Cover photos and article: (c) Mariola DCA.
Jo Nesbø He has been in Spain presenting his latest novel entitled the jealous man. Madrid and Barcelona, for San Jordi today, have been the chosen cities. I attended the act, brief but interesting, which was given by Marina Sanmartín. This is my chronicle.
Telefónica Foundation Space – Madrid
Three years later, with a global pandemic in between, of his previous visit, the famous Norwegian crime novelist and Infant, has returned to give both a surprise and a joy to its Spanish readers, who did not imagine that it would return so soon and for a few literary days par excellence.
With new book put up for sale on the 13th, the presentation took place on the bleak afternoon of the 20th in the Espacio Fundación Telefónica, housed in the emblematic building of the Gran Vía. In a secluded but, at the same time, spacious room with a great capacity although not complete (on a Wednesday and entering the jungle of traffic in the heart of Madrid encourages just enough to get closer) was the talk that the author had with the journalist, writer and bookseller Marina Sanmartín.
Before, Nesbø was doing a short photo shoot for the press. Some of us had met him at the entrance, where he arrived accompanied by James Bonfill, the publisher of Reservoir Books, and the cultural attaché of the Norwegian Embassy and translator of her books Lotte K Tollefsen. True to his informal style and sheltered behind his special glasses, cap and desire to spend unnoticed, entered mingling with the attendees who hardly gave us time to realize it.
At 7 o'clock he approached the small staging platform for the talk and Jaume Bonfill made a brief introduction, thanked him (and everyone) and gave the floor to Marina Sanmartín.
The talk
The talk was rebroadcast live on the internet through the Espacio Telefónica channel and did not arrive on time. Apparently, the author had some commitment and had commented that he would sign for a short time.
Sanmartín raised the interview in two blocks of questions focused on power and jealousy, just as they are made up of 12 stories (some 100-page novellas) by the jealous man.
in his usual slow and calm tone, to facilitate the simultaneous translation and also to articulate his answers well, Nesbø unraveled the questions that dealt mostly with the book, but also with the situation that we live. This is how topics like the pandemic and the social and cultural changes that it has been able to bring about, the immigration or the invasion of Ukraine, with his opinion on Russia and the Russians.
Recall that Nesbø is the thinking mind of the television series occupied, a dystopia that recounted the invasion and occupation of Norway by Russia and that in its day caused a certain diplomatic stir between the two countries.
He was more concise in his answer to whether he thought that literature could still have the power to change the world: what it could do is compose a good pop song.
Harry Hole is back
Already in the question time, once the staff was encouraged, there were from the usual intense guard that mixes literary churras with merinos from bitcoins until the one that got to the point of what we all wanted to know: when will the next Harry hole? And contrary to the silence that we could assume and fear in the very brief pause he made, he softened (even more) the tone to give us the scoop: his famous and very crushed commissioner will come back next year with a new story titled Luna de sangre.
Then we got in line for the signature of copies that barely gave for a few words of thanks from the author and readers. But it will always be worth it, no matter how brief the shared time, a meeting with a great of contemporary literature like Nesbø.
The writer's visit ends Barcelona, with another presentation talk also on the 21st and signed in Saint Jordi, where he has already been on more occasions.