For Yu Nesbø, who is a literary genius of modern Norway and is included in the top 20 best detective authors of all time, the numbers 5 and 0 have some symbolic meaning. This is a half-century age he has successfully taken. These are five dozen languages of the world into which his works have been translated. This is the size of the income from writing, steadily approaching the figure of $ 50 million a year.
A resident of the Norwegian capital, U Nesbo, left the brokerage office in 1997, where he worked for the last three years, as soon as it became clear that writing was capable of providing him with a decent income. Part of the royalties and royalties received by the current king of the Scandinavian detective today, form the Harry Hole Foundation, which he created. The organization, which bears the name of the protagonist of the books that glorified their author throughout the world, is engaged in the fact that in developing countries it implements programs to teach children to read and write. The Foundation has established and annually awards the Good Guy Award.
What's in a name
At first glance, it might seem that Jo Nesbø's easy-to-write metric in Norwegian is just as simple when translated into the other 50 literary languages (namely, this number is recorded by publishers publishing the books of the famous Scandinavian detective). But this is not the case. Norwegian surname in English looks like the word "hole". In the United States, the author of popular pulp fiction is called Joe Nesbo. Many countries have taken up and are using this Americanism. Russians are not looking for easy ways! We softened the letter O at the end of the surname to E. In the name they transformed Jo into Yu and tried to draw an analogy with the national one - Yuri. To smile at this, one can cite a case when at one of the briefings the similarities or differences of persons were discussed: Yu (without a dot) Nesbo and Y. (with a dot) Gagarin. It turned out that the whole point is in this notorious point. In Norwegian, abbreviations down to one letter are acceptable for multiple names starting with Jo. Such a word is also valid as an independent name. So the ro-Russian name of the world famous writer is not Yura, but aptly and briefly - YU (written without a dot). The surname of the Norwegian in the Russian manner is pronounced softly - Nesbo. When written using the 32-letter alphabet, the ending is replaced by an E.
The writer could not resist the use of pseudonyms accepted in this area. The first manuscript (the novel "Bat") he brought to the publisher as Kim Eric Locker. His real name was hidden for fear that Yoo, who was popular at the time as a musician for the rock band Di Derre, would be thwarted by his "stardom". Having already become a venerable writer, he again takes a pseudonym in order to eliminate the influence of his own name on the verdict of the publishers. Tom Johansson contributes three non-series solo works: Blood in the Snow, More Blood in the Water and Abduction. But most of the detective's bestsellers are signed by his family name.
As for the main character of Yu Nesbo's books - the inspector of the criminal department of the Oslo police, Harry Hole, there are also nuances of transliteration. In English, he is Harry Hole, and the name of the detective in Russian is Harry Hole. About whether his literary hero has a prototype and how the name was chosen, the author says that the image of the genius investigator is fictional, collective. The name is compound: "Harry was the name of a famous football player from my hometown Molde, and Hole was the name of a policeman from the village where my grandmother lived."
With the titles of compositions, as well as with their texts, things are much better than with proper names. Here professional translators come into play and the rules of linguistics apply. In Russia, Nesbo's books are published by the Azbuka and Inostranka publishing houses. The most popular among the Russian reader are novels from the series about Harry Hall: "Little Red Neck", "Snowman", "Leopard", "Ghost".
Norwegian "of all trades" - from talent, not from boredom
Leading American and European publications call Yu Nesbo the best detective of the last decade. Surprisingly, a person who became famous for his skill of twisting the dead loops of criminal plots cannot be called an amateur or aficionado of literary noir. He is absolutely not carried away by thrillers in films. Before he started writing detective stories himself, Yu had never read them. The writings of Agatha Christie, for example, do not like him at all. And the favorite writer in this genre - American Jim Thompson - is not to everyone's liking.
I must say that since childhood Nesbø gave preference not to lightweight reading, but to the books of the Norwegian classic Knut Hamsun. It was read by the texts of E. Hemingway, D. London, M. Twain. Was familiar with the works of F. Dostoevsky and L. Tolstoy. The area on the west coast of Norway, in which Yu has lived since 1960, is rich in literati. At one time, one of the pillars of Norwegian literature B. Björnson, the author of the national anthem of the country, studied here. In the Nesbo family they knew Russian and foreign literature well (mother was a librarian, father was a bibliophile). In the classroom at the school in Molde Yu's hometown, essays were the best. He was 13 when the teacher gave a written assignment - to tell about a forest walk. The children made up cute descriptions of picnics: bird watching, meeting with forest animals. Young Yu wrote something not at all pretty: no one returned home from the forest; one way or another (from an ax, a gun, a knife or asphyxiation) everyone died. This was the first test of the pen, accompanied, of course, by the call of the parents to school.
Yu gives two reasons that prompted him to embark on the path of writing:
- His father, a gambling storyteller of exciting stories, was going to write a memoir or fiction. But the old man Per Nesbo passed away without ever starting to work on the book. The son decided to fulfill his father's dream. In addition, he once said that he would write a book that would be better than the "Lord of the Flies" by W. Golding, recommended to him by his father, which the teenager was not enthusiastic about.
- At the age of 17, the young man began to try to write thick, serious novels in the spirit of Balzac, which he gave to his friends to read. He promised them that he would still write a deep psychological novel.
But then Ju Nesbo did not think about professional writing. Before becoming a writer, he graduated from the Higher School of Economics and Business, served in the army, traded on the stock exchange, worked as an economist, journalist, and television producer. Reflecting on the twists and turns of fate, Nesbo says that if it were possible, he would not be writing books, but running around the football field and scoring goals. But the footballer's career, which began at the Molde FK club, was not destined to take place due to a knee injury received in his youth. He remained only an ardent fan of this sport.
But the Norwegian guy has always loved to compose breathtaking, chilling creepy stories: “I am a storyteller, and this is my only talent. Fortunately, this is also my job,”says the super popular crime story writer with gore, murder, maniacs and a tense plot. Once, during an interview in the London office of the Telegraph newspaper, Yu confessed: "I am stuck in a detective space." For him, writing novels is closely intertwined with a way of life. “It doesn't matter what it is about - adult detectives, my lyrics or stories for children. An idea comes to my mind, and I wonder which of the heroes it will suit. Then I supplement it with everything necessary - tension, humor, and so on. For me, writing about Harry Hall is like conducting an orchestra during a symphony, and telling about Dr. Proctor is like going to a jazz club and improvising with a band."
The popular saying that a talented person is talented in everything is also about the famous Norwegian "of all trades".
- In his homeland, the writer of dark, intriguing books is known as a rock musician. In 1992, the Nesbo brothers formed their own group Di Deer ("There them"), in which the youngest Jo is still a lyricist, vocalist and guitarist. The songs of the group are included in the charts of Norway, in 1996 the group became a laureate of the Gammleng-prisen award. Rocker still performs at concerts, works in a recording studio.
- From sports activities to Yu, parachuting eventually came to be replaced by rock climbing, which he is engaged in quite actively, climbing the mountaineering trails of category 7c. Not so long ago, reporters were able to accompany Nesbo on a trip to Thailand and take pictures of him training on the climbing wall in Ton Sai.
- Nesbø resides in Oslo. He settled near the house of his ex-wife, according to him, in order to be closer to his daughter. While still very young, Selma read some publication in the newspaper in which the father's name and surname were written together, in one word. The girl said firmly that Jonesbø and her dad are different people. One cannot but reckon with the opinion of the child, for whose sake a loving and caring father turned to the genre of children's literature.
Eight years - this is the period during which Nesbø published exclusively as a detective, before being recognized as a children's author. Written for kids is not horror or noir at all. The author does not even admit that he will ever write a children's detective story. He has 4 books on his account about Dr. Proctor, the insane professor of chemistry, the inventor of the powder with which you can launch a person into space. In Norway, in 2015, the screen version of the second book in this series, Doctor Proctor and His Time Machine, was released. A year earlier, "Doctor Proctor and the Magic Powder" was filmed. In the first 10 days of the show, the picture attracted more than 100 thousand young viewers.
But the children's writer Nesbo is not widely known to the Russian reader. Although the first translation of the stories about the adventures of the girl Lisa and the boy Nilly, who met the insane inventor, was published by the Azbuka publishing house several years ago. The fourth book in the series "Doctor Proctor and the Great Robbery" is a novelty in 2019.
Image and personality of the writer
If we talk about Yu Nesbo's achievements in the literary field, then since the publication of his first book in 1997, the number of awards he has received has been more than two dozen. Victories in the nominations "Book of the Year", "Best Detective of the Year", "Readers' Choice". Peer Gynt National Awards and Best Norwegian Detective Story Ever Written. Nesbo is the winner of the prestigious Glass Key award for the best Scandinavian thriller, and is nominated for the Edgar Poe award.
The literary baggage of the writer consists of 12 novels about the detective Hole, several stand-alone works in the genre of Scandinavian detective stories and a cycle of 4 children's books. He is unusually efficient and consistently pleases fans with high-quality prose, allowing no more than 2 years of breaks between publications. Each next book sells better than the previous one. According to the media, the detective's annual income exceeded $ 40 million three years ago. In the homeland of the writer, taking into account audio versions, more than 4.5 million of his books have been sold. And the total circulation of works published in more than 100 countries and translated into 40 languages exceeds 30 million copies.
It is not surprising that the media, which are extremely interested in purely external moments, often portray such a successful and popular person as rich and charismatic, a kind of macho and jetsetter. Nesbo recognizes the right of journalists to surround public people with myths, but he does not want to seem like that. The writer reads it unethical to publicize his private life. He tries to discuss only issues related to his work with journalists and literary critics.
Lean, wiry, like a long-distance runner, with a casual haircut and a piercing gaze, Nesbo looks like a bandit. No, he's more of a Norwegian Bob Dylan, only blond and younger. A quote from Monty Python comes to mind: "He is not the messiah, he is a very naughty boy." Those who have met Yu Nesbø note his elegant humor and valuable ability to notice everything that happens around him. Yu himself claims that by nature he is contradictory and pessimistic. When asked how much is left to go, he will certainly answer "at least two more hours", no matter how far to the destination. And he comments: "It is safer to be a pessimist, it saves you from false hopes."
"A man in the very dawn of strength" (to quote Carlson) loves to visit small café-bars in the St. Hanshaugen area or the trendy metropolitan brasserie (industrial chic, brass lamps). Here, eating olives or sitting with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll, he often works on his books, presenting complex structures with intricate internal engineering and dynamic events.
Nesbo is full of various creative plans: he writes television scripts in the genre of political thrillers, creates dramatic works for the theater, works on the adaptation of his works:
- the first play "Ninety-meter Hill" was published in 2004;
- Four years ago, the scandalous series Occupied was launched, filmed in the genre of pseudo-history: Russia invaded Norway at the request of the EU after it decided to stop oil and gas production in the North Sea;
- TV channel HBO, American studios Universal and Warner Bros. the rights to the film adaptation of the adventures of Harry Hole were bought. The writer expects that in addition to the BAFTA-nominated crime thriller Bounty Hunters and the not-so-successful Snowman released in 2017, film versions of his other novels will be created.
It is hard to imagine that a talented Norwegian will calm down and stop testing himself for creative strength. Here are a couple of examples to judge the stock of his character:
1. During the presentation of the thriller Macbeth, he put forward the idea of signing 10,000 American copies with his own blood. The explanation was simple: the day before, he injured his hand on the mountaineering route and it was difficult for him to sign. Mr. Yu offered to take half a liter of his blood and use a fingerprint to mark blood in books. The event failed due to sanitary and hygienic considerations (publishers were afraid of contamination).
2. Once he made an extraordinary act in relation to a disgruntled reader. This person received the book automatically by being a subscriber to a book club. Expectations from acquaintance with the novelty - the novel "Bloody Snow" - did not coincide with the real impression of reading. Frustrated that the novel was very short and did not like it at all, the reader wrote an angry letter to the author: “I have a feeling that you have deceived me. There are only 180 pages in this book, I paid the same money for books about Harry Hall. " Without thinking twice, Nesbo returned the money he spent.
The writer is deeply convinced that the reader is always right. When reviewers make comments about the nature of the character or the nature of the events, he sees it as his task to make the context more understandable.
"Chole addiction" by a popular detective
Be that as it may, but the main patron in the writers' clip of U Nesbo is 12 novels about Harry Hall, the chief inspector of the Oslo criminal police. The best detective in Scandinavia has more than once tried to say goodbye to an intelligent, stubborn and ingenious detective. After the "Police" he said that there would be no sequel, and he held on for a long time. But, to the delight of fans, he himself desperately lacks Harry's dark logic, observation and determination. He admits that he cannot free himself from his "cholera addiction." It's forever, like Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. After all, he killed his breadwinner, and then was forced to resurrect.
For Russian horror fans, the series of exciting investigations led by the legend of the Oslo police will not end with the recently published book Knife. According to the writer, he is not ready to part with the hero, which is given to him "at the cost of many sleepless nights." “I always think back to Harry, he is my soul mate. But the soul is gloomy, and therefore, as always, it will be alarming and creepy, emotionally difficult,”says Nesbo.
