Midnight Sun: A novel

“Midnight Sun” by Jo Nesbo is an unexpectedly lovely story. Hardly present (except on the periphery of this tale) is the typical Nesbo impressive narrative of wretched human behavior. Instead the reader finds a lyrical, poetic love story with just enough Nesbo terror, set in the farthest Northern reaches of Norway, where it arches over the topmost territories of Sweden and Finland to touch Russia. In this bleak setting lies the story of 35 year-old Jon Hansen who is on the run from his sordid past and those who are looking to kill him. He invents a new name – Ulf.The sun never sets in summer in this land of the midnight sun. 10 year-old Knut’s star shines brightly though on every page in which he appears; he is a crucial element in the story. Lea (Knut’s mom) revives her heretofore tragic young life. Without finding much solace in their severe, bare-bones version of Christianity, Ulf (Jon) feels hope for the first time – ever -- in the presence of the Sami people. Can there possibly be a happy ending?“Life is about trying things you can’t do. You end up losing more often than you win,” instructs Jon (Ulf) to Knut while covering the basics of Sumo wrestling as they wait for the fish they just caught to cook over an open fire (at about 59% on Kindle). The unforgiving terrain is described as “reticent relentlessness” (at about 69%). Earlier, as Jon (Ulf) reflected upon his life-long dismal decision-making, he mused, “Is there a level below idiot?” (at about 48%). Pathos, humor and fine characterizations abound.Thus, with his usual florescent, pitch-perfect writing, Jo Nesbo has turned out a beautiful, tight novella. Every word on each of its 218 pages is just right. The translation by Neil Smith is flawless. Touching, gorgeous passages abound. I didn’t want it to end. Is Jo Nesbo the best modern-day European writer? I think quite probably yes.It’s a 5, through and through.

I’ve been to the area of Norway within the Arctic Circle and can’t think of a better place to hide if a sinister someone is looking for you. But, as Jo Nesbo writes, if a man in Oslo called The Fisherman wants to find you and settle a score, trying to hide is futile. Jon Hansen, calling himself Ulf, is the fellow trying to hide and is befriended by a woman named Lea and her ten year old son, Knut. Lea provides an abandoned hunting cabin for Ulf and he keeps a sharp eye for other visitors from the south who might be looking for him. Lea’s husband has been lost at sea while fishing and she takes solace in her religion, Laestadianism, a conservative Lutheran revival movement started in Lapland in the middle of the 19th century. She is clearly not interested in a relationship with Ulf. Ulf makes friends with Knut and a male deer who hangs around Ulf’s cabin while looking for food. The deer even plays a dramatic role near the end to ensure Ulf’s safety, a clever plot device by Nesbo that I didn’t see coming. This book’s cover labels it a novel but I would judge it a novella. It’s short, filled with tension, and moves at a steady pace. I could have easily finished reading it in one day instead of the two days I took.

To start, I buy and read everything available by Nesbo,books and DVDs alike..This book Ifind not up to his highest standards..There is much mood music, desolation and philosophy, butwe are given much of Jon the Fixer, wonderfully introduced in "Blood on Snow", as distracted frommuch action in the God awful most North that Norway can offer..with too little to do or share..Yes, he must stay vigilant to remain free from the killers hired by The Fisherman to do him in. But hisdecision to hole up in a cabin known to everyone in the village and easily found makes little sense..The one and only scene of confrontation prompts the question whether Nesbo or The Revenant wasfirst to come up with the hide hiding place..The bad guys easily give up, leaving Jon and them to liveto see another day and to resurface in the next Nesbo novel..So with not much else to do but visit town, such as it is, Jon explores relationships and introspection..So we have a wildly inconvenient love story, which becomes the major focus to a man on the lamb..Whywould a man skilled in killing and trusting necessarily only in his own devices and those impulses alonedecide to fall in love again, which he tells us repeatedly is a constant event and cause of regret, always..??So to me we are reading a fragment which in content and tone is no more than a pause between the action..Nesbo always writes wonderfully, but this book features style over suspense, his stock in trade..

Como siempre Jo Nesbo crea una historia entretenida, con un final inesperado y que agradará a todo al que le guste la novela negra de calidad

Not bad for a novelette

Jo Nesbo proved once again...he is a superb writer and story teller. Is there a Blood on Snow1? If so, I must read it.

I am missing Harry Hole.

Not up to his usual standard.