Think of a Number

by Anders Bodelsen

A Christmas murder story, featuring a criminous Santa and a bank. Filmed as the Silent Partner (1978) with Elliot Gould and Christopher Plummer.

Genres: Crime, Danish, Mystery, Thriller, Denmark, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

220 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Cassio Queiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A splendidly understated first novel with the latent excitement of Rififi. Can you think of a better opposite number?" (Kirkus Reviews).
I agree. This is a "cat and mouse" game and I was pleasantly surprised when I read this twisty thriller 30 years ago. And please don't miss the movie too: "The Silent Partner" (1978) directed by Daryl Duke, screenplay by Curtis Hanson, music by Oscar Peterson and starring Elliot Gould, the late Susannah York and a great villain, Mr. Christopher Plummer. First-rate.

[Fillpail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first novel I read in Danish and for that reason has a special meaning for me.

[Joe Nicholl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think of a Number by Anders Bodelsen (1968)...Wow! What an excellent Euro Noir by Danish author Bodelsen...A bank teller figures out his bank is going to get robbed so he scams some of the loot for himself. Like the best of Noirs you know things are not going to go well for the young man...The ending is not quite what I expected but holds up...Very well written and very cinematic (a touch Hitchcock-ian). Also very '60's...A fun read. I recommend...5.0 outta 5.0

[Trine Salbøg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Indrømmet - jeg har en aversion mod datidens stuer fyldt med mahognimøbler og store bornholmerure, som nærmest larmede i de alt for stille rum. Rum, som var reserveret til selskab, men som, det meste af tiden, var gabende "ensomme" for dens ejere. Der er hverken stuer af denne slags eller bornholmerure til stede i denne roman, men det er fuldstændig den samme stemning, som man overvældes af. Er det nok at fornemme datidens velfærd og en deroute forårsaget af en tilfældighed? For mit vedkommende manglede jeg en gaffel til at ridse i lakken. Det bliver ganske enkelt for fladt og for simpel matematik.

[VerJean · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a pleasant surprise! Mom read this from browsing the shelf at her local library and mentioned it. It's a HOOT and I tracked down a copy to read again.
Read in 2006.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: a Christmas murder story, featuring a criminous Santa and a bank. It became Silent Partner with Elliot Gould and Christopher Plummer.

[ani! · Rating 4 out of 5]

shockingly good. thank you internship

[Larissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the English book market is (comparatively) flush with Swedish, Norwegian, and now, Icelandic crime novels, it seems that Denmark's translated fare tends to favor more genre-bending prototypes(think Christian Jungersen's The Exception or any one of Leif Davidsen's poli-pop-thrillers). Translated Danish 'crime-fiction,' displays less of an interest detectives and cold cases, and more of an interest in the psychology of its main characters and the circumstances that brought them to their extra-societal actions. Gross generalizations, of course, but until we get a better market for translated fiction--or I'm able to read in Danish--this is the best explanation I can offer.

I discovered Anders Bodelsen because his book Taenk på et Tal (English: Think of a Number) was made into a film starring the excellent Elliott Gould. And happily, it seems that my suspicions about Danish crime fiction do apply here--according to DanishLiterature.info (the state-sponsored literature database and journal), "Bodelsen´s preferred genre is the individual-psychological short story and the social-realistic thriller...In his two most successful books, the thrillers Tænk på et tal (The Silent Partner, 1968) and Hændeligt uheld (One Down, 1968), Bodelsen deals with the ordinary middle-class person who becomes a criminal. According to the author, the key-word is identification. 'Could it have been me?'"

The story opens just before Christmas, when solitary, apathetic bank clerk Flemming Borck uncovers a plot to rob his bank. (It's a convoluted set-up, so we'll just leave it at that.) After doing a little rookie recon, Borck identifies the would-be bank robber as a faux shopping-mall Santa Claus, and counter-plots to steal the money himself and let Santa take the blame. This works out about as badly as you might imagine, and our bumbling protagonist spirals further and further away from the carefree, laconic lifestyle he had hoped to ensure for himself.

In Flemming Borck the reader is offered a relatively sympathetic character--a man who almost arbitrarily decides to steal upwards of 170,000 kroner and then can't figure what to do with it. A good portion of the book is spent with Borck trying to retrieve the money he's stolen and hidden, and the most scathing criticism leveled at him throughout the novel is that he's an "amateur." For the brief moment that everything is going right for maladroit Flemming Borck, however, we can all feel good. He's got money to spare, an exotic retreat from his hum-drum life, and the excitement of having a secret--of being capable of something more daring than anyone thinks he is.

It's no surprise that the novel was made into a movie--Andersen's handling of suspense and scene-setting is distinctly cinematic. (The closing scenes, set in Tunis, practically jump off the page as film stock.) Andersen truncates action and hops from character to character, allowing his readers the pleasure of a panoramic perspective and the ability to predict the many shortcomings of Borck's off-the-cuff plotting. However, this panorama is often distorted in the service of suspense, and Bodelsen's sometimes dodgy prose can complicate situations to the point of confusion.

In the height of his success, during a long vacation in the Mediterranean, Borck thinks to himself, "Three weeks in the sun with a beautiful girl, a cool house for his siestas, wine you uncorked without giving it a thought: what more could you wish for?" That such simple desires come at such cost is then what Think of a Number really asks us to consider.

[Sue Whitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

series of surprises

[Mark Seemann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Min afdøde svigerfars udgave fra 1968 har følgende blurbs på inderflapperne:

"Jeg havde ikke et roligt øjeblik , før jeg var færdig."

"Som thriller nok en af de mest perfekte, der er skrevet på dansk."

og

"Man flår sig frem fra blad til blad."

Kuriøst er der i øvrigt også et blurb fra Per Stig Møller, B. T.

Sjovt, som tidsånden ændrer sig, eller også er jeg efterhånden bare blevet væsentligt ældre og mere blasert end datidens anmeldere. Den betragtning passer i hvert fald på Per Stig Møller, som må have været omkring 26 den gang.

Bevares, bogen var da fin nok, men nogen page turner var det langt fra. Den tager sig god tid med at komme i gang, til en grad at man næsten ikke opdager, at nu er historien, faktisk, kommet i gang.

Jeg vil dog give Bodelsen at bogen hele vejen igennem bæres af et velkonstrueret og troværdigt plot. Der er en indre logisk sammenhæng, og problemer løses uden nævneværdigt usandsynlige tilfældigheder. Jeg har ofte, i de fleste spændingsromaner, jeg i de sidste par årtier har læst, savnet et velkomponeret plot (så sent som for et par uger siden) i stedet for de sædvanlige usandsynlige sammentræf og 'almindelige mennesker', der pludselig bliver til superhelte (jeg kigger på dig, Lisbeth Salander). Det er derfor forfriskende, når man (alt for sjældent) støder ind i en bog, hvor plottet kan holde læseoplevelsen oppe.

I et andet citat fra bogens flap omtales den som

"en fin, moderne dansk roman med ægte mennesker, ægte steder, ypperlig iagttagelse."

Persongalleriet virker ganske rigtigt troværdigt og varieret, men desværre er hovedpersonen, omend tydeligvis begavet, en kedelig og underligt lidenskabsløs bankmand. Jeg var derfor nærmest ligeglad med, hvordan det skulle gå 'helten', og efterhånden som han roder sig ud i flere og flere ulovligheder, får han også til sidst krydset en moralsk grænse, hvor jeg, som læser, steg af.

Derudover fremstår 'skurken' underligt ufarlig, så i sidste ende sidder man, som moderne læser, på 55 års afstand, tilbage med en oplevelse af, at der er mindre på spil, end det objektivt er tilfældet.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think of a Number has one of the greatest set-ups for a heist novel. A bank teller knows his bank is about to be robbed. Using the robbery as an excuse to pocket a chunk of change, he shortchanges the robber. Then, the robber, who figures the scam, starts stalking him. This was filmed as THE SILENT PARTNER in the 70s, with Christopher Plummer as the menacing madman thief. The movie ends up better than the book. The denouement goes on too long, with too many twists of fate. Alas, this Simenon-like thriller, one of the first Nordic noirs, had great promise, and a jolt of anti- capitalist satire, but it fizzles when it should seal the deal.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well crafted Danish mystery from the late 60's, more cerebral and character-driven than action oriented. A brutalized film version, entitled The Silent Partner, was created in the 80's with modest success. Number reflects the nihilist movement prevalent in the late 60's fiction and film, populated with doomed anti-heroes and bleak resolutions.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The movie, The Silent Partner was based on Think of a Number --the movie was so good I wanted to read the book. But, the first half of the movie followed the book and then the book went off in a total different direction and was just horrible! I was just disapointed, usually the books are so much bette but this one was just wasted paper!

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

THis may be the most disappointing book I have ever read. I spent ten years tracking down a copy after I saw the movie "The Silent Partner" and when I finally found it, I could not have been more let down. It was just terrible. Bad writing, stupid ending. As it turns out. the movie changed almost the entire story except the basic concept.

[Karsten Vestergaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

En stram, kompetent fortalt thriller. Jeg kan ikke lade være med at spekulere på, om den var inspiration til Shubiduas "Krig og Fred"? (den med "Madsen, Madsen, stjæl af kassen, ellers bli'r du aldrig fri").

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nifty little thriller that was the basis for an underrated Elliot Gould film, The Silent Partner. It's a rare case where the movie is better than the book. For one thing, the movie's ending is much better.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in Danish a great crime novel, with the added attraction (for me) of taking place in 60s denmark. Anders Bodelsen has his gentle ways of slowly tightening the noose on the main character.

[Rick Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it except for the ending (the movie, 'Silent Partner', may have had a better ending).

[Andi Chorley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Danish twisty crime thriller which was adapted into films twice. Recommended.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stjerner

[Windy2go · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my random read while on a visit to cousin Elizabeth's. She thinks maybe she got this book from Cousin Bob, who's always bringing esoteric books to the farm. It's a Danish robbery mystery from the 1960s translated into English. I enjoyed the fact that it's a 1960s translation, and the peeks into Danish culture were a nice addition to the thriller vibe. I give it three stars, only because I don't think it was so good that I'd seek it out or particularly recommend it, but I enjoyed reading it. A Danish personal banker stumbles onto a bank hold-up plan and becomes unexpectedly involved. It was a little bit dry and a bit predictable, but I liked the ending. Another reviewer wrote that the pace, size, and feel of the book was just right. I don't disagree. I just don't quite think it was good enough to merit my four star rating.

[Mkbrescia · Rating 3 out of 5]

La trovata che da l'avvio alla storia è promettente, così come il modo in cui sono delineati i personaggi. Poi sembra che l'autore perda per strada quelli più interessanti, rimpiazzandoli con altri solo abbozzati. Un'occasione sprecata, almeno in parte.

[Sandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'idea su cui si poggia la trama è interessante ed attuale, nonostante la prima pubblicazione risalga al 1968.
Il libro, che definirei a metà tra un giallo e un romanzo, è ben scritto e si lascia leggere con piacere.

[BIS Biblioteca Italiana Seattle]

Nella Collana: Selezione della Narrativa mondiale -Mondadori

[Kin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non originale. Prevedibile. Datato.