Scandinavian detective writers. Contemporary Scandinavian Literature. Rune Belswick "Prostodursen"

The Scandinavian detective has been confidently pushing his English-speaking counterparts on the book market for twenty years now. At first glance, it is strange that it was in the countries of general prosperity, where citizens are calm for their rights, the grass is green, the air is clean, and the main means of transportation is a bicycle, that this gloomy genre was formed. Or maybe it is he who somehow compensates for some boredom from a too comfortable life and serves as a serviceable supplier of thrills. A cold, gloomy climate, rural solitude (if the action does not take place in the capitals), long nights that are sometimes difficult to survive without a strong drink - all this, after all, is the perfect backdrop for the horror that traditionally unfolds on the pages of detective authors from Sweden. , Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.

Detective novels, created in a society where tolerance is elevated to the rank of state religion, also carry a huge social charge: they openly and sometimes even aggressively talk about the violation of someone's freedoms, whether they are children, women or migrants. And the investigators here are one more bizarre than the other. They, unlike the decent Holmes and Poirots, both drink and fall into depression, and constantly delve into themselves, trying to resolve existential issues.

Corpus has selected some of the brightest.

Let's start with the fact that the publishing house recently released another detective story by the famous Icelander Arnald Indridason - a continuation of his series of novels about Inspector Erlend from Reykjavik, marked by many awards and prizes.

Our other novelty is Karin Fossum, the "Norwegian detective queen". Fossum's series of novels about Inspector Konrad Sejer (a typical Norwegian policeman: serious, punctual and a bit old-fashioned) continues with a murder investigation elderly woman living alone on her farm, and bank robbery with hostage taking.

"Foreigner" released several Scandinavian novelties at once. The Man Who Smiled, by Swedish theater director and writer Henning Mankell, is another book in a cycle of novels about the lone commissar Kurt Wallander. This time, Wallander falls into a long Scandinavian depression after killing a man on duty and decides to leave this service. It was not there - he knows how to understand complicated cases too well. He is asked to investigate a double homicide and cannot refuse.

Another recent Nesbø novel is The Goddess of Vengeance. The author's favorite hero, a rude, alcoholic and talented detective, Harry Hole, has enough of his work (he is investigating a bank robbery and the murder of a bank employee associated with it), and then it suddenly turns out that a woman shot herself - or was shot dead - in her apartment, with whom he seems to have spent the night ... Hole is sure that the murders are deliberate and for the umpteenth time enters dangerous game with the law to find out the truth.

The detective novel by the famous Finnish woman Leena Lehtolainen with the intriguing title "Damn Kittens" was also released in "Foreigner" and tells how Hilia Ilveskero is hired as a bodyguard for a rich spoiled beauty, the bride of a Finnish millionaire, and makes one amazing discovery after another - it turns out, disguised faces , leading a double life under his very nose, is much more than one might think.

"Police" by the famous Jo Nesbø, published in the ABC, is the last and best novel by the Norwegian, an example of the genre. Police officers are being killed one by one, and the police have no clue. Nesbø is not complete without pictures of extreme violence: the main villain slowly and with relish dismembers one of the heroes, who has already fallen in love with the previous books. An important topic here is the topic of homosexual relationships and the suppression of one's own homosexuality.

In "A Man Without a Dog" (RIPOL Classic Publishing House) by Swede Håkan Nesser, the mysterious disappearance of two participants in a family celebration becomes a sensation for a small town, then a routine, and then almost forgotten. And only a stubborn investigator continues to struggle with the riddle.

Here they are, new stories about hot Scandinavian detectives. Happy reading on long winter evenings.

On November 9, 2004, journalist Stieg Larsson died in Stockholm at the age of 50. The Stig smoked 60 cigarettes a day and, shortly before his death, signed a contract with a publishing house to publish three novels. Now they are published with a total circulation of 65 million, but Larsson never saw them on paper.

I am one of those who devoured the Millennium trilogy in just a couple of days with a break for short nap and cooking quick meals that can be consumed while reading. I am also one of those who, with maniacal persistence, proves that Noomi Rapace is the best Lisbeth Salander, although the Scandinavian film adaptation is generally dull, sketchy, and for the third film it does resemble the Streets of Broken Lights series.

The heroes of Scandinavian detective stories are not heroes at all. Police officers are all alcoholics and drug addicts with broken lives, journalists are almost always on the verge of a nervous breakdown and in a state of chronic panic attack. Politicians are all corrupt officials, covering if not human traffic and prostitution now, then in the past they are certainly ultra-right terrorists. The owner of a business empire in a tailored suit is sure to turn out to be a pedophile or a former Nazi. Victims are cut into pieces, burned, glued to the bathroom with superglue, fed with ashes and kept for several years in a pressure chamber under pressure of several atmospheres. All this blood-chilling horror takes place on the territory of the three kingdoms with the highest standard of living and happiness in general, and very often - in sleepy fishing towns and remote farms, where the investigator, after working the prescribed hours in the station, takes the children from kindergarten, has dinner with lasagna and watches Discovery channel.

The gloomy atmosphere of the detective literature of the northern countries completely kills all remnants of common sense in you. When I ended up in the sleepy town of Mölle in Skåne (southern Sweden) on New Year's Eve, it was about nothing else but that "this harbor and this hut on the mountain" are ideal places to find the corpse of a young girl I just couldn't think anymore.

However, the cruelty and sophistication in the Scandinavian detective stories, first of all, exposes all the uncomfortable and politically incorrect problems of “northern capitalism with a human face” (immigrants, drugs, terrorism, human trafficking and abuse of women and children), and only after that it increases circulation and sales. But one does not interfere with the other.

After the death of Stieg Larsson, the world has completely fallen under the influence of dark Scandinavian noir. Millions of English people were glued to the BBC Four series Forbrydelsen in Danish (!) with English subtitles. By the third (and final) season, it has become a real cult classic: the original sweater from the Faroe Islands, in which the artist Sophie Grabol as Inspector Sarah Lund investigates the murder of a young schoolgirl, is a fierce hunt (even the insane price of £ 230 does not scare people ( about 3106 UAH.)), the wife of Prince Charles Camilla comes to Denmark to shoot the third season in order to receive the coveted artifact from the hands of the actress herself. A little later, the American channel AMC moves the action to Baltimore and shoots a relatively successful remake.

“Scandinavian detective” has become something akin to a Soviet quality mark, but it’s still worth figuring out who to read so that stories about a German average detective who took a Swedish pseudonym to get rich on the crest of the northern wave, but was still exposed , were not repeated.

Henning Mankel

The patriarch of the Swedish detective, as well as a theater director and civil activist. He lives mainly in Mozambique, where he fights against world injustice and returns to Sweden only for the summer. Married to the daughter of Ingmar Bergman. Mankel's hero is a middle-aged tired commissioner Kurt Wallander from the town of Ystad in southern Sweden. Mankel's novels were filmed by the Swedes, but the British series with Kenneth Branagh is the case when the actor was created for the role.

What to read:“The Man Who Smiled”, “White Lioness”, “One Step Behind”, “Deaf Wall”

Lisa Marklund

The Swedish journalist continues the legacy of Stieg Larsson in a literal sense – she is the second Swedish author whose book has risen to number one on the New Your Times bestseller list. Her heroine, journalist Annika Bengtzon, is chronically paranoid, but nevertheless unearths the most horrifying details of the crimes of Swedish politicians, picking up children from the garden along the way and preparing a three-course meal.

Camille Lackberg

Critics dubbed her "Swedish Agatha Christie" and very justifiably, but with a focus on the Miss Marple series. Her heroes are ordinary inhabitants, rural doctors, preachers and idle tourists. The sleepy town of Fjällbacka, where the events take place, is the Swedish equivalent of the village of St. Mary Meads. Nevertheless, the plot of the mother of three children knows how to spin very famously, besides, you can say “bravo” to the successful choice of the main characters. The relationship between writer Erica Falk and Inspector Patrick Hedstrom has been interesting to follow from the very first book.

What to read:“Ice Princess”, “Letter from a Mermaid”, “Preacher”, “Taste of Ashes”

Jussi Adler Olsen

Success and recognition came to the intellectual and coordinator of the Danish Peace Movement with a book about the unpleasant inspector Karl Merk and his assistant, a Syrian immigrant. Now there are already four books in the series, two have been translated into Russian. The first novel, The Caged Woman, has been filmed and is now a success in the Danish box office.

Yu Nesbe

Norwegian James Hadley Chase wrote a dozen novels about the hard-drinking alcoholic Harry Hole, who is also the best police officer in Norway. They are also read drunkenly, sometimes it becomes embarrassing later like “the day after yesterday”, but who stopped it on the next Friday evening in a bar?

What to read: the entire series of detective stories about Harry Hole, the last novel is “Police”

Lars Kepler

Swedish couple Alexander and Alexandra Coelho Andoril are the authors of a series of novels about Stockholm police investigator Jon Linn, originally from Finland. The first novel, The Hypnotist, was named by TIME magazine as one of the main books of 2010, the Swedes immediately filmed it and nominated it for an Oscar as the best foreign film.

Gunnar Stolesen

A native of Bergen, Norway, created "the most popular Norwegian detective of all time" according to the readers of the newspaper Dagbladet - Varg Veuma. Veum still lives in the same Bergen, where he has an extensive practice. Since the 70s, as many as 16 books about Veum have been published, in the 2000s they began to be filmed, but not as a series, but as separate television films, where Veum is played by the same actor Trond Espen Seim.

What to read:“Companions of death”, “At night all wolves are gray”, “Forever yours”

If you think you don't know what Scandinavian literature is, you're wrong. But what about Hans Christian Andersen - a Danish writer and poet, author of the world-famous "Ugly Duckling", what about the well-known Astrid Lindgren? This article will introduce you to a piece of the cultural life of the countries of the blue hills and shady trees surrounding the lakes, the countries of the Vikings - the countries of Scandinavia.

Scandinavian literature is works in the national Scandinavian languages ​​- Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, which are part of the North Germanic language group. This is part of Scandinavian philology. In literary terms, there are many similarities between the countries of Scandinavia, since they have the same cultural and linguistic origins. Widely known representatives of this literature, as well as Nobel laureates at the same time, are Knut Hamsun, Bjornstjerne Bjornson and Karl Gjellerup.

It is also worth noting a separate type of Scandinavian prose - the Icelandic sagas, which are an integral part of the world's cultural heritage.

The writers of the Scandinavian countries have achieved success all over the world. Their works have been translated into many languages ​​and are sold by an international publishing house in thousands of copies every year. Scandinavian writers attached particular importance to folklore and literary traditions - songs, myths, skalds, and the art of romanticism.

Scandinavian children's literature requires special attention. It so happened that a fantastic fairy tale is especially popular here, the images in which have a close connection with tradition, and real life shown through the eyes of children through their games and fantasies. Such fantastic tales are written by the "fantastic" writer known to the whole world, Astrid Lindgren. Everyone knows "Kid and Carlson", "Pippi Longstocking".

The Finnish writer Tove Jansson is also popular: “Moomin-Troll Chasing a Comet” and “The Wizard's Hat”. Her works are characterized by fantastic events, as well as a children's caricature of the adult world.

If we consider modern Scandinavian literature, then it should be noted that novelists who write screenplays are popular. Among them are the Norwegians Lars Saabye Christensen, Nikolai Frobenius and Erlend Loe. Norwegian detective writers Kim Smoge, Unni Lindel and Karren Fossum also gained wide popularity abroad.

A special place in modern Scandinavian literature is occupied by the Danish writer Peter Hoeg - his books have been published in more than thirty countries of the world. Peter Høeg's most famous novel is Smilla and Her Sense of Snow, a book that mixes rage, coldness, love and indifference. No less popular is Tove Jannson, a Finnish writer and artist. Her most famous works: "The Sculptor's Daughter", "Summer Book", "Stone Field", "Honest Deception".

Yet perhaps the most famous contemporary Scandinavian writer is Lars Soby Christensen. In Europe, this person is called the "Scandinavian Nobel", because his works have been translated into more than thirty languages. His first novel, The Beatles, won several international awards. Its main direction creative activity is a family saga genre.

Considering the Scandinavian literature of the 21st century, one cannot ignore the work of two writers whose works have become world-class bestsellers. First of all, this is Stieg Larsson. His "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" has earned popularity and recognition from readers around the world. The author presents and develops a simple, at first glance, plot of a detective story in such a way that it is impossible to tear oneself away from the book, and it is read really "drunkenly". The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been filmed twice. These films quite clearly reflect the originality of the work of Scandinavian writers and the attitude towards them. If the second attempt to screen the work, filmed in Hollywood, is designed primarily for the mass public, then the first, filmed by Swedish filmmakers, is duly appreciated by fans of intellectual cinema.

No less popular than Stieg Larsson is Christine Valla. Her story "Tourists" is the story of the relationship of three friends. Sometimes difficult, sometimes reflecting the banal aspects of our life, situations captivate with their romanticism and spiritual closeness to the reader. Heroes do not seem fictional, but taken from the ordinary environment of today's youth. And therefore they are close and understandable, and the book itself is worthy of taking a place in the home library.

Well, as we see, Scandinavian literature can be proud of its heroes. Although modern Scandinavian works are not as popular as American or European ones, it is only a matter of time. I think talented writers will be able to make modern Scandinavian literature world-famous.

Dark plots, meticulous detailing, oppressive noir atmosphere - that's what to expect from a Scandinavian detective.

A couple of decades ago, it never occurred to anyone to single out detective stories created by the cold Nordic imagination into a separate genre. Today, the Scandinavian detective has his own niche in contemporary literature, as well as loyal fans who do not miss a single novelty.

What will attract the modern Nordic detective?

• Layered plot. The Scandinavians are masters of dashing plot. Murders and industrial espionage against the backdrop of stories of political corruption, geopolitical crime, and all this is flavored with domestic violence and total lies. Unlike the classic English plot, Scandinavian authors are not limited to any one type of crime. Sometimes it seems that the writers have arranged an unspoken competition - who has more crimes per unit of book space?
• Attention to detail. If, in the story, the characters visit a crime scene, then you will find a thoughtful description of what they saw, what they thought, what they said to their partner, what they wanted to say, changed their minds, and so on. Corpses, injuries, mutilations and other unappetizing details are also usually described in depressing detail.
• noir. It has been a hit with readers since the first books by Stieg Larsson. His Millennium trilogy marked the beginning of a new wave of Scandinavian detective stories. Sophisticated murders against the background of emphasized emotional restraint and even coldness of the characters fascinate the modern reader. You just wonder where such horrors and sins grow on the barren northern soil?
• Rigidity, if not to say, the cruelty of the presentation. There is no impression that the authors enjoy crime. They play the role of an impartial witness, a mirror that only reflects the environment. Violence takes on totality and even routine everyday life, which makes it even more gloomy and terrifying.
• Voltage. Fans of fights and shooting can easily pass by, the authors' imagination is refined in chases and explosions, and in a skillful escalation of tension. Speaking in American jargon, Scandinavian detective stories are not action, but suspense.

Genre novelties

Stieg Larsson "The Girl in the Web" . The last novel of the great Scandinavian. He did not have time to finish it, and David Lagerkrantz, a Swedish popular journalist, continued work on the book. According to the plot of the book, the main characters of the series Mikael Bloomkvest and Lisbeth Salander have a new meeting. Their interests are cut short when a journalist starts investigating the murder of a science luminary. Lisbeth at the same time is looking for traces of her new worst enemy. The trademark atmosphere of total violence and the gloomy charm of the king of the Scandinavian detective managed to be preserved in the new novel, the continuation of the cult trilogy "Millennium".

Yu Nesbo "Ghost". This author has created his own detective world, and his work is consistently warmly received by critics and readers. "Ghost" is another story about the former detective Harry Hole, about his attempt to save the wrongly accused man, whom he once knew. This book has it all - polished language, with signature chilly attention to detail, a charismatic lone hero, an enigmatic villain. And all the signs of a fashionable Scandinavian detective story are drugs, murders, an intricate plot, non-standard moves, violence, psychopathic manifestations of personality and gloomy dialogues of heroes against the background of whitish northern landscapes.

Yu Nesbo "Blood in the Snow". The book tells about the difficult everyday life of a hired killer, moreover, amorous. Unlike most typical examples of the genre, the plot is quite simple, however, a slight touch of irony, vivid images, and a tightly built plot keep you in suspense to the end. The book is one of those that are read in one breath.

Lisa Marklund "Big deal" . Marklund is the second Swedish writer to have a #1 bestseller in the prestigious NYT rankings. It is often compared to Larsson's books. They have a lot in common, in particular, the chilling atmosphere of evil and violence, which for many characters has become a way of life. Loud Case was translated and published in Russia in 2016. This is another novel about the investigations of Annika Bengtzon, a brave journalist. Two stories that originate at different ends of the globe are intricately woven into one strong thread. For Annika, the investigation into the death of a child whom his mother took safely to Kindergarten, becomes not only loud, but also a very personal matter.

Camille Lagbert "The Phantom Lighthouse" . The heroine of the series of books Lagberg very coolly resembles the Scandinavian Miss Marple, only young and family. Erica - that's the name of the central character of the series - writes books, brings up three charming children and along the way investigates crimes taking place in the Scandinavian wilderness. The Phantom Lighthouse is a story not only about the brutal murder of the CFO of a successful project, but also about love, riddles, ghosts of the past and ancient legends. The book was translated into Russian in 2013 and appeared in most stores in 2015.

Alena Rogozinskaya

Scandinavians know how to write excellent detective stories. Book1mark has selected for you 1 best detective from the most famous Scandinavian countries:

What the snow can tell turns out to be a whole murder story. The boy was playing on the roof and fell down, no one has any questions in this matter, except for Smilla. She clearly remembers how he was terribly afraid of heights.

Peter Høeg's Detective has been filmed, translated in 30 countries and won prestigious awards. This is the only Danish writer with worldwide popularity.

Another detective masterpiece from Scandinavia directly related to snow. As soon as the first snow covers the ground, a married woman goes missing, and so on from year to year. Detective Harry Hole meets the killer for the first time in his own area, and not in a foreign country.

This is the 7th book in the series about the gloomy detective from the best contemporary writer in Norway.

The interweaving of four storylines around one murder is recognized by the world literary community as aerobatics writing.

Moving from Stockholm for a married couple was supposed to be a new happy stage. They hoped and believed that this wooden farm would become their home. But it turned out that ghosts live here.

The book was awarded the 2010 International Crime Dagger, the most prestigious detective award.

The police find the body of an elderly man. There is not a single clue to continue the investigation, except for a piece of paper. Erlend - the investigator intends to unravel this mystery and pull out the history of ancient times.

The book was filmed and nominated for many awards, and was called a “sensation” in the world literary community.

Maria Kallio is forced to conduct an investigation, by the way, for the first time. Moreover, she was personally acquainted with the victim and the suspects. Anyone could have committed murder at this party, but which one of them has a motive.

"My First Murder" was written in 1993 by the current queen of the Finnish detective story.

Of course, Scandinavia is rich in talented writers, but we have selected the most popular of them, with a small exception. Swede Stieg Larsson, we decided to simply single out at the end, as the most famous Scandinavian author in the whole world.