Nesbø reminded us of how he’d actual- ly first come to Serbia quite accidentally, by boarding the wrong train (he’d want- ed to go to Greece), but that he’s since re- turned often, mostly because of the peo- ple he always looks forward to seeing again in Serbia... He spoke about his re- lationship with America, responding to a question about why we’ve relocated for
Nesbe je još jednom dobio potvrdu da je veoma popularan u Srbiji Nesbo once again received confirmation that he is very popular in Serbia
Wolf Hour from Scandinavia to the U.S. He explained that there are many Scandinavi- ans there, and that he him- self grew up – just like myself and many others from the 20 th century – on the mag- ic of “New Hollywood”, the writers of the ‘60s and the music, naturally. The man al- so has a band... Apart from all that, his father lived in the States, so he travelled there often as a child. When it comes to inspira- tion for novels, Nesbø ad- mitted that he doesn’t like to
with Harry as the lead character would be released on Netflix next year. “Wait, that doesn’t mean you’re going to like it,” he shouted through the din of that ovation, probably reflecting on the poor experience of The Snowman with
religious sin, but rather a betrayal of our own values. And still, you have to get up and try again every morning. That’s Har- ry’s essence, he does it constantly, trying again – and that’s the main reason peo- ple understand him.” And just imagine – the official part concluded without him being asked when we can expect a new book with Harry?!? Fortunately, we, the audience, were there... That’s actually also how the most inter- esting part of that evening began, the part when people started yelling without a microphone, ‘over here, Nesbø, look at me, listen...’ The majority just wanted to tell him how much they loved him. One beautiful lady didn’t speak the best Eng- lish because she had stage fright, but it was clear to both the writer and the rest of us what his books meant to her. She received a ticket for this event as a birth- day present from her daughter. She told Nesbø she loved him and wouldn’t ask him anything else! Then came anoth- er, much younger adoring fan, who fi- nally asked what we were all wondering: when is that new Harry Hole book ar- riving – he’s been missing for two years! There was a hushed pause before the an- swer, which came in an eruption of en- thusiasm: “I’ve started writing,” said Nesbø, who was interrupted by applause as he also announced that a TV series
Michael Fassbender: a really wonderful actor, but he couldn’t find the essence of Harry’s character. And with that it was already the end, and I was pushing my way through the crowd of people who’d waited calmly and po- litely for who knows how long just to get that signature in their book and some collective selfie at the end. And I thought about how wonderful it is that a writ- er can have the status of a rock star or sporting hero. All is not lost. There are still those who read, but obviously al- so those who adore what they read and those who provide them with that pleas- ure. The difference is that Nesbø’s audi- ence was one of very quiet, bookish peo- ple, who I guess don’t scream when they meet their hero. And I left feeling relatively dissatisfied, because I’d wanted to ask him if this Bob Oz, the hero of Wolf Hour and al- so a problematic character advertised as “Harry's rival”, aspires to be the new Hole. I would have reminded him not to dare take Harry away from us and replace him with Bob or some oth- er character. To be fair, as I write this, Wolf Hour still has that unpacked scent and awaits my undivided attention. What if I like Bob Oz and Harry actual- ly gets a competitor? There’s no chance of that...
base his works on real-life events, prefer- ring to stick to traditional fiction... “I see thriller writing as something interactive between the reader and the writer. You come to the party, you know what to ex- pect, it's a dance with the readers – I’ll give them clues, I’ll lead them through it, and they’ll try to reach a conclu- sion, knowing in advance that I’m lead- ing them in one direction while the end might differ completely. That’s why this dance is so intimate,” said the writer. And now, just so all this talk of the mute audience at the conversation with Nes- bø doesn’t come across as me pretending not to be interested in Harry Hole and that he wasn’t the reason I came. Yes, some of his short stories are also good and Nesbø has interesting books, but, people, Harry is like a problematic uncle that you worry about constantly because you love him so much. He’s become like a cousin after so many sequels, and we can’t pretend we’re not his fans more than we are Jo’s! Harry’s father (Nesbø) says that the reason we love Hole is that we recognise ourselves in him and iden- tify with him. “Harry often fails in moral terms. You look at yourself in the mirror and realise you’re no longer the hero of your own film. We start seeking excus- es for our own mistakes. This isn’t about
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