Random Things Tours: Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen translated by Don Bartlett

 

For the first time ever, I deeply regret for not speaking or reading Norwegian. Far from me from saying that Don Bartlett´s translation of the Bitter Flowers, recently published by Orenda Books, showed me the limits of books read in other language that the one they were written. Rather the opposite, as Bartlett skillfully introduced authors like Jo Nesbø, Lars Saabye Christensen, Kjell Ola Dahl and, in this case, Gunnar Staalesen, to the English-reading audiences. However, while reading Bitter Flowers by Staalesen, the unique construction of the sentence - essentialized, simple yet rhythmed, eventful and displaying an emotional thread - made me very interested in acknowledging the mental framework of this language. Even in the perfect translation, I was missing the intimate feeling of the language those sentences were written. But my linguistic curiosities are maybe for another post and in any case, I don´t make a secret that I wish I have enough time and no pressures at all, in order to spend as much time as possible learning languages. Any languages. As many of them as possible.

Back to the book though. Bitter Flowers is part of the series featuring detective Varg Veum. I haven´t read any other books (those interested can check the long list of published titles from the series by Orenda Books), but the introduction to the context and disparate fragments of previous stories fit together perfectly well and understanding both the character and the story is rather unproblematic. In this book, he is about to cover at the same time three relatively disparate crimes, at least one of them: ´Who had killed Tor Aslaksun? And why had Lisbeth Finslo disappeared? Did it have any connection with Camilla Farang´s disappearance 8 years before?´.

While on a flirt with Lisbeth, Veum witnesses a corpse in the swimming pool of a house he was supposed to guard. Meanwhile, Lisbeth disappears suddenly after seeing the corpse first, and she is found only a couple of days later, murdered. Isolated crimes? But there is much more than that to the story, mainly the connections between the main characters that are revealed little by little, and the further connection with the parents of the girl who disappear without a trace eight years ago, the little Camilla Farang. 

The picturesque Bergen, where most of the book action takes place, the place of residence of the author as well, may be a small place, but there is something else going on for at least a decade as well: the apparition of a new oil aristocracy, which does not mind using their newly discovered resources not only for a better economic standing, but for neglecting the environment as well, and for acquiring their protection against the law as well.

The slow pace of the story allows to gather the most important details, building up the tension in the way in which one strokes one brush on the canvas, and then another, and then another one; until the painting is ready. One needs to wait until the end for understanding the whole context, and the final verdict. The author brings together, as a skilled puppeteer, all the story lines and characters. This book requires your full attention and energy, and once starting it, it is hard to abandon it as one may think that during the break between reading important details will get lost.

By chosing to write Bitter Flowers as a first person account, Staalesen makes the story personal and therefore the account even more dramatic. After all, there is a direct testimony of facts that the main character experienced himself, hence the existential tensions he is going through while searching for the culprits.

I personally appreciated the story details regarding the environmental issues and aspects pertaining to the new economic realities in the Norway of the time. Thus, the story looks more rooted in an everyday reality, although the rest of the context is purely fictional.

For all the small and big details, Bitter Flowers was a surprising read, which makes me even more curious not only to have a look at the Norwegian language basics, but also to read more Nordic Noir in the next months, especially from Norway.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the blog tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own