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FeedMondays with Schobie: The next big Swede
Happy Monday. Let's start our journey in Sweden. (Why not?)
• In an earlier column, I mentioned Jo Nesbo (I can't figure out how to make the "o" with the line through it), the bestselling Swedish crime writer behind The Snowman. While it’s probably inaccurate to call Nesbo “the next big Swede”—he’s been writing bestsellers in his native land since 1997—his work has just arrived in North America during the past few years, part of a tidal wave of Swedish mysteries that have washed up post-Stieg Larsson. (See also: the reliable but less involving Henning Mankell.) The Washington Post explored this in a May profile; clearly, the author is no fan of the “next Stieg” tag. Larsson is certainly a tough act to follow.
Nesbo is the most interesting author I this bunch by far. His latest American release is The Leopard, his 2009 follow-up to Snowman, his first real U.S. hit, and a rumored future Scorsese film. Both feature his world-weary, Doc Martens-wearing cop Harry Hole, who, as Leopard opens, is dealing with the after-effects of one of his most brutal cases. Nesbo calls it his "most complex story so far,” and my initial impression is that this seems to be the case. While the hook of Snowman may have been stronger—a series of women go missing and creepy, body-part-filled snowmen keep appearing—Leopard feels like a more emotional experience. (I’m about halfway through, and it’s gripping.)
Interestingly, one of his stand-alone novels, Headhunters, was released here in September. Its foreign language film adaptation played to raves at the Toronto International Film Festival, and an American remake is already in the works. I picked up Headhunters in paperback for about 10 bucks at Target a few weeks ago. When your work is on sale in the land of red and khaki, you’ve officially made it, friends.
• If, like me, you’re a relative Sherlock Holmes novice who has been relishing the chance to delve deeper into Holmes-ian lore for years, Sherlock Holmes on Screen is a helpful starter. Author Alan Barnes has created a wonderfully exhaustive study of, well, every large or small screen adaptation of Conan Doyle’s hero. And I mean every—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Scooby Doo included.
While Barnes offers only faint praise for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (the sequel, Game of Shadows, did not come out early enough for inclusion), he is far more impressed with the BBC’s Sherlock. Having finally watched the first episode, A Study in Pink, I could not agree more. It was as involving as any one-hour drama I’ve seen in years. (It’s actually about ninety minutes long, but I’d still consider it an episode, not a movie.)
In addition to having the best name this side of Zooey Deschanel, star-on-the-rise Benedict Cumberbatch is a note-perfect modern-day Holmes, and the BBC Office’s great Martin Freeman (Bilbo-to-be) is even better as Watson. This is the rare contemporary update that feels both smart and reverent. PBS will air series two in May, and I can’t wait.
• Speaking of PBS, critical consensus is that the year’s finest documentary was not one of the five nominated for the Best Documentary Academy Award. Steve James’s The Interrupters is that film, and its lack of nomination is no shock; James’s 1994 classic Hoop Dreams failed to score a nod, as well.
Was the Academy wrong to ignore Interrupters? Now you can be the judge. Frontline aired the study of three men who try to stop inner-city violence a week ago, but in truly great news, it’s also streaming online now.
• Odd but interesting event listing for the week: Soul Coughing’s Mike Doughty will read read from his memoir at Talking Leaves at 5 p.m. on Friday (February 24). Please, no requests for "Super Bon Bon."
• If you’re not aware of “Linsanity” yet, start here, with Deadspin’s “Non-Sports Fan’s Guide to Jeremy Lin.” The site continues to cover the triumphant rise of Knick Jeremy Lin with humor and real smarts. (There's no doubt it's the funniest sports site online.)
This might be the greatest sports story in years—or at least the greatest basketball story—so I feel for the local Knicks fans who can’t watch the action thanks to Time Warner and MSG … (My favorite Deadspin Lin story so far: “The Video Game Version of Jeremy Lin Is Unrealistically Bad at Basketball.”)
• I had the pleasure of appearing on Kevin Purdy and Phil Dzikiy’s “In Pod Form” podcast a few weeks ago, talking Oscars. We discussed everything from the Oscar nominations to the Mickey Mouse-Joy Division controversy. You can download it (episode twelve) at inpodform.com.
• Last but not least, in honor of Pulp’s first visit to American in more than a decade, enjoy “The Trees,” from their underrated final album, We Love Life. I guess I won’t make it to the Radio City show, and no Toronto date is planned … so my Pulp drought will continue. Bummer, but we’ll always have this.
Jo Nesbø © Håkon Eikesdal
