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Varg Veum #2
Din til døden
"Kanskje var det fordi han var den yngste klienten jeg noensinne hadde hatt. Kanskje var det fordi han minnet meg om en annen gutt et annet sted i denne byen. Eller kanskje var det bare fordi jeg ikke hadde noe annet å gjøre. Iallfall hørte jeg på hva han hadde å si."
Med Din, til døden (1979) etablerte Varg Veum seg for alvor som en ny figur innenfor norsk kriminallitteratur, en bergensk variant av den hardkokte privatdetektiven: fattig, desillusjonert, med et hjerte av gull – og en flaske akevitt til vern mot ensomheten.
Den yngste klienten han så langt har hatt – en guttunge på 8–9 år – dukker opp i kontoret på Strandkaien en mild februardag. En ungdomsgjeng har stjålet sykkelen hans. Varg Veum rykker ut, redder sykkelen og blir kjent med guttens mor. Et behagelig bekjentskap. Noen dager senere er det gutten selv han må ut for å oppspore …
Men så skjer det et drap, og hvem andre blir arrestert som hovedmistenkt enn nettopp denne kvinnen? Varg Veum må sette alle kluter til for å finne ut hva som virkelig har skjedd. Og sannheten er verre enn noen kunne anta …
Med Din, til døden (1979) etablerte Varg Veum seg for alvor som en ny figur innenfor norsk kriminallitteratur, en bergensk variant av den hardkokte privatdetektiven: fattig, desillusjonert, med et hjerte av gull – og en flaske akevitt til vern mot ensomheten.
Den yngste klienten han så langt har hatt – en guttunge på 8–9 år – dukker opp i kontoret på Strandkaien en mild februardag. En ungdomsgjeng har stjålet sykkelen hans. Varg Veum rykker ut, redder sykkelen og blir kjent med guttens mor. Et behagelig bekjentskap. Noen dager senere er det gutten selv han må ut for å oppspore …
Men så skjer det et drap, og hvem andre blir arrestert som hovedmistenkt enn nettopp denne kvinnen? Varg Veum må sette alle kluter til for å finne ut hva som virkelig har skjedd. Og sannheten er verre enn noen kunne anta …
265 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
93 people are currently reading
554 people want to read
About the author
Gunnar Staalesen
135 books281 followersGunnar Staalesen is a Norwegian writer. Staalesen has a cand.philol degree from Universitetet i Bergen and he has worked at Den Nationale Scene, the main theater in Bergen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
January 7, 2016
Μια ίσως λανθασμένη εντύπωση: στα νεότερα νουάρ μυθιστορήματα, τα κλισέ του είδους χρησιμοποιούνται ειρωνικά, ως ένα μετα-οτιδήποτε σχόλιο. Απ' την άλλη, στο όχι και τόσο νέο (1979) νουάρ μυθιστόρημα «Δικός σου ως το θάνατο» ο συγγραφέας κυριολεκτεί όταν χρησιμοποιεί τα κλισέ του είδους, η τσαντλερική μίμηση γίνεται με σεβασμό και το τελικό αποτέλεσμα είναι γοητευτικότατο παρά τις βαρύγδουπες φράσεις, που εντέλει απολαμβάνεις, του στιλ: «Αλλο τίποτα δεν είχα να τη δώσω, ούτε και της έδωσα. Ημουν ο άνεμος: έκανα τις ερωτήσεις μου, έπαιρνα τις απαντήσεις μου, και πήγαινα παραπέρα. Ημουν το σμάρι οι ακρίδες: έτρωγα ό,τι έβρισκα μπροστά μου και άφηνα πίσω μου μια γυμνή κατασπαραγμένη ζωή, μια νύχτα χωρίς μυστικά. Ημουν ο ήλιος: άφηνα πίσω μου καμένα λιβάδια, δάση, σβησμένες ζωές».
Ο αποτυχημένος μοναχικός πότης -πιο κλισέ αλλά και πιο συμπαθητικός, πεθαίνεις- ντετέκτιβ Βαργκ Βέουμ αρέσκεται στις παρομοιώσεις: «η αστυνομικίνα έμοιαζε με κεφάλαιο μυθιστορήματος της πλάκας, που τελικά το απέρριψαν» - ή άλλου: «η φωνή του ήταν απ' αυτές που ξεχνιούνται εύκολα, όπως η τελευταία φράση ενός βιβλίου του κώλου».
Ωραίος.
Ο αποτυχημένος μοναχικός πότης -πιο κλισέ αλλά και πιο συμπαθητικός, πεθαίνεις- ντετέκτιβ Βαργκ Βέουμ αρέσκεται στις παρομοιώσεις: «η αστυνομικίνα έμοιαζε με κεφάλαιο μυθιστορήματος της πλάκας, που τελικά το απέρριψαν» - ή άλλου: «η φωνή του ήταν απ' αυτές που ξεχνιούνται εύκολα, όπως η τελευταία φράση ενός βιβλίου του κώλου».
Ωραίος.
November 30, 2020
“Her eyes had turned almost violet… They didn’t look as if birds might fly out of them now. They looked as if they led to dark tunnels, to smoke-filled cellar rooms, to rooms with garishly painted walls, to opium dens. To villages deep in the jungle.”
Yours Until Death by Gunnar Staalesen is about a private detective named Varg who’s hired by a young boy to recover his stolen bike. Varg soon finds himself intervening in the machinations of a menacing gang of delinquent youths that is terrorizing their small town*. Little does the detective know that this simple request will seal his fate, leading him down a labyrinth of murder and deception.
Staalesen’s first installment in the series has all the ingredients of a solid Nordic noir: undercurrents of loneliness, staunch stoicism and the pervasive chill of the icy elements. The main character, Varg, is your stereotypical hard-boiled detective with a chip on his shoulder. Despite Varg’s tendency to lust after anything that moves, and the author’s unfortunate predilection for describing every woman’s chest size, I realized I was quite fond of this morose, alcoholic (anti)hero. Staalesen has a unique, almost hallucinatory quality to his writing that I found mesmerizing and disorienting all at the same time.
At first glance, Yours Until Death may seem like your typical thriller. But at its core it’s a cultural commentary on marriage. In Scandinavia, the institution of marriage is considered outdated, with many couples eschewing the union altogether. Staalesen seems to believe that adultery is nearly inevitable, so why bother? His perspective is reminiscent of my divorced and very cynical anthropology professor, who asserted that much like gibbons, humans actually practice serial monogamy. Perhaps he’s right, but nevertheless, a fictional detective novel is a strange vessel to transmit these views.
Yours Until Death is a solid Scandinavian thriller, but not without its share of hangups. The pacing was inconsistent and I couldn’t quite lose myself completely in the story. Other than Varg and Roar, most of the characters were distinctly unlikable. And yet, I still have every intention of reading the sequel. There’s something about Staalesen’s prose and snappy dialogue that intrigues me. It shivers with a potential that promises better things on the horizon. After all, he can’t have won the Golden Pistol award for nothing.
*Are child gangs and delinquent youths an epidemic in Scandinavia? This theme also appears in another nordic noir I read recently- The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler.
You can find this review and more on my blog.
Yours Until Death by Gunnar Staalesen is about a private detective named Varg who’s hired by a young boy to recover his stolen bike. Varg soon finds himself intervening in the machinations of a menacing gang of delinquent youths that is terrorizing their small town*. Little does the detective know that this simple request will seal his fate, leading him down a labyrinth of murder and deception.
Staalesen’s first installment in the series has all the ingredients of a solid Nordic noir: undercurrents of loneliness, staunch stoicism and the pervasive chill of the icy elements. The main character, Varg, is your stereotypical hard-boiled detective with a chip on his shoulder. Despite Varg’s tendency to lust after anything that moves, and the author’s unfortunate predilection for describing every woman’s chest size, I realized I was quite fond of this morose, alcoholic (anti)hero. Staalesen has a unique, almost hallucinatory quality to his writing that I found mesmerizing and disorienting all at the same time.
At first glance, Yours Until Death may seem like your typical thriller. But at its core it’s a cultural commentary on marriage. In Scandinavia, the institution of marriage is considered outdated, with many couples eschewing the union altogether. Staalesen seems to believe that adultery is nearly inevitable, so why bother? His perspective is reminiscent of my divorced and very cynical anthropology professor, who asserted that much like gibbons, humans actually practice serial monogamy. Perhaps he’s right, but nevertheless, a fictional detective novel is a strange vessel to transmit these views.
Yours Until Death is a solid Scandinavian thriller, but not without its share of hangups. The pacing was inconsistent and I couldn’t quite lose myself completely in the story. Other than Varg and Roar, most of the characters were distinctly unlikable. And yet, I still have every intention of reading the sequel. There’s something about Staalesen’s prose and snappy dialogue that intrigues me. It shivers with a potential that promises better things on the horizon. After all, he can’t have won the Golden Pistol award for nothing.
*Are child gangs and delinquent youths an epidemic in Scandinavia? This theme also appears in another nordic noir I read recently- The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler.
You can find this review and more on my blog.
June 27, 2014
Yours Until Death – Norwegian Noir at its best
Yours Until Death by the Norwegian writer Gunnar Staalesen was originally published in 1979 in his native Norway and in English for the first time in 1993 and now re-released by Arcadia Books and I think they are on a winner. More importantly he comes highly recommended by Jo Nesbø who calls him “A Norwegian Chandler” and having read and enjoyed this crime thriller I cannot disagree this is Norwegian Noir at its best.
Gunnar Staalesen in Yours Until Death introduces us to private detective Varg Veum a divorced man with an old battered mini, an office covered in dust and his favourite drink of aquavit and the city of Bergen in the shadow of the great Lyderhorn mountain.
This may have been written in the late 1970s but could have been written in the last twelve months when all the subject matter in the thriller comes up of single mother families, isolated communities in desperate concrete jungles. Teenage thugs are running wild around the estate, robbing, molesting their way around with no police presence.
When Roar a young boy appears at his office to employ him to get his bike back from the feral teens he enters a part of Bergen that the rest of the world has forgotten. When Roar’s father is murdered there seems to be no end of suspects all except the person you would expect. When the ringleader is also murdered Veum has to act fast before there are more innocent deaths and still find out who the killer is.
Yours Until Death is an excellent novel with all the traditions you would expect from a Private Detective thriller, it is fast paced with murder and revenge. It explores the themes of marriage and the reality of the break-down, what it is like for teenagers to grow up with no hope and that passion can be powerfully destructive.
Having read Yours Until Death I can see why Gunnar Staalesen is one of the bestselling authors of crime fiction in Norway as he commands all that he writes and engages the reader with aplomb. The imagery is dark and disturbing and even if this was written about the late 70s it could have been written recently just showing that nothing changes that much.
Yours Until Death is a stunning novel bringing home the best introduction for the sleuthing of Varg Veum who is just like Marlowe but with ice and snow running through his blood.
Yours Until Death by the Norwegian writer Gunnar Staalesen was originally published in 1979 in his native Norway and in English for the first time in 1993 and now re-released by Arcadia Books and I think they are on a winner. More importantly he comes highly recommended by Jo Nesbø who calls him “A Norwegian Chandler” and having read and enjoyed this crime thriller I cannot disagree this is Norwegian Noir at its best.
Gunnar Staalesen in Yours Until Death introduces us to private detective Varg Veum a divorced man with an old battered mini, an office covered in dust and his favourite drink of aquavit and the city of Bergen in the shadow of the great Lyderhorn mountain.
This may have been written in the late 1970s but could have been written in the last twelve months when all the subject matter in the thriller comes up of single mother families, isolated communities in desperate concrete jungles. Teenage thugs are running wild around the estate, robbing, molesting their way around with no police presence.
When Roar a young boy appears at his office to employ him to get his bike back from the feral teens he enters a part of Bergen that the rest of the world has forgotten. When Roar’s father is murdered there seems to be no end of suspects all except the person you would expect. When the ringleader is also murdered Veum has to act fast before there are more innocent deaths and still find out who the killer is.
Yours Until Death is an excellent novel with all the traditions you would expect from a Private Detective thriller, it is fast paced with murder and revenge. It explores the themes of marriage and the reality of the break-down, what it is like for teenagers to grow up with no hope and that passion can be powerfully destructive.
Having read Yours Until Death I can see why Gunnar Staalesen is one of the bestselling authors of crime fiction in Norway as he commands all that he writes and engages the reader with aplomb. The imagery is dark and disturbing and even if this was written about the late 70s it could have been written recently just showing that nothing changes that much.
Yours Until Death is a stunning novel bringing home the best introduction for the sleuthing of Varg Veum who is just like Marlowe but with ice and snow running through his blood.
November 24, 2013
Είχα ακούσει μια ιστορία για έναν τύπο από την ανατολική Νορβηγία, που είχε νοσηλευτεί στο Μπέργκεν με ρήξη στον αστράγαλο. Όταν επέστρεψε στο Όσλο και πήγε να τον εξετάσουν εκεί, ο γιατρός έριξε ένα βλέμμα στον αστράγαλό του, τον κοίταξε ανήσυχος και τού είπε: «Στα Επείγοντα του Μπέργκεν πήγες;» Ο ασθενής έγνεψε κατατρομαγμένος και ο γιατρός φώναξε ένα γκρουπ τελειόφοιτων που βρίσκονταν εκεί κοντά. Μαζεύτηκαν όλοι γύρω από τον τραυματία και τον κοίταζαν σαν να ήταν μια σπάνια περίπτωση. Ο γιατρός έτριβε τα χέρια του από χαρά, και μετά είπε: «Τώρα θα δείτε τί δεν πρέπει να κάνετε…».
Για τα επείγοντα του Μπέργκεν λένε ότι έπρεπε στην είσοδο της κλινικής να είναι γραμμένη με χρυσά γράμματα η παλιά προτροπή: Όσοι μπαίνετε εδώ, εγκαταλείψτε κάθε ελπίδα.
Πρόκειται για υπερβολή, βέβαια. Οι περισσότεροι επιζούν. Το ότι τούς αφήνει κουσούρια η επίσκεψή τους εκεί, είναι άλλο θέμα. Και το ότι δεν νοιώθουν πολύ καλύτερα όταν βγαίνουν απ’ ό,τι όταν μπαίνουν, δεν είναι λόγος να κλαίγονται.
Φυσικά δεν πρέπει να πιστεύεις τέτοιες ιστορίες. Σπάνια είναι αληθινές. Ούτε να διαάζεις ιατρικά βιβλία χρειάζεται. Και αν μπορείς να το αποφύγεις, καλύτερα να μην επισκέπτεσαι μέρη όπως τα Επείγοντα του Μπέργκεν.
Είναι από τους λόγους για τους οποίους η Σκανδιναυική νουάρ λογοτεχνία πετάει ψηλά. Υψηλή αίσθηση χιούμορ, μαύρος σαρκασμός, έλλειψη σοβαροφάνειας, στυλ.
Για τα επείγοντα του Μπέργκεν λένε ότι έπρεπε στην είσοδο της κλινικής να είναι γραμμένη με χρυσά γράμματα η παλιά προτροπή: Όσοι μπαίνετε εδώ, εγκαταλείψτε κάθε ελπίδα.
Πρόκειται για υπερβολή, βέβαια. Οι περισσότεροι επιζούν. Το ότι τούς αφήνει κουσούρια η επίσκεψή τους εκεί, είναι άλλο θέμα. Και το ότι δεν νοιώθουν πολύ καλύτερα όταν βγαίνουν απ’ ό,τι όταν μπαίνουν, δεν είναι λόγος να κλαίγονται.
Φυσικά δεν πρέπει να πιστεύεις τέτοιες ιστορίες. Σπάνια είναι αληθινές. Ούτε να διαάζεις ιατρικά βιβλία χρειάζεται. Και αν μπορείς να το αποφύγεις, καλύτερα να μην επισκέπτεσαι μέρη όπως τα Επείγοντα του Μπέργκεν.
Είναι από τους λόγους για τους οποίους η Σκανδιναυική νουάρ λογοτεχνία πετάει ψηλά. Υψηλή αίσθηση χιούμορ, μαύρος σαρκασμός, έλλειψη σοβαροφάνειας, στυλ.
May 22, 2022
“This day was about to die, just as all our days die inside us one by one. Until we wake up one morning from a dream and discover that we haven’t woken up but have gone on dreaming. And all days become one day and all nights melt together.”
Gunnar Staalesen’s Varg Veum is now absolutely on my list of favourite Nordic Noir characters, having just read the first in the long series of books by the Norwegian godfather of Scandi Crime. Veum encapsulates everything I love about this genre. He is dark, lonely, broody, moody, reflective, provocative, damaged and self contained. Staalesen has created an enigmatic character, and I am pleased to have found him and looking forward to getting to know this man more and more.
First published in 1979, “Yours until death” and indeed the Varg Veum series seem to be something of classics as far as the genre is concerned. Staalesen has an eloquent writing style and the English translation is superb with an almost poetic quality that allows the reader to be immersed in Veum’s reflective thoughts and wonderings. Staalesen provides a strong sense of place throughout the book and again, the reader is transported to the Norwegian town of Bergen and its surroundings, walking the streets with Veum, being enveloped by it and understanding something of the heartbeat of this location....
“And then the rain came.
It was as if the sea itself loomed like a wall over the city. The raindrops were huge, heavy and grey, and they fell in cascades.....I sat in my office and watched that violent drama. New bolts of lightning struck the city like fountains of fire. New thunder claps rolled over us like water rushing into a basin.....The lightning died away over Fana like distant distress signals from a flashlight with a fading battery. The thunder weakened to a distant rumbling. The rain tapered off and lay like shining silk on the rooftops, the trees on the mountainsides and farther out on Strandkaien.”
“Yours until death” has a number of intersecting threads that weave an authentic plot together. We commence with the boy Roar who innocently engages Varg Veum as a private detective to help him get his bicycle back from a bunch of bullies. This is quickly followed by an introduction to his mother Wenche, and for a minute I thought we would go down a well worn pathway here. Add to this plot a gang of troubled youth, a reasonably unfriendly youth worker, an ex-husband, lover and a playboy boss and we have all the ingredients for classic Noir. Ex-husband Jonas Andresen ends up murdered and well, the rest is in the book.
I loved this book. Varg Veum is a character I’m keen to read more about. I’m going with 5 big stars for a stunning debut to this series for me.
“There comes a time, Varg, when all secrets have to be told. You go around knowing something nobody else knows, and there isn’t anybody you can tell. You want to. You need to.”
Gunnar Staalesen’s Varg Veum is now absolutely on my list of favourite Nordic Noir characters, having just read the first in the long series of books by the Norwegian godfather of Scandi Crime. Veum encapsulates everything I love about this genre. He is dark, lonely, broody, moody, reflective, provocative, damaged and self contained. Staalesen has created an enigmatic character, and I am pleased to have found him and looking forward to getting to know this man more and more.
First published in 1979, “Yours until death” and indeed the Varg Veum series seem to be something of classics as far as the genre is concerned. Staalesen has an eloquent writing style and the English translation is superb with an almost poetic quality that allows the reader to be immersed in Veum’s reflective thoughts and wonderings. Staalesen provides a strong sense of place throughout the book and again, the reader is transported to the Norwegian town of Bergen and its surroundings, walking the streets with Veum, being enveloped by it and understanding something of the heartbeat of this location....
“And then the rain came.
It was as if the sea itself loomed like a wall over the city. The raindrops were huge, heavy and grey, and they fell in cascades.....I sat in my office and watched that violent drama. New bolts of lightning struck the city like fountains of fire. New thunder claps rolled over us like water rushing into a basin.....The lightning died away over Fana like distant distress signals from a flashlight with a fading battery. The thunder weakened to a distant rumbling. The rain tapered off and lay like shining silk on the rooftops, the trees on the mountainsides and farther out on Strandkaien.”
“Yours until death” has a number of intersecting threads that weave an authentic plot together. We commence with the boy Roar who innocently engages Varg Veum as a private detective to help him get his bicycle back from a bunch of bullies. This is quickly followed by an introduction to his mother Wenche, and for a minute I thought we would go down a well worn pathway here. Add to this plot a gang of troubled youth, a reasonably unfriendly youth worker, an ex-husband, lover and a playboy boss and we have all the ingredients for classic Noir. Ex-husband Jonas Andresen ends up murdered and well, the rest is in the book.
I loved this book. Varg Veum is a character I’m keen to read more about. I’m going with 5 big stars for a stunning debut to this series for me.
“There comes a time, Varg, when all secrets have to be told. You go around knowing something nobody else knows, and there isn’t anybody you can tell. You want to. You need to.”
October 11, 2017
I can see why in some mood and under certain conditions people may enjoy this story. It's a bitter story told in a bitter way that can ruin your day if you read it. It can also come off as needlessly verbose, not helped by the protagonist never turning off his noir speak or letting anything go by without a mental comment.
If you came for "An unbearably tense novel of revenge, murder, bereavement" a murder mystery or a story about a community besieged by a teenage gang, you got the wrong book. The book touches many subjects but is mainly an essay on adultery(which 80% of the cast is committing), our protagonists opinions about it and which types he condemns and which condones. The book is more a bitter meditation on life than a crime mystery, thriller, detective or whatever other tags the sellers slapped on it.
Varg Veum tells us outright that he is not an action movie type detective and despite it is true. Unfortunately he is also not any type of detective, he speaks to people and they feel magically compelled to tell him their life story, often with 0 prompting from Varg. A lot of his breakthroughs are based on baseless leaps in logic, for example of course when confronted they do not deny it. There is nothing wrong with taking a stab in the dark/bluffing and getting lucky but such occurrences + the fact that everyone is somehow connected makes the world feel very small, like no people outside the cast exist.
Varg contributes nothing to solving the case, he wallow in his unpleasant life and get sidetracked with stuff. The main break in the case comes because of an illogical chain of events making him a catalyst for some things, minor changes and having him actually investigate could have helped bridge gaps and with fewer internal monologues it would have been a great story.
One thing I did really like was that Unfortunately a lot of other things dragged the book down for me.
If you came for "An unbearably tense novel of revenge, murder, bereavement" a murder mystery or a story about a community besieged by a teenage gang, you got the wrong book. The book touches many subjects but is mainly an essay on adultery(which 80% of the cast is committing), our protagonists opinions about it and which types he condemns and which condones. The book is more a bitter meditation on life than a crime mystery, thriller, detective or whatever other tags the sellers slapped on it.
Varg Veum tells us outright that he is not an action movie type detective and despite it is true. Unfortunately he is also not any type of detective, he speaks to people and they feel magically compelled to tell him their life story, often with 0 prompting from Varg. A lot of his breakthroughs are based on baseless leaps in logic, for example of course when confronted they do not deny it. There is nothing wrong with taking a stab in the dark/bluffing and getting lucky but such occurrences + the fact that everyone is somehow connected makes the world feel very small, like no people outside the cast exist.
Varg contributes nothing to solving the case, he wallow in his unpleasant life and get sidetracked with stuff. The main break in the case comes because of an illogical chain of events making him a catalyst for some things, minor changes and having him actually investigate could have helped bridge gaps and with fewer internal monologues it would have been a great story.
One thing I did really like was that Unfortunately a lot of other things dragged the book down for me.
February 23, 2012
"It was one of those days when people go around with faces like clenched fists and it doesn't take much to make them attack. The afternoon arrived slowly and late. As if it didn't want to show up at all."
"Hamre sat on the law-abiding side of one of those desks everybody is issued with in offices that have the personality of a deoderant."
"My head felt like a rotten orange somebody had stepped on....My body hurt, my face looked like a prop in a bad thriller."
"February is a short-legged man somewhere in a forest."
Staalesen delivers, unlike some LA-based,write for commercial TV, creators of cracking-wise PIs, a PI, who, like Henning Mankell's policeman Wallander, is developed enough a reader can believe the character reflects someone in real life. Instead of filling the page with wise-cracks, he pens attention-getting similes and metaphors. Worth the investment of time and energy to read him.
"Hamre sat on the law-abiding side of one of those desks everybody is issued with in offices that have the personality of a deoderant."
"My head felt like a rotten orange somebody had stepped on....My body hurt, my face looked like a prop in a bad thriller."
"February is a short-legged man somewhere in a forest."
Staalesen delivers, unlike some LA-based,write for commercial TV, creators of cracking-wise PIs, a PI, who, like Henning Mankell's policeman Wallander, is developed enough a reader can believe the character reflects someone in real life. Instead of filling the page with wise-cracks, he pens attention-getting similes and metaphors. Worth the investment of time and energy to read him.
March 25, 2017
Varg Veum, convinced of the wife's innocence, investigates the murder of her ex husband in her flat. The plot itself is quite slim but I thought this was real Scandinavian noir. The writing is spare and to the point. Veum is an intriguing, contradictory character. On the one hand he is a romantic but he is also a violent man. He tries to eat healthily and runs but he also drinks too much. He is solitary but loves talking and the list goes on. Mr Staalesen also has plenty to say about social conditions in Norway in the late 70s. I don't know what I thought about Norway but maybe reindeer jumpers and clean living as I met plenty of Norwegian engineering students in Glasgow in the early 80s but I didn't expect gang culture and disaffected youth. Has anything really changed in the past 30 years? I think this is a great book and well worth a read but it won't be for everyone as it is rather bleak in tone and doesn't really have a happy ending.
February 24, 2013
Αν δεν έχετε ανακαλύψει ακόμα τον Ευρωπαίο Φίλιπ Μάρλοου κι αν δεν έχετε συναντήσει ακόμα τον Σκανδιναβό Ρεήμοντ Τσάντλερ, σπεύσατε.
Ο Ελρόι κάποια στιγμή έγραψε πως “ο μεγάλος Ρέη (σ.σ Τσάντλερ) μου δίδαξε ότι η μίμηση αποτελεί τη χρυσή λεωφόρο προς την μετριότητα”.
Ο Staalesen στην πρώτη πετυχημένη ιστορία του ντετέκτιβ Βαργκ Βέουμ μιμείται, αλλά δεν οδηγείται στην μετριότητα. Δεν είναι βέβαια Τσάντλερ, αλλά έχει αυθεντικό ενδιαφέρον.
Ο Βαργκ Βέουμ είναι ένας κλασσικός αντιήρωας, ένας ντετέκτιβ με χαμηλή αυτοεκτίμηση και υψηλό αυτοσαρκασμό. Με θανατηφόρες ατάκες για τον εαυτό του, για τις γυναίκες του, για τη ζωή και το μέλλον του. Μένει στο βροχερό Μπέργκεν της Δυτικής Νορβηγίας και όχι στο ηλιόλουστο Λος Άντζελες, αλλά αυτό δεν τον εμποδίζει να λύνει μυστήρια.
Το “δικός σου ως τον θάνατο” είναι μια κλασσικού τύπου νουάρ ιστορία. Ο απαραίτητος ντετέκτιβ με τα χαρακτηριστικά που αναφέραμε, η ωραία Βένκε, μόνη, απροστάτευτη και αιωνίως ερωτευμένη, το παιδί της που στερείται πατρικού ήρωα, και ο πρώην άντρας της, ο Γιόνας καταρχήν ανταγωνιστής του Βέουμ, εν τέλει θύμα, και άκρως συμπαθητική φιγούρα. Η ιστορία είναι ένα δριμύ κατηγορώ στην παρακμή των έγγαμων σχέσεων, στην παραδοξότητα των οικογενειακών κοινωνικών συμβάσεων, αλλά και στο ναυάγιο του σοσιαλδημοκρατικού ονείρου.
Ο Βαργκ Βέουμ είναι ένας ντετέκτιβ χαμηλού κόστους, συνήθως άνεργος, με μηδενική αυτοεκτίμηση. Όταν ένας πιτσιρίκος του ζητά να βρει το ποδήλατο που του βούτηξε μια συμμορία εφήβων, σκέφτεται: “Συμμορίες δεκαεφτάρηδων και δεκαοχτάρηδων δεν είναι το πιο εύκολο πράγμα του κόσμου, ειδικά μάλιστα όταν νομίζουν ότι είναι και γαμώ τους άνδρες, και εσύ, τα δύο τελευταία χρόνια, τα χέρια τα έχεις μόνο για να σηκώνεις τα μπουκάλια με τη ρακή”.
Η ειρωνεία ξεχειλίζει από μέσα του κάθε στιγμή: “Ήταν μία από εκείνες τις μέρες που όλοι κυκλοφορούν με φάτσες σαν σφιγμένες γροθιές και δεν θέλουν και πολύ για να πλακωθούν στο ξύλο. Το απόγευμα ήρθε αργά, βαριεστημένα, σαν να μην πολυγούσταρε, και το τηλέφωνό μου ήταν ακόμη βουβό. Καθόμουν και το κοίταζα. Είπα να πάρω... Είπα να πάρω τη γριά μάνα μου, και θα την έπαιρνα, αν δεν είχε κιόλας δυόμισι χρόνια που πέθανε και εκεί που ήταν με τίποτα δεν θα το σήκωνε”...
Σε μια έκρηξη υπερβολικής και πολυλογάδικης αυτοκριτικής, ο Βαργκ Βέουμ έπειτα από μια νύχτα αμαρτίας με μια μεσόκοπη άγνωστη ομολογεί:
“Δεν παραξενεύτηκα που με έδιωξε γιατί της έκανα έρωτα σαν σαραντάρης μαραθωνοδρόμος που έτρεξε χωρίς επιτυχία μέσα στη βροχή και έφτασε στο τέρμα ογδοηκοστός ή ενενηκοστός. Της έκανα έρωτα, σαν αγγελιοφόρος της αρχαιότητας, που μόλις προλαβαίνει να τρυπώσει ανάμεσα στα πόδια της και να της παραδώσει το μήνυμά του πριν πεθάνει. Της έκανα έρωτα, σαν γερασμένος ελέφαντας του τσίρκου, με αμέτρητες σεζόν και βόλτες στην αρένα στην πλάτη του. Της έκανα έρωτα με τη φλόγα μιας σμπαραλιασμένης σόμπας σ' ένα σπίτι που μένει χρόνια αδειανό. Και έχωσα το πρόσωπό μου ανάμεσα στα πόδια της για να μη με δει που έκλαιγα”.
Παρόλα αυτά, και ίσως επειδή δεν έχει τίποτα καλύτερο να κάνει, βρίσκει το ποδήλατο για λογαριασμό του μικρού Ρόαρ και πέφτει στη γοητεία της μητέρας του πιτσιρικά. Προσφάτως εγκαταλελειμμένη από τον άντρα της που εξακολουθεί παρόλα αυτά να αγαπάει.
Ο Βέουμ μπλέκεται όλο και περισσότερο με την οικογένεια. Σε μια άμισθη -ως συνήθως- αποστολή του, βρίσκεται με τον πρώην άντρα της. Αυτός του διηγείται την ιστορία του χωρισμού του από τη δική του σκοπιά. Τον πρόωρο γάμο του με τη Βένκε και τον βαθύ κι αξεπέραστο έρωτα που ένιωσε για μια άλλη γυναίκα, την Σόλβαϊ. Η ποιητική έκρηξη για τον έρωτα της ζωής του αγγίζει τον ντετέκτιβ μας, που αρχίζει πλέον να τον συμπαθεί. Την επόμενη όμως μέρα, σε μια επίσκεψη στην πρώην γυναίκα του, ο Γιόνας θα βρεθεί μαχαιρωμένος και νεκρός. Οι υποψίες φυσικά βαραίνουν την Βένκε και ο Βαργκ θα πρέπει να κινήσει γη και ουρανό για να βρει την αλήθεια.
O Staalesen διαφέρει από τον Τσάντλερ. Ως γνήσιος Ευρωπαίος και δη Σκανδιναβός δεν είναι δυνατόν να παραλείψει το κοινωνικό σχόλιο που τόσο απουσιάζει από την άλλη πλευρά του Ατλαντικού. Βρισκόμαστε στα 1979. Στο απόγειο του δυτικοευρωπαϊκού κράτους πρόνοιας, που όμως αδυνατεί να λύσει το κοινωνικό πρόβλημα. Οι υποστηρικτές του μοντέλου αμφισβητούν την αποτελεσματικότητά του και σιγά σιγά θα υποχωρήσουν κάτω από τις αλλεπάλληλες σφοδρές επιθέσεις του νεοφιλελευθερισμού. Ο Θατσερισμός σε λίγα χρόνια θα κυριαρχήσει και το σκανδιναβικό κράτος πρόνοιας αν και θα αντισταθεί περισσότερο από αλλού, θα υποταχθεί κι αυτό στην λογική του κέρδους και της οικονομικής ανταποδοτικότητας.
Ο δικηγόρος που αναλαμβάνει την Βένκε, αν και αστός, παραδέχεται:
“Έχω δει φοβερά πράγματα, πλήθος κατεστραμμένες ζωές. Και ξέρετε σε τι οφείλεται; Δεν είμαι ο κοινωνικός επαναστάτης που θα φέρει τη θύελλα στην κοινωνία. Εγώ κάθομαι στην άκρη και παρατηρώ τη θύελλα. Οι μισές υποθέσεις που έχω αναλάβει όμως μέχρι τώρα σχετίζονται αποκλειστικά και μόνο με τις κοινωνικές συνθήκες, το ταξικό σύστημα που ακόμα και σήμερα, εποχή του κράτους πρόνοιας, εξακολουθεί να παράγει κερδισμένους και χαμένους – και στο δικαστ��ριο πάντα καταλήγουν οι χαμένοι. Οι κερδισμένοι έχουν πάντα λεφτά να συγκαλύψουν τα εγκλήματά τους. Γιατί -πείτε μου παρακαλώ- τι είναι οι τρεις μπύρες που κλέβει ένας φουκαράς για να ξεδιψάσει, μπροστά στα εκατομμύρια που σπρώχνει κάθε χρόνο ένας εφοπλιστής κάτω από το τραπέζι;”
Λίγα χρόνια πριν ο Manchette αποφανθεί ότι το αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα συνιστά βίαιη κοινωνική παρέμβαση, ο Staalesen, πρωτοπόρος του νορβηγικού νουάρ, παρεμβάλει τόνους αυστηρής κοινωνικής κριτικής. Δεν είναι επαναστάτης όπως οι Γάλλοι συνάδελφοί του, είναι σοσιαλδημοκράτης. Και μάλιστα προδομένος. Ο ίδιος ο Βαργκ Βέουμ πριν γίνει ντετέκτιβ υπήρξε κοινωνικός λειτουργός.
Ο Staalesen πέρα από την κοινωνική αδικία κριτικάρει τις κοινωνικές συμβάσεις. Στην ιστορία μας στόχος είναι ο γάμος. Πλήθος δυστυχισμένων ζευγαριών, μιζεριασμένων έγγαμων βίων. Ο ήρωάς μας όταν βλέπει έναν γάμο σκέφτεται:
“Φεύγοντας από κει σκέφτηκα όλους τους γάμους που είχα πάει, όλες τις τελετές. Σκέφτηκα όλους τους πανηγυρικούς που είχα ακούσει, όλους τους χαρούμενους καλεσμένους με τους οποίους μοιράστηκα το τραπέζι και το χρόνο μου, όλα τα ευτυχισμένα νιόπαντρα ζευγάρια που είχα δει. Στο γλέντι του γάμου δεν σκέφτεσαι τις καθημερινές που θα έρθουν. Γελάς, τσουγκρίζεις το ποτήρι σου και δεν σκέφτεσαι τα δάκρυα, τη μοναξιά, τη ζήλια. Βλέπεις τους νιόπαντρους και τους φαντάζεσαι να περνούν όλη τους τη ζωή και το γάμο τους χορεύοντας με την ίδια ξενοιασιά που χορεύουν στην αίθουσα τον πρώτο τους χορό. Δεν τους φαντάζεσαι στον δικηγόρο, να κάθεται ο καθένας στην καρέκλα του με το πρόσωπο στραμμένο ίσια μπροστά και να προσπαθεί όσο μπορεί να αποφύγει τον άλλο. Ή ξαπλωμένους στο ίδιο κρεβάτι, ύστερα από σαράντα χρόνια, με την πλάτη γυρισμένη ο ένας στον άλλο και όσο γίνεται πιο μακριά, χωρίς να έχουν τίποτα να πουν ή να κάνουν. Ύστερα από σαράντα χρόνια γκρίζα, μονότονη καθημερινότητα, χωρίς λιακάδες, χωρίς Κυριακές. Και έρχονται κι άλλα ζευγάρια για την κρεμάλα, κι άλλα, κι άλλα”...
Στην ιστορία μας ο έρωτας αν κάπου είναι κρυμμένος, είναι εκτός γάμου. Σε παράνομες σχέσεις παντρεμένων. Που συνήθως μάλιστα δεν βρίσκουν ανταπόκριση. Μια γυναίκα, μητέρα του δεκαεφτάχρονου Τζόκερ θύμα του νεανικού συμμοριτισμού και των προβληματικών κρατικών κοινωνικών δομών, στο τέλος της ιστορίας το λέει καθαρά:
“Παράξενο πράγμα η αγάπη, ε Βέουμ; Πολύ σπάνια αγαπάς αυτόν που σε ...αγαπάει, πολύ σπάνια... Κούνησα το κεφάλι. Είχε δίκιο. Αν μου είχαν διδάξει κάτι οι τελευταίες μέρες, αυτό ήταν. Ότι η αγάπη δεν ξέρει σημάδι, ότι ποτέ δεν βρίσκει και τους δύο ταυτόχρονα, παρά μόνο τον ένα”.
Το χρονικά πρώτο αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα του Staalesen με ήρωα τον Βαργκ Βέουμ ανήκει στα απαραίτητα νουάρ αναγνώσματα. Πρώτον επειδή είναι μια πρώιμη ενδιαφέρουσα άσκηση της μεγάλης σκανδιναβικής σχολής. Δεύτερον επειδή η μίμηση του Τσάντλερ, από τον τίτλο, μέχρι την γραφή και την πλοκή, είναι πετυχημένη. Και τρίτον για την ίδια την ιστορία.
Ο Ελρόι κάποια στιγμή έγραψε πως “ο μεγάλος Ρέη (σ.σ Τσάντλερ) μου δίδαξε ότι η μίμηση αποτελεί τη χρυσή λεωφόρο προς την μετριότητα”.
Ο Staalesen στην πρώτη πετυχημένη ιστορία του ντετέκτιβ Βαργκ Βέουμ μιμείται, αλλά δεν οδηγείται στην μετριότητα. Δεν είναι βέβαια Τσάντλερ, αλλά έχει αυθεντικό ενδιαφέρον.
Ο Βαργκ Βέουμ είναι ένας κλασσικός αντιήρωας, ένας ντετέκτιβ με χαμηλή αυτοεκτίμηση και υψηλό αυτοσαρκασμό. Με θανατηφόρες ατάκες για τον εαυτό του, για τις γυναίκες του, για τη ζωή και το μέλλον του. Μένει στο βροχερό Μπέργκεν της Δυτικής Νορβηγίας και όχι στο ηλιόλουστο Λος Άντζελες, αλλά αυτό δεν τον εμποδίζει να λύνει μυστήρια.
Το “δικός σου ως τον θάνατο” είναι μια κλασσικού τύπου νουάρ ιστορία. Ο απαραίτητος ντετέκτιβ με τα χαρακτηριστικά που αναφέραμε, η ωραία Βένκε, μόνη, απροστάτευτη και αιωνίως ερωτευμένη, το παιδί της που στερείται πατρικού ήρωα, και ο πρώην άντρας της, ο Γιόνας καταρχήν ανταγωνιστής του Βέουμ, εν τέλει θύμα, και άκρως συμπαθητική φιγούρα. Η ιστορία είναι ένα δριμύ κατηγορώ στην παρακμή των έγγαμων σχέσεων, στην παραδοξότητα των οικογενειακών κοινωνικών συμβάσεων, αλλά και στο ναυάγιο του σοσιαλδημοκρατικού ονείρου.
Ο Βαργκ Βέουμ είναι ένας ντετέκτιβ χαμηλού κόστους, συνήθως άνεργος, με μηδενική αυτοεκτίμηση. Όταν ένας πιτσιρίκος του ζητά να βρει το ποδήλατο που του βούτηξε μια συμμορία εφήβων, σκέφτεται: “Συμμορίες δεκαεφτάρηδων και δεκαοχτάρηδων δεν είναι το πιο εύκολο πράγμα του κόσμου, ειδικά μάλιστα όταν νομίζουν ότι είναι και γαμώ τους άνδρες, και εσύ, τα δύο τελευταία χρόνια, τα χέρια τα έχεις μόνο για να σηκώνεις τα μπουκάλια με τη ρακή”.
Η ειρωνεία ξεχειλίζει από μέσα του κάθε στιγμή: “Ήταν μία από εκείνες τις μέρες που όλοι κυκλοφορούν με φάτσες σαν σφιγμένες γροθιές και δεν θέλουν και πολύ για να πλακωθούν στο ξύλο. Το απόγευμα ήρθε αργά, βαριεστημένα, σαν να μην πολυγούσταρε, και το τηλέφωνό μου ήταν ακόμη βουβό. Καθόμουν και το κοίταζα. Είπα να πάρω... Είπα να πάρω τη γριά μάνα μου, και θα την έπαιρνα, αν δεν είχε κιόλας δυόμισι χρόνια που πέθανε και εκεί που ήταν με τίποτα δεν θα το σήκωνε”...
Σε μια έκρηξη υπερβολικής και πολυλογάδικης αυτοκριτικής, ο Βαργκ Βέουμ έπειτα από μια νύχτα αμαρτίας με μια μεσόκοπη άγνωστη ομολογεί:
“Δεν παραξενεύτηκα που με έδιωξε γιατί της έκανα έρωτα σαν σαραντάρης μαραθωνοδρόμος που έτρεξε χωρίς επιτυχία μέσα στη βροχή και έφτασε στο τέρμα ογδοηκοστός ή ενενηκοστός. Της έκανα έρωτα, σαν αγγελιοφόρος της αρχαιότητας, που μόλις προλαβαίνει να τρυπώσει ανάμεσα στα πόδια της και να της παραδώσει το μήνυμά του πριν πεθάνει. Της έκανα έρωτα, σαν γερασμένος ελέφαντας του τσίρκου, με αμέτρητες σεζόν και βόλτες στην αρένα στην πλάτη του. Της έκανα έρωτα με τη φλόγα μιας σμπαραλιασμένης σόμπας σ' ένα σπίτι που μένει χρόνια αδειανό. Και έχωσα το πρόσωπό μου ανάμεσα στα πόδια της για να μη με δει που έκλαιγα”.
Παρόλα αυτά, και ίσως επειδή δεν έχει τίποτα καλύτερο να κάνει, βρίσκει το ποδήλατο για λογαριασμό του μικρού Ρόαρ και πέφτει στη γοητεία της μητέρας του πιτσιρικά. Προσφάτως εγκαταλελειμμένη από τον άντρα της που εξακολουθεί παρόλα αυτά να αγαπάει.
Ο Βέουμ μπλέκεται όλο και περισσότερο με την οικογένεια. Σε μια άμισθη -ως συνήθως- αποστολή του, βρίσκεται με τον πρώην άντρα της. Αυτός του διηγείται την ιστορία του χωρισμού του από τη δική του σκοπιά. Τον πρόωρο γάμο του με τη Βένκε και τον βαθύ κι αξεπέραστο έρωτα που ένιωσε για μια άλλη γυναίκα, την Σόλβαϊ. Η ποιητική έκρηξη για τον έρωτα της ζωής του αγγίζει τον ντετέκτιβ μας, που αρχίζει πλέον να τον συμπαθεί. Την επόμενη όμως μέρα, σε μια επίσκεψη στην πρώην γυναίκα του, ο Γιόνας θα βρεθεί μαχαιρωμένος και νεκρός. Οι υποψίες φυσικά βαραίνουν την Βένκε και ο Βαργκ θα πρέπει να κινήσει γη και ουρανό για να βρει την αλήθεια.
O Staalesen διαφέρει από τον Τσάντλερ. Ως γνήσιος Ευρωπαίος και δη Σκανδιναβός δεν είναι δυνατόν να παραλείψει το κοινωνικό σχόλιο που τόσο απουσιάζει από την άλλη πλευρά του Ατλαντικού. Βρισκόμαστε στα 1979. Στο απόγειο του δυτικοευρωπαϊκού κράτους πρόνοιας, που όμως αδυνατεί να λύσει το κοινωνικό πρόβλημα. Οι υποστηρικτές του μοντέλου αμφισβητούν την αποτελεσματικότητά του και σιγά σιγά θα υποχωρήσουν κάτω από τις αλλεπάλληλες σφοδρές επιθέσεις του νεοφιλελευθερισμού. Ο Θατσερισμός σε λίγα χρόνια θα κυριαρχήσει και το σκανδιναβικό κράτος πρόνοιας αν και θα αντισταθεί περισσότερο από αλλού, θα υποταχθεί κι αυτό στην λογική του κέρδους και της οικονομικής ανταποδοτικότητας.
Ο δικηγόρος που αναλαμβάνει την Βένκε, αν και αστός, παραδέχεται:
“Έχω δει φοβερά πράγματα, πλήθος κατεστραμμένες ζωές. Και ξέρετε σε τι οφείλεται; Δεν είμαι ο κοινωνικός επαναστάτης που θα φέρει τη θύελλα στην κοινωνία. Εγώ κάθομαι στην άκρη και παρατηρώ τη θύελλα. Οι μισές υποθέσεις που έχω αναλάβει όμως μέχρι τώρα σχετίζονται αποκλειστικά και μόνο με τις κοινωνικές συνθήκες, το ταξικό σύστημα που ακόμα και σήμερα, εποχή του κράτους πρόνοιας, εξακολουθεί να παράγει κερδισμένους και χαμένους – και στο δικαστ��ριο πάντα καταλήγουν οι χαμένοι. Οι κερδισμένοι έχουν πάντα λεφτά να συγκαλύψουν τα εγκλήματά τους. Γιατί -πείτε μου παρακαλώ- τι είναι οι τρεις μπύρες που κλέβει ένας φουκαράς για να ξεδιψάσει, μπροστά στα εκατομμύρια που σπρώχνει κάθε χρόνο ένας εφοπλιστής κάτω από το τραπέζι;”
Λίγα χρόνια πριν ο Manchette αποφανθεί ότι το αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα συνιστά βίαιη κοινωνική παρέμβαση, ο Staalesen, πρωτοπόρος του νορβηγικού νουάρ, παρεμβάλει τόνους αυστηρής κοινωνικής κριτικής. Δεν είναι επαναστάτης όπως οι Γάλλοι συνάδελφοί του, είναι σοσιαλδημοκράτης. Και μάλιστα προδομένος. Ο ίδιος ο Βαργκ Βέουμ πριν γίνει ντετέκτιβ υπήρξε κοινωνικός λειτουργός.
Ο Staalesen πέρα από την κοινωνική αδικία κριτικάρει τις κοινωνικές συμβάσεις. Στην ιστορία μας στόχος είναι ο γάμος. Πλήθος δυστυχισμένων ζευγαριών, μιζεριασμένων έγγαμων βίων. Ο ήρωάς μας όταν βλέπει έναν γάμο σκέφτεται:
“Φεύγοντας από κει σκέφτηκα όλους τους γάμους που είχα πάει, όλες τις τελετές. Σκέφτηκα όλους τους πανηγυρικούς που είχα ακούσει, όλους τους χαρούμενους καλεσμένους με τους οποίους μοιράστηκα το τραπέζι και το χρόνο μου, όλα τα ευτυχισμένα νιόπαντρα ζευγάρια που είχα δει. Στο γλέντι του γάμου δεν σκέφτεσαι τις καθημερινές που θα έρθουν. Γελάς, τσουγκρίζεις το ποτήρι σου και δεν σκέφτεσαι τα δάκρυα, τη μοναξιά, τη ζήλια. Βλέπεις τους νιόπαντρους και τους φαντάζεσαι να περνούν όλη τους τη ζωή και το γάμο τους χορεύοντας με την ίδια ξενοιασιά που χορεύουν στην αίθουσα τον πρώτο τους χορό. Δεν τους φαντάζεσαι στον δικηγόρο, να κάθεται ο καθένας στην καρέκλα του με το πρόσωπο στραμμένο ίσια μπροστά και να προσπαθεί όσο μπορεί να αποφύγει τον άλλο. Ή ξαπλωμένους στο ίδιο κρεβάτι, ύστερα από σαράντα χρόνια, με την πλάτη γυρισμένη ο ένας στον άλλο και όσο γίνεται πιο μακριά, χωρίς να έχουν τίποτα να πουν ή να κάνουν. Ύστερα από σαράντα χρόνια γκρίζα, μονότονη καθημερινότητα, χωρίς λιακάδες, χωρίς Κυριακές. Και έρχονται κι άλλα ζευγάρια για την κρεμάλα, κι άλλα, κι άλλα”...
Στην ιστορία μας ο έρωτας αν κάπου είναι κρυμμένος, είναι εκτός γάμου. Σε παράνομες σχέσεις παντρεμένων. Που συνήθως μάλιστα δεν βρίσκουν ανταπόκριση. Μια γυναίκα, μητέρα του δεκαεφτάχρονου Τζόκερ θύμα του νεανικού συμμοριτισμού και των προβληματικών κρατικών κοινωνικών δομών, στο τέλος της ιστορίας το λέει καθαρά:
“Παράξενο πράγμα η αγάπη, ε Βέουμ; Πολύ σπάνια αγαπάς αυτόν που σε ...αγαπάει, πολύ σπάνια... Κούνησα το κεφάλι. Είχε δίκιο. Αν μου είχαν διδάξει κάτι οι τελευταίες μέρες, αυτό ήταν. Ότι η αγάπη δεν ξέρει σημάδι, ότι ποτέ δεν βρίσκει και τους δύο ταυτόχρονα, παρά μόνο τον ένα”.
Το χρονικά πρώτο αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα του Staalesen με ήρωα τον Βαργκ Βέουμ ανήκει στα απαραίτητα νουάρ αναγνώσματα. Πρώτον επειδή είναι μια πρώιμη ενδιαφέρουσα άσκηση της μεγάλης σκανδιναβικής σχολής. Δεύτερον επειδή η μίμηση του Τσάντλερ, από τον τίτλο, μέχρι την γραφή και την πλοκή, είναι πετυχημένη. Και τρίτον για την ίδια την ιστορία.
September 28, 2017
Раз шесть ее в школе читал. И вот опять взялся. А она, оказывается, насквозь про взрослых.
October 4, 2017
An early entry in the series (#2 I believe). Good read, but not great. Still recommended.
September 18, 2021
Gunnar Staalesen is my new favorite author for mysteries. This one was a very complicated who done it, with a lot of getting beat up and hearts getting broken. I liked it very much.
June 27, 2017
Varg Veum is a not so successful private detective in 1970s Bergen, Norway. One day an eight-year-old boy named Roar comes to his office and hires Veum to find his bicycle which has been stolen by a local gang of teenage thugs. Roar lives alone with his mother but he doesn't want her to try to get the bike because the gang members assaulted the mother of one of Roar's friends who tried to get her son's stolen bike back. Varg meets leader of the gang, Joker, who appears to unstable and the situation between them escalates in ways Veum cannot anticipate. When a murder occurs in Roar's apartment, both Varg and Joker are witnesses and Varg manages to insinuate himself into the investigation.
Originally published in Norway in 1979 and first published in English in 1993 the series has the brooding and bleak essence of other Norwegian Noir books. I would definitely try another one of his books in the future.
Originally published in Norway in 1979 and first published in English in 1993 the series has the brooding and bleak essence of other Norwegian Noir books. I would definitely try another one of his books in the future.
February 13, 2016
Ο Βαργκ Βέουμ είναι ένας από τους πιο αγαπησιαρικους ήρωες αστυνομικού νουάρ....κοφτερό χιούμορ,φιλοσοφημένο μυαλό....η αστυνομική πλοκή είναι μάλλον το πρόσχημα για να βουτηξεις στο γκρίζο του νορβηγικού χειμώνα....κυριολεκτικά κ μεταφορικά....
Η ιστορία εξελίσσεται σε αργό ρυθμό,καμιά σχεση με Νεσμπο,αν κ ο ηρωας κουβαλά μερικά από τα κουσουρια του Χολε...ωστόσο,κόντρα στην έλλειψη δράσης,βρίσκονται οι ξεχωριστές σκέψεις του Βεουμ,οι απολαυστικοί εσωτερικοί του μονολογοι, κ οι φιλοσοφημενοι του όσο και με δόσεις σαρκαστικου χιούμορ, διάλογοι...Το τέλος του βιβλίου έχει μια δυνατή σκηνή κ το φιναλε σε αφηνει με μια πικρή γεύση.....για να μην ξεχνάς ότι αυτό είναι οπωσδήποτε νουάρ....
Η ιστορία εξελίσσεται σε αργό ρυθμό,καμιά σχεση με Νεσμπο,αν κ ο ηρωας κουβαλά μερικά από τα κουσουρια του Χολε...ωστόσο,κόντρα στην έλλειψη δράσης,βρίσκονται οι ξεχωριστές σκέψεις του Βεουμ,οι απολαυστικοί εσωτερικοί του μονολογοι, κ οι φιλοσοφημενοι του όσο και με δόσεις σαρκαστικου χιούμορ, διάλογοι...Το τέλος του βιβλίου έχει μια δυνατή σκηνή κ το φιναλε σε αφηνει με μια πικρή γεύση.....για να μην ξεχνάς ότι αυτό είναι οπωσδήποτε νουάρ....
May 27, 2020
Just didn't enjoy it. There are too many other really good Nordic Noir mysteries out there that I didn't want to waste my time finishing this one.
I agree with the reader who said that Varg really didn't contribute much of anything to solving the mystery, that he was more of a wall that people talked at. I found the presumably Chandler-esque comments way overdone. Analogy upon analogy, almost as if the author was trying out multiple metaphorical references to see which one to keep, but then decided to use them all. Bad decision.
From the reviews I see that many readers enjoyed just what I disliked about the book and that's totally fair. Not my cup of tea.
I agree with the reader who said that Varg really didn't contribute much of anything to solving the mystery, that he was more of a wall that people talked at. I found the presumably Chandler-esque comments way overdone. Analogy upon analogy, almost as if the author was trying out multiple metaphorical references to see which one to keep, but then decided to use them all. Bad decision.
From the reviews I see that many readers enjoyed just what I disliked about the book and that's totally fair. Not my cup of tea.
August 21, 2017
Audible recently suggested some Scandinavian authors since I've been reading Jo Nesbø. Gunnar Staalesen's book Yours Until Death was intriguing. And damn, if it wasn't a terrific read. So, now I'm not only hooked on Harry Hole but also Varg Veum. I've now taken to having a map of Norway up so I can find the places folks speak about and try to visualize them. Mr. Staalesen's writing is often bleak, with stories that are filled with sadness and challenge. Mr. Veum is a very interesting guy and I am enjoying his life.
February 4, 2014
Не очаквайте напрегнат, динамичен сюжет със сложни логически главоблъсканици! Силата на Гюнар Столесен е в бавното, спокойно повествование, в което има място за лирически отклонения и психологически портрети.
Цялото ревю за "Аз чета"
Цялото ревю за "Аз чета"
January 24, 2019
Another highly enjoyable read by Staalesen. A very good crime novel that is someone driven along more by the characters than the plot. It’s an earlier book of his, #2 in the series but a fantastic read that delves into character really well. Varg is a lead character depicted extremely well, and you feel like he’s someone you may know in your own life etc. Definitely recommend the book.
June 14, 2015
This private investigator sure has a lot to say. First in a series. Hope they get better.
February 27, 2017
Philosophical private investigator. Too much philosophy for me.
Want to read
May 2, 2019Synopsis: it was at their torture chamber that Varg Veum, PI, first encountered the gang's pathetic but deadly ferocity. There's a murder coming.
February 6, 2021
Haunting
March 12, 2025
3rd read for this author, and it's so beautifully written and extremely thoughtful. If this is your first introduction to the series, you are in for a real treat. This is not a fast-paced story. There is a slow evolving tension and a real sense of mystery that bubbles underneath.
The book really holds your attention and keeps you completely invested in the characters especially Roar, you feel so much for his plight, his concern for his mother and his fear about what is happening on his estate. When he appears at Varg's office asking for help with getting his bike back and then seeing Varg championing him, standing for the underdog even when the odds are not in his favour, really draws you into the story.
As an introduction to Varg, this book should and does make you all the more interested in learning about him, on what drew him to his new career and what pushed him from his old one.
It starts to showcase Varg Veum, his compassionate and caring nature, his selflessness, and his Aquavit drinking best. This is a man who gives everything to his clients, who has a faith in their character and a determination to push for the truth and what is right, no matter the risk to himself along the way.
This is never more evident than when he meets his new ‘client’, eight year old Roar who seeks his help to retrieve his bike which has been stolen by a group of thugs from the estate he lives on. Roar is scared of what the gang will do if it is left to his mother to get it back, and, as Varg discovers, it is with good reason. Far from a simple case of retrieving a stolen bike, Varg finds himself drawn into the world of Roar and his mother Wenche Andersen, with surprising and tragic consequences.
Varg is a very complicated character. As a former child services employee, he is very particular about the kinds of cases he takes. He's also a man driven by his heart and his compassion. When he takes on Roar’s case, you know that it is as much about ensuring the child remains safe as it is about expecting any kind of reimbursement of expenses. He is kind, but he is haunted. He is also not a man averse to having his head turned by a pretty face, and Wenche Andersen is someone who catches his eyes straight away. He is not infallible, and he is as capable of misjudgement as any other.
Gunnar Staalesen is good at setting the scene. You get a real sense of place and of atmosphere, including the oppressive nature of the tower block apartments that Wenche and Roar live in. A sense of desperation and isolation that sums up the residents, who are trying to mind their own business. There is little community spirit and the helplessness that some of the residents, women and children in particular, feel in the presence of the gang, adds a kind of desolation to the story.
This is more than just a story about a gang though it has a complex and tragic narrative about the idea of family, marriage, love and love verses duty, and how far people would go to protect either.
The book really holds your attention and keeps you completely invested in the characters especially Roar, you feel so much for his plight, his concern for his mother and his fear about what is happening on his estate. When he appears at Varg's office asking for help with getting his bike back and then seeing Varg championing him, standing for the underdog even when the odds are not in his favour, really draws you into the story.
As an introduction to Varg, this book should and does make you all the more interested in learning about him, on what drew him to his new career and what pushed him from his old one.
It starts to showcase Varg Veum, his compassionate and caring nature, his selflessness, and his Aquavit drinking best. This is a man who gives everything to his clients, who has a faith in their character and a determination to push for the truth and what is right, no matter the risk to himself along the way.
This is never more evident than when he meets his new ‘client’, eight year old Roar who seeks his help to retrieve his bike which has been stolen by a group of thugs from the estate he lives on. Roar is scared of what the gang will do if it is left to his mother to get it back, and, as Varg discovers, it is with good reason. Far from a simple case of retrieving a stolen bike, Varg finds himself drawn into the world of Roar and his mother Wenche Andersen, with surprising and tragic consequences.
Varg is a very complicated character. As a former child services employee, he is very particular about the kinds of cases he takes. He's also a man driven by his heart and his compassion. When he takes on Roar’s case, you know that it is as much about ensuring the child remains safe as it is about expecting any kind of reimbursement of expenses. He is kind, but he is haunted. He is also not a man averse to having his head turned by a pretty face, and Wenche Andersen is someone who catches his eyes straight away. He is not infallible, and he is as capable of misjudgement as any other.
Gunnar Staalesen is good at setting the scene. You get a real sense of place and of atmosphere, including the oppressive nature of the tower block apartments that Wenche and Roar live in. A sense of desperation and isolation that sums up the residents, who are trying to mind their own business. There is little community spirit and the helplessness that some of the residents, women and children in particular, feel in the presence of the gang, adds a kind of desolation to the story.
This is more than just a story about a gang though it has a complex and tragic narrative about the idea of family, marriage, love and love verses duty, and how far people would go to protect either.
February 17, 2023
Good stuff.
I'd been tripping across this series for awhile now in my search for new Nordic Noir, and was disappointed that, for whatever reason, we in the US consider the first book translated to English to be the first book in the series, which it isn't, so I backed off.
Suddenly, I found a compilation of 4 books in the series, in English, for almost nothing. And with some investigation got the 'published order' rather than the translated order in Amazon and GR, and then discovered a whole bunch of them were 99 cents, although there were some holes where a few still weren't translated. So I own 7 out of the first 13 and there are several more on Amazon for $3.99.
So, I bought them in spite of the reviews which really didn't like some of the 'thingees' in the books hoping it would work out..
Well,, I loved the first one. Yes there is always more than one description of everything, yes, one can argue our hero/author is a sexist pig, yes one could live without the metaphors for everything, yes one can live without our hero's every thought being on the printed page, and yes, our hero is every now and then not a nice guy.
And I won't argue that the side stories of the institution of marriage and teen age 'gangs' can be easily interpreted as the main stories (they likely were in 1977 when this was written), but they were part of the whodunit, which, sadly, I guessed before the 'big reveal' in spite of the twists and turns to get to the last chapter.
But I liked all that. Along with the Nordic Noir darkness of the setting, the great characters put together by the author, and a terrific story line.
Me, can't wait to read #2, but will have to because #2 isn't in English for Kindle, otherwise I guess I'll 'read' it via the reviews, so I can get going with #3.
Not quite the graphic murder, mayhem and sex one will find in Jo Nesbo, for example, but a right up there with the best of the Nordic Noirs whodunits I've read so far.
In the meantime my TBR list can keep me busy for a while. I can see why some folks didn't like this, but that's what makes the world go around. I did. Try it, you might like it too.
I'd been tripping across this series for awhile now in my search for new Nordic Noir, and was disappointed that, for whatever reason, we in the US consider the first book translated to English to be the first book in the series, which it isn't, so I backed off.
Suddenly, I found a compilation of 4 books in the series, in English, for almost nothing. And with some investigation got the 'published order' rather than the translated order in Amazon and GR, and then discovered a whole bunch of them were 99 cents, although there were some holes where a few still weren't translated. So I own 7 out of the first 13 and there are several more on Amazon for $3.99.
So, I bought them in spite of the reviews which really didn't like some of the 'thingees' in the books hoping it would work out..
Well,, I loved the first one. Yes there is always more than one description of everything, yes, one can argue our hero/author is a sexist pig, yes one could live without the metaphors for everything, yes one can live without our hero's every thought being on the printed page, and yes, our hero is every now and then not a nice guy.
And I won't argue that the side stories of the institution of marriage and teen age 'gangs' can be easily interpreted as the main stories (they likely were in 1977 when this was written), but they were part of the whodunit, which, sadly, I guessed before the 'big reveal' in spite of the twists and turns to get to the last chapter.
But I liked all that. Along with the Nordic Noir darkness of the setting, the great characters put together by the author, and a terrific story line.
Me, can't wait to read #2, but will have to because #2 isn't in English for Kindle, otherwise I guess I'll 'read' it via the reviews, so I can get going with #3.
Not quite the graphic murder, mayhem and sex one will find in Jo Nesbo, for example, but a right up there with the best of the Nordic Noirs whodunits I've read so far.
In the meantime my TBR list can keep me busy for a while. I can see why some folks didn't like this, but that's what makes the world go around. I did. Try it, you might like it too.
August 4, 2025
Overwritten hard-boiled detective story from Norway, and yet I liked it — there's a spark of magic here.
By overwritten, I mean the author engages in flights of existential angst a few times every chapter so that you get passages like: Love’s a lonely thing. It’s a stone you once found on a beach and carry around in the pocket of a pair of trousers you seldom wear. But it’s there, somewhere in the cupboard. And you know it. It’ll follow you all your life. From your birth to your death. Love’s as blind as a stone, as lonely as an empty beach. And you know it.
It's hard not to roll your eyes, but the author was about 30 when he wrote this book — published in 1979 — and he was a fan of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald so it's also kind of cute.
Or: His was a voice you’d like to forget. Like the last sentence in a bad novel.
Perhaps I wouldn't smile at such passages if I hadn't read a book in the same series that was published about 25 years later (Where Roses Never Die) and I know the author grows past this kind of noir melodrama.
I liked that other book so much that I decided to start at the beginning, with this the second book in the Varg Veum series and the first (seemingly) translated into English.
If you're familiar with the tropes of the hard-boiled detective genre, you know who the killer is going to be. And yet it was still a smartly plotted story.
It involves a single mom whose young son is picked on by a teenage gang and our hero gets persuaded to help. When the boy is kidnapped and soon after a character in the boy's orbit gets murdered, the story gets even more compelling.
3.5 stars, rounded up because the author is clearly just getting started.
By overwritten, I mean the author engages in flights of existential angst a few times every chapter so that you get passages like: Love’s a lonely thing. It’s a stone you once found on a beach and carry around in the pocket of a pair of trousers you seldom wear. But it’s there, somewhere in the cupboard. And you know it. It’ll follow you all your life. From your birth to your death. Love’s as blind as a stone, as lonely as an empty beach. And you know it.
It's hard not to roll your eyes, but the author was about 30 when he wrote this book — published in 1979 — and he was a fan of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald so it's also kind of cute.
Or: His was a voice you’d like to forget. Like the last sentence in a bad novel.
Perhaps I wouldn't smile at such passages if I hadn't read a book in the same series that was published about 25 years later (Where Roses Never Die) and I know the author grows past this kind of noir melodrama.
I liked that other book so much that I decided to start at the beginning, with this the second book in the Varg Veum series and the first (seemingly) translated into English.
If you're familiar with the tropes of the hard-boiled detective genre, you know who the killer is going to be. And yet it was still a smartly plotted story.
It involves a single mom whose young son is picked on by a teenage gang and our hero gets persuaded to help. When the boy is kidnapped and soon after a character in the boy's orbit gets murdered, the story gets even more compelling.
3.5 stars, rounded up because the author is clearly just getting started.
May 23, 2020
Varg Veum: I recently read Big Sister about Veum's old age discovery that he had a half-sister and so many other ties of a newly discovered set of family ties and was very impressed. So I ordered Book number 2 and 5. For some reason I could not or did not order the first book. It is okay to just start with number 2: Veum is 36 in this one and enough of his complex character is revealed for me just to sample these two for now.
8 year old boy ROAR took a bus across Bergen to Veum's low rent office to hire him as a private detective because he looked up private investigators in the phone book. From there within just a few days Veum rescues the boys stolen bike from a group of teenage bullies terrorizing the set of apartment complexes, including Roar and his mother Wenche. The next day Roar himself is abducted and brutalized by this crew and wise-cracking "old man" Veum rescues Roar and gets into a fight with part of the gang which he wins. But he sets up a battle of wills with the leader of the gang, Joker. Wenche is so grateful (and beautiful in a delicate way) that we sense Veum is falling for her. Wenche refuses a dinner invite with Veum and then asks for a favor for which she will hire Veum--to ask her former husband for the cash value of the sale of an insurance policy which she was promised but which he never paid. Veum visits the former husband Jonas and in a maudlum evening of drinking with Jonas in which Jonas relates the endless tale of his real love Solveig, a tale that hangs with Veum even more. The next day Jonas is found stabbed to death and it looks as if Wenche did it but Veum goes off on an attempt to clear her name. The route through which this all unfolds is very complex--totally unbelievable but interesting. But the massive beatings that Veum gets from the teenage gang and later from the love-obsessed villian is horrible. We are even to believe that with massive beatings and barely able to stand and coordinate his limbs, Veum drives himself to the emergency room and then back to his apartment. Lots of drinking and a good bit of smoking. Male macho stuff with the teenagers, with the police, and with the defense lawyers. The set up is that Veum is learning more about himself, about life, the complexities of life, and how lives are ruined. That's enough to keep me interested for now. On to number 5, Wolves in the Dark. Blurb on fron of number 2 is by Jo Nesbo calling Staalensen "A Norwegian Chandler." I get that flavor. WOW, I just started number 5 and he is ancient already.
8 year old boy ROAR took a bus across Bergen to Veum's low rent office to hire him as a private detective because he looked up private investigators in the phone book. From there within just a few days Veum rescues the boys stolen bike from a group of teenage bullies terrorizing the set of apartment complexes, including Roar and his mother Wenche. The next day Roar himself is abducted and brutalized by this crew and wise-cracking "old man" Veum rescues Roar and gets into a fight with part of the gang which he wins. But he sets up a battle of wills with the leader of the gang, Joker. Wenche is so grateful (and beautiful in a delicate way) that we sense Veum is falling for her. Wenche refuses a dinner invite with Veum and then asks for a favor for which she will hire Veum--to ask her former husband for the cash value of the sale of an insurance policy which she was promised but which he never paid. Veum visits the former husband Jonas and in a maudlum evening of drinking with Jonas in which Jonas relates the endless tale of his real love Solveig, a tale that hangs with Veum even more. The next day Jonas is found stabbed to death and it looks as if Wenche did it but Veum goes off on an attempt to clear her name. The route through which this all unfolds is very complex--totally unbelievable but interesting. But the massive beatings that Veum gets from the teenage gang and later from the love-obsessed villian is horrible. We are even to believe that with massive beatings and barely able to stand and coordinate his limbs, Veum drives himself to the emergency room and then back to his apartment. Lots of drinking and a good bit of smoking. Male macho stuff with the teenagers, with the police, and with the defense lawyers. The set up is that Veum is learning more about himself, about life, the complexities of life, and how lives are ruined. That's enough to keep me interested for now. On to number 5, Wolves in the Dark. Blurb on fron of number 2 is by Jo Nesbo calling Staalensen "A Norwegian Chandler." I get that flavor. WOW, I just started number 5 and he is ancient already.
December 24, 2024
A young boy comes to private investigator Varg Veum's office in Bergen, Norway, to ask for help in recovering a stolen bike. From this simple beginning, Varg is swept up into a story of broken lives and broken marriages, betrayals, lies, temptations, violence, and death. Underlying the narrative is a treatise on the random nature of life and love.
Less like Raymond Chandler than Ross Macdonald, the novel is relentlessly Swedish noir, more adroitly accomplished than Philip Kerr's Berlin detective Bernie Gunther series. Staalesen's crisp setting and character descriptions are vivid as well as unusual, leaning heavily on similes as does Macdonald. An early novel in the series, Staalesen invests considerable effort into Varg's past, his state of mind, his reactions to people, places, and events - perhaps to excess, perhaps not.
Varg struggles throughout to find the good in life, focusing when he can on the sudden emergence of spring, sun, a shy smile, in the midst of poverty, depression, dark future, and seemingly constant rain and snow. Indeed, from Staalesens' description of Norway and its climate, why the Norse pantheon consists of Odin, Loki, and Thor is perfectly understandable.
Less like Raymond Chandler than Ross Macdonald, the novel is relentlessly Swedish noir, more adroitly accomplished than Philip Kerr's Berlin detective Bernie Gunther series. Staalesen's crisp setting and character descriptions are vivid as well as unusual, leaning heavily on similes as does Macdonald. An early novel in the series, Staalesen invests considerable effort into Varg's past, his state of mind, his reactions to people, places, and events - perhaps to excess, perhaps not.
Varg struggles throughout to find the good in life, focusing when he can on the sudden emergence of spring, sun, a shy smile, in the midst of poverty, depression, dark future, and seemingly constant rain and snow. Indeed, from Staalesens' description of Norway and its climate, why the Norse pantheon consists of Odin, Loki, and Thor is perfectly understandable.
June 2, 2019
Yours Until Death is the oldest of the Varg Veum books translated into English. He seems bit gruffer than in the more recent novels. That aside, this is a very engaging book. The story-telling is crisp and the writing is beautiful.
Staalesen's writing is more straight-forward than some of his Scandinavian Noir contemporaries. He does not use the bleak landscape to set a mood, does not write crime books where the crime is a social commentary, but writes strong crime books where the crime is the crime.
The type-setting in the book was off. "cl" ran so close together consistently and looked to be "d" and the "fl" combination always looked to be fi". Someone needs to clean (or dean) that up.
Hey, it's a crime book so I'm not going to give any of the story away except to say that I thought I knew who the murderer was but was only half right. There are two murders and two murderers. One I got, one I didn't
Staalesen's writing is more straight-forward than some of his Scandinavian Noir contemporaries. He does not use the bleak landscape to set a mood, does not write crime books where the crime is a social commentary, but writes strong crime books where the crime is the crime.
The type-setting in the book was off. "cl" ran so close together consistently and looked to be "d" and the "fl" combination always looked to be fi". Someone needs to clean (or dean) that up.
Hey, it's a crime book so I'm not going to give any of the story away except to say that I thought I knew who the murderer was but was only half right. There are two murders and two murderers. One I got, one I didn't
January 23, 2019
Solid-albeit predictable- Nordic Noir tale involving marginal detective Varg Veum who becomes embroiled solving a convoluted murder when an eight-year old boy hires him to find a lost bicycle. Yes, this smacks of 1940's kitsch, but Staalesen does work in some hauntingly memorable descriptions of the locale and his childhood even while he adds a hefty dose of sarcastic humor.
Based on the number of physical altercations that Veum finds himself, you might expect that he'd be in ICU for and extended period, but Staalesen seems to take sadistic delight into seeing his anti-hero get the stuffing knocked out of him again and again.
If I hadn't already ordered another installment of the Varg Veum series from my library's search network, this might have been a one-off, but since the book's in transit, I'll take a chance and give it a shot-or stab (pun intended).
Based on the number of physical altercations that Veum finds himself, you might expect that he'd be in ICU for and extended period, but Staalesen seems to take sadistic delight into seeing his anti-hero get the stuffing knocked out of him again and again.
If I hadn't already ordered another installment of the Varg Veum series from my library's search network, this might have been a one-off, but since the book's in transit, I'll take a chance and give it a shot-or stab (pun intended).
June 9, 2021
Din til døden er andet bind i Gunnar Staalesens serie om Varg Veum. Bogen udkom i 1979, og der skrives da også på elektriske skrivemaskiner, men ellers er bogen ikke specielt patineret. Veum er mere melankolsk og ensom, end han senere bliver. Fraskilt med hang til akvavit og uden kontakt til sit barn. Sproget er mere sprudledende og blomstrende end i de senere bøger. Tonen er til tider sarkastisk og galgenhumorisk, og der spores tydelig inspiration fra Raymond Chandler-traditionen. Sådan som vi også kender det fra Dan Turells krimibøger. Egentlig synes jeg at bogen har mere kant end Staalesens senere Veumbøger, fordi den sprogligt vover mere, er mere humoristisk og figuren Veum til tider er temmelig fucked up.
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