprise and horror. There are also rumours that the victim had recently started a secret affair with an unknown woman. It looks like this might be an open and shut case, but Knutas knows better than to jump to conclusions and is soon proven right when somebody else is attacked.

Meanwhile somebody is remembering his very unhappy childhood. A childhood structured by a domineering, unbalanced and utterly selfish mother. A mother they desperately wanted to please and save, but could please.

And while Knutas is conducting his investigation he has his own issues with parenthood. Distanced from his teenage twins he is shocked to discover how little he knows about their lives and finds himself doubting his value as a parent. And that is not the only dilemma he finds himself struggling with.

This is a well written and superbly plotted mystery. Whenever a possible solution occurred to me, it would, soon after, also be put forward by the story-line. The author knows exactly what she wants to share with the reader and when, which keeps the reader engrossed in the story. I found myself trying to stay ahead of the investigation on the pages, almost in competition with Anders Knutas.

The descriptions of Sweden and Gotland in particular are wonderful. The place really comes to live on the pages of this book, as do the people who live there.

Because the book gives a voice to various people in different chapters, the reader is getting an inside into both the mystery and the wider lives of the characters as the book moves along. In fact, this is as much a book about certain people living on Gotland as it is a murder mystery and this is a combination that works very well in the hands of Jungstedt.

However, this is book number 6 in a series and I can’t help feeling that it would have been a huge advantage if I had read the previous instalments. This story, especially when it comes to the main characters and their private lives, seems to continue a narrative which has started at an earlier stage. And although it is be no means necessary to be aware of those earlier lives in order to enjoy this book, I’m sure I would have gotten more out of this book if I had had prior knowledge about the people in this story.

It seems to me that a lot of the Scandinavian mysteries/thrillers I have been reading in the recent past have been written by journalists, and this book is no exception. It also seems to me that these journalist/authors use their novels to share problems in today’s society as they see it in their stories. In this book the social issue on display is that of young people these days, their attitudes towards alcohol and the mindless violence they seem to be capable of against each other. An issue that is, unfortunately, not confined to Sweden but all too familiar to me from the Irish news headlines.

For me this book was a wonderful discovery. I love the way the author combined the mystery with social and family issues. For me she achieved exactly the right balance between background story and thriller-aspect. It seems I managed to find myself yet another author I will now have to add to my list of favourites.