Jussi Adler-Olsen

My language and culture blog will this time take a little detour, for I want to talk a bit about Jussi Adler-Olsen, whom I met for the second time the other day at a lunch hosted by his English publisher Penguin.

Jussi_Adler-Olsen Department Q

Jussi is here to promote the third book of his Department Q series, called Redemption in English. And let me get the marketing part done first: I read the Danish version a couple of years ago, and I was thoroughly entertained and would definitely recommend it (I read it in just a couple of days – in comparison, though I have enjoyed Hardy’s Tess of The D’Urbervilles it has taken me more than a month to get through).

Book Titles

I find it difficult to understand the change of titles that the Department Q series has undergone (this probably shows my lack of understanding of the UK book market). To me Redemption (and before that Mercy and Disgrace) sounds like a cheesy piece of pulp, and the covers, which I assume are trying to be cool, become non-distinct and mainstream (the kind of book you would expect to find in an airport, quickly read and even more quickly forgotten).

In my opinion the books deserve better: they are sinister, at times bloody and violent at times funny and sad – but also highly entertaining and quirky. It is telling, I think, that when people talk about the books they do not talk mainly about the main character Carl Mørck: instead, a lot of attention is on Assad, in reality a minor character (but crucial to the plot and, as any good side-kick, doing more than he gets credit for) whose often comic angles change the perspective for both Carl and the reader.

Solution: Read the books in Danish or pretend their titles were closer to the original ones:

Kvinden i buret                                                                 Mercy

(The Woman in the Cage – Mercy)

 

Fasandræberne Disgrace

(The Pheasant Killers – Disgrace)

 

Flaskepost fra P Redemption

(Letter in a bottle from P – Redemption)

 

The Man Himself

Jussi makes a great impression and he has a “presence” that is quite unique. He is able to speak to several people at the same time, and still you somehow feel that he is talking to you, not as part of a group but as an individual.

At the lunch meeting he came fully prepared: he had a small binder in which were notes on all people present. He did not hide the fact that he had done a bit of research on us, it was just part of his preparation: we all knew who he is, and he wanted to know a bit about us as well. When you talk to Jussi it is not just a q&a but a dialogue. He is obviously the centre of attention, the guest of honour, but at times you can see him just leaning back listening to everybody else speaking – until somebody remembers that we are there to talk to Jussi and directs the attention back to him.

Jussi 2(Photographer: Phillip Drago Jørgensen)

Jussi seems to have two very distinct personas (probably more, but I have only met him twice). One is the businessman who knows that he is his product. He promotes himself and knows his worth, talks about contracts in America, film rights and what know I. The other side is passionate and fiery: I talked to Jussi about guitars, telling him that I have taken up the Banjo, thus leaving my Fender somewhat alone and dusty on the wall, and he began telling me about a recent trip to San Francisco and a shop at Haight-Ashbury, where he had seen a Fender that he had been looking for for years and just had to have. There came to his eyes the sparkle of a child’s on Christmas Eve (in Denmark we open presents on the 24th) and his hands were gripping the imagined guitar tightly.

Though the passion is ever-present, also when it comes to business, this is the Jussi that made me want to write this blog, and which makes me want to recommend people go and see him “live” (and maybe ask him other questions than “What do you think about Nordic crime literature in general” – or actually, I dare somebody to ask him just that, it should ensure, at least, an interesting reaction…)

I wish you all a good summer of Nordic Noir (having advertised so many other things, why not also our very own UCL Scandinavian Studies Book Club)!

 

Why not check out…

My language video based on The Killing III:

Jesper-Hansen-The-Killing

Danish Review 2012 / 2013 : Translation, food, music, literature and much more

Danish-Review-2012     Danish Review Cover 2013