The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:45 AM PDT Anyone looking for serious, and seriously compelling, crime writing need look no further. IT would seem that there is something of a crime wave sweeping Scandinavia. Henning Mankel, Stieg Larsson, Lars Kepler ... these are not, as you might imagine, serial killers but crime writers whose work has topped bestseller lists across the world. In the case of Kepler, there was even the additional excitement of a plot about a thriller as journalists sought the actual identity of the secretive author of The Hypnotist. Shortly after it was sold for a huge advance, a journalist and cameraman finally arrived at "Kepler's" house in the dead of night and forced Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril, critically acclaimed Stockholm based writers, to admit that Lars Kepler was a pseudonym for their combined identity. They admitted it. It turned out that they too had abandoned academia for crime. Whatever the cause of this wave of crime fiction, Jo Nesbo is another of its finest exponents. The Redbreast, Nemesis and The Devil's Star may not be a trilogy in the sense that The Lord Of The Rings is a trilogy – not least because I suspect there is more to come – but together they make up close to 1,500 pages of gripping crime fiction. That is a long time to spend in the company of Harry Hole, Nesbo's detective protagonist, but it is time well spent if you have a taste for Scandinavian noir. I am going to come clean here and say that it is very difficult to review these three books together without giving away the plot of the earlier titles. While each of the three will stand on its own, there are characters, incidents and crimes that are common to all three or to two of the three, and there are parts of The Devil's Star that it is impossible to write about here without spoiling The Redbreast and Nemesis for potential readers. So I shall do what I can without giving anything, or at least too much, away in the hope that you will read all three in the order in which they are intended to be read. Almost all crime fiction depends on the character of its central investigator. Harry Hole is in a mould lovers of crime fiction will readily identify. A loner, a breaker of rules, a man with a tangled love life and a problem with alcohol, Hole has many of the characteristics associated with the protagonists of the genre, including considerable powers of intuition. His colleagues and opponents also have a familiar ring – an indulgent superior, a despised bent cop, a lone colleague who can be trusted and the usual gang of thugs, serial killers and hard men who make up the opposition. So what then makes Jo Nesbo different? Firstly, there is a ferocious intelligence at work in these books. The dividing line between crime fiction and literary fiction has become ever more blurred over the years and Nesbo does an excellent job of smudging it to the point of obliterating the divide. By comparison, much crime fiction, even very competent crime fiction, looks one dimensional. Nesbo's casts are big and his plots spread their tentacles through entire cities and, on a number of occasions, across countries. This does not always make for easy reading – "too many characters and too much going on" is not an uncommon response to the first 100 pages. But as the books develop and the plots thicken and the unravelling gets more tortuous, all three of these books exert their grip and that initial confusion is replaced by admiration for the skill and craftsmanship Nesbo shows in managing events. Secondly, Harry is a great character. He may have characteristics that tie him to other protagonists in the genre (Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch certainly comes to mind) but he has more substance than most. Nesbo takes time to explore and describe not only his investigative talents but the flat in which he lives, his contributions to meetings, his rivalries, his dreams, his memories, his fears and the state of his soul. In short, he is a fully rounded character with whose plight you sympathise and whose frustrations you share. Never a team player and too often "doing his own thing and letting everyone around him pay the price", he may catch you off guard on occasions, and you may not always like what you see, but you will be involved with Harry Hole, like him or not. There are other pleasures in these books too. Beate Lonn is a terrific creation, a video recording specialist whose fusiform gyrus (an area of the brain that is the key structure in face perception) is so large that she can identify and remember a face once seen even over a period of many years. Effectively, she becomes Harry's partner, along with an old colleague, the eccentric psychologist Stale Aune with his elegant tweed jacket and bow tie with red dots, "one of the country's finest in his field and an expert to whom the police had had frequent recourse". And running through all three books is the hideous Tom Waaler, a fellow member of the force but one with whom Harry is in constant conflict even when he has to work alongside him. Is Waaler behind the drug running and arms smuggling that threatens to overrun the city, and behind the death of Harry's much loved old colleague Ellen Gjelten? And even if he is, is there any way it will ever be proved? Through plot, counter plot and a whole string of nail-biting scenes, Nesbo is sure-footed over the course of these three books. But be warned: this is an author who loves to mislead his reader and seems to specialise in what in Agatha Christie's time were called "red herrings". All is rarely what it seems. But what does seem certain is that international crime fiction has a new star – his name is Jo Nesbo and he is setting new standards in Scandinavian noir. |
| Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:42 AM PDT The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood WHAT an iPad of a book, I thought, as I ran my hands over the cover that was tastefully done in white, black and red. And just like a real iPad, you will either get sick of it after a short while or be lost in it for hours, maybe days. The Information is James Gleick's attempt to enlighten the masses about the subject of "information": its history, theories, and how technology that bloomed in the last 50 years has redefined our relationship with information. Gleick kicks things off with the story of early forms of texting, which includes fire signals and African talking drums. While highlighting the latter we are introduced to Kele, a Bantu language spoken in parts of Zaire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Inflections in speech can give the same Kele word or phrase different meanings, resulting in comical and potentially tragic consequences. For instance, one can end up saying "he boiled his mother-in-law" instead of "he watched the riverbank". Several revelations arise from this: language is complex; such complexities can form a basis for some kind of encryption; and it seems that mothers-in-law are hated everywhere. The book explores other aspects of information, such as communication (telegraph and telecommunications), processing (19th century English mathematician and mechanical engineer Charles Babbage's difference engine, transistors and logic circuits), encryption (WWII's famed Enigma machine), and finally, "the flood" (social networks and Wikipedia). The book gets harder to read as one goes along, however. Some parts are like a textbook or encyclopaedia, with diagrams, math equations, foreign words and special symbols. All that, plus the dry tone and inaccessible language clutter up and bog down what would have been an interesting book that might explain and contextualise, among other things, phenomena such as Fox "News", LOLcats, and Charlie Sheen. Digging up such gems, however, is like going through a mile of Google search results. One wonders if this is actually the sequel to Gleick's previous book, Chaos. Those with the determination, patience and stamina to wade through the entire book will likely be rewarded with a clearer understanding of what we read, why we seek it, why we read some things more than others, and why we have that urge to "spread the word". Some points to ponder: Our hunger for information can lead to an information hangover and apathy, so how do we sate the hunger while avoiding the side-effects? If DNA code is "information", does that make us "living machines", and gene-based treatments a form of programming? For me, "information" connotes something that's shiny, intriguing and that invites exploration, but the task of unravelling the complex relationships between us and the information we produce and consume is much, much harder. Though I feel Gleick has done his utmost to do this, I also fear he has been too successful. The Information may help us understand the origins of information and our ties to it, but it may also end up a victim of its author's apparent success – a book that's too smart for the casual reader, afflicted by some of the problems it highlights and tries to explain. |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2011 11:46 PM PDT Secrets Of Power Problem Solving PROBLEMS happen every day, but how many of us have a formula we follow when attempting to solve them? The author says that even successful people rarely employ a specific technique when it comes to problem-solving. More often than not, the idea seems to be to deal with a problem only when it rears its ugly head. This book takes the reader through the different categories of problems, how to identify them, and the techniques and strategies for solving almost everything the world throws at you. How To Communicate With Anyone HOW many times have you had to repeat yourself today? Isn't it frustrating when nobody understands what you are trying to say? Verbal cues are not enough; body language can make or break the communication. This book examines the latest approaches to communication from both a conscious and subconscious perspective. Exercises are also included so you can flex your communication skills in the real world. Is He Lying To You? DRAWING on his skills and experience as a polygraph examiner and special investigator for the CIA, the author has developed tactics and strategies for detecting deception. Aimed specifically at women, this book discusses useful tidbits like how to trap a liar, the two biggest signs of deception, a man's verbal and non-verbal clues that give him away when he's being deceptive and the reasons why it is so easy to miss deception. The book includes more than 100 examples of how to identify when someone is lying to you. 50 Simple Ways To Live A Longer Life THIS book claims that you can make yourself healthier and happier by spending just five minutes a day on the techniques it highlights. The authors have sorted through well-known health do's and don'ts and combined scientific facts with practical advice. They have narrowed it down to 50 techniques they think will help increase your life span as well as practices and habits – like eating more fish, spending more time outdoors, meditating and maintaining a positive outlook – that could possibly help to decrease the risk factors of heart disease, diabetes and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. How To Think Like Einstein THERE is potential in every person you meet on the street. The trick is to discover how to tap into it. In this step-by-step guide to discovering your hidden genius, the author goes through topics like why it is important to think out of the box, act like a millionaire, pretend to be James Bond, break rules and adopt a flexible definition of victory. Unnatural Selection THERE is a city in China that has 163 boys for every 100 girls. Similar figures are popping up in other parts of Asia. The author argues that we are already seeing the effects now: sex trafficking and bride-buying are some of the examples. Infant girls are being killed upon birth, but perhaps more relevant to this issue in the modern world is the availability of ultrasound and abortion. The author warns of a world of surplus Asian men. What consequences will this gender imbalance cause in the future? A Stolen Life KIDNAPPED when she was 11 years old, Jaycee Dugard was kept prisoner in a backyard shed for 18 years and sexually abused. She was forced to become a sister, and then a mother. She wasn't even allowed to say her own name. The chapters alternate between a first-person account of her time in captivity and "reflections" sections that serve as commentaries. The World's 200 Hardest Brain Teasers IT'S all about keeping the gears running and sharpening your brain – and having fun in the process too, of course. This book is a collection of mind-boggling puzzles, riddles, maths problems and curious questions. Answers are included alongside explanations and detailed strategies to answering the questions using what the author calls the Gruber Method. It even comes with a warning: the brain teasers in this book may get you so wrapped up in critical thinking that you may not be able to do your regular work until you solve them! |
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