![]() They'll be rapt watching Macbeth grow more and more venal, like Walter White in "Breaking Bad." This author packs his novel with action, from shootouts to chase scenes, and there's something compelling about the drive behind them, about the need these characters have to construct something greater and more interesting than the circumstances meted out to them by the universe: "The broad, majestic gently graded steps led down to the dark, deserted Workers' Square, where once there had been hustle and bustle, market stalls and travelers hurrying to and fro, but which was now ghostly, a square where the wind whistled and whined." Nesbo fans won't care one bit about the un-Shakespearean aspects of his Macbeth. Which isn't to say there isn't a lot to like. While Nesbo's adaptation sings when he departs from the original script, it also takes him farther from the original's core. While Nesbo's adaptation sings when he departs from the original script, it also takes him farther from the original's core, a tragedy in which hubris takes down the protagonist. The plot turns on how one man treats everyone else in his world, from the basest criminals to the most powerful rulers. Power and guilt are woven into Macbeth's dilemma and choices. His play centers on the title character's inner turmoil. Shakespeare - this will come as no surprise - had something else in mind. There's so much action that readers will be hard put to decide what matters most, the corruption of a community, or the rotting of a relationship. What Nesbo doesn't do very well is discern the point of Shakespeare's tragedy. Nesbo does what he does very well: The crazy drug bust that goes sideways proves this (it also makes Macbeth a hero, which later will prove equally crazy). the great man with the soft cheeks, the friendly smile, the dark wavy hair and the cold eyes."Ĭrime In The City Jo Nesbo's Fiction Explores Oslo's Jagged EdgesĪs the action ratchets up, readers may notice that this Macbeth entertains best when it veers off from Shakespeare's plot. Out with the clean-cut commissioner Duncan, in with the serpentlike druglord Hecate, who resembles no one so much as Semyon in Eastern Promises: ". When Macbeth receives a prophesy from two Chinese drugmakers and their giantess companion (yes, apparently even in the hard-luck '70s, visions come through), Lady urges him to act on it and pursue becoming Chief of Police - because then she'll control that department completely. In this nameless burg resides the corrupt SWAT-team Inspector Macbeth and his "Lady," who runs the (seedy) local casino. Cross Trainspotting with a Val McDermid mystery and you'll have some idea of how bleak this place feels. ![]() This city is the kind of post-industrial wasteland that may force fans of "Cool Britannia" to recall the United Kingdom's difficult late-20th-century transition from a land of hope and glory to a country of drugs and the dole. However, does that mean Nesbo has the muscles to carry the Bard's work? He places the action not at a brooding Scottish castle, but in a brooding 1970s city we don't know that it's Scottish, but its "twenty-four-hour dope market" and "silent, dead factories" provide enough of a feel. ![]() Best known for his books featuring Norwegian cop Harry Hole, Nesbo hoists the flag of Scandi-noir proudly now that his fellow Henning Mankell has died. Aubyn for King Lear ( Dunbar) assigned the "Scottish Play" to superstar crime novelist Jo Nesbo. Small wonder the editors of The Hogarth Shakespeare, who have previously tapped Margaret Atwood for The Tempest ( Hag-Seed) and Edward St. "Macbeth" is the most recognizable of Shakespeare's plays, a sort of Elizabethan suspense thriller filled with unforgettable and almost over-the-top moments: Witches brewing, villains handwringing, ghosts walking. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. ![]() Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Macbeth Author Jo Nesbo
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