Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Book Review: The Snowman, by Jo Nesbo



“Soon, the first snow will come.

And then he will appear again.

And when the snow has gone…

…he will have taken someone else.”
So goes the blurb of “The Snowman” by Jo Nesbo….chilling enough to evoke interest in an author I hadn’t even heard of before, and so well suited to the title that I wondered if that was the reason the cover didn’t have a snowman at all.


Jo Nesbo is a Norwegian award winning author and musician, and his bestselling novels have been translated into 40 languages! And to think that before this, I hadn’t heard of him at all!!! Touted as the next Stieg Larsson, he is best known for his mystery novels involving Inspector Harry Hole.

‘The snowman’ is the seventh in the Harry Hole series, of which there are now 10 novels, all translated into English by Don Bartlett.

The book tells us the story of a serial killer on the loose. One who has killed several women, but has never aroused the least suspicion, since he has always been extra careful, and also the fact that he has disposed of the bodies so well that they have never been found. It is Inspector Harry Hole, who, on the trail of several women who have gone missing over the years, stumbles to the realisation that there is a killer somewhere out there targeting women, especially wives and mothers. Harry, battling his own demons of broken relationships and alcoholism problems, finds his way amidst the mess, egged on by an anonymous letter he has received, and as the bodies pile up, leaps to one conclusion after another, not all of which are the right ones. The fact that he eventually does arrive at the correct solution is not surprising. After all, what is a thriller without twists and turns? And which author would leave a crime unsolved or a killer loose out there? Unless of course, he plans a sequel!

The book is racy and a page-turner. The characters are well sketched, but understated, without detailed descriptions, but giving us a good idea of what they are like, how they think and what they might do. The author’s wry sense of humour comes across every now and then, and I wondered if the character of Harry Hole was somewhat autobiographical.

The characterization of the women is interesting. Both, Katrine and Rakel, are strong, independent women, and so are some of the victims, but all of them eventually are just as vulnerable, when it comes to their personal lives, their relationships, and eventually the killer. I couldn’t help but wonder what some of my friends would think of such a characterisation. It will surely make for an interesting discussion sometime!

All in all, the book is a good read, and I am now curious about the other Harry Hole books!

This book was sent to me for review by Random House India


Comments

  1. Shame that I did not hear of this author either, before this review. So thanks for the introduction Anu. Will get my first copy right now..:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Would love to hear what you think of the book, Atula. Am discovering so many new authors these days, and wondering how I hadnt even heard of them till now!

      Delete
  2. thanks for your review... hope its really worthy to read few days bak i bought the cuckoos calling by j.k rowling and was completly dissapointed by the book... to much description.. and the story ws not at all intersting,afrer reading dan browns inferno i chose cuckoos calling as a book. though both d books r diffnt bt... the fact is inferno grippd me more dn cuckoos calling.. lets see with this book. how it is...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you are welcome, Bidisha. but then again, I dont really know if you will enjoy this one or not. After all, books are as much a matter of taste as food!! I have read Dan Brown's Inferno, and enjoyed it, but not as much as his earlier books. As for the cuckoo's calling, havent read it yet. I have enjoyed her Harry Potter series, but that doesnt necessarily mean i will enjoy this one, so it remains to be seen :D Would love to hear what you think of this book, though, if u read it, let me know.

      Delete
  3. Great :) I am looking forward to reading the first Jo Nesbo book soon, thanks to your recommendations.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie