tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post7535506922228459612..comments2023-11-05T01:05:41.190-07:00Comments on International Noir Fiction: Finally, the sequel to Liza Marklund's The BomberGlenn Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04869155065647936216noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-76920898118196008882011-08-06T15:28:01.022-07:002011-08-06T15:28:01.022-07:00Thanks for the kind words, Maxine (and sorry to hi...Thanks for the kind words, Maxine (and sorry to hijack the comments section here). I'm not sure whether there was a rights issue with the earlier translations, but I'm very pleased to have been able to give the whole series (well, almost) the same voice. <br />As far as I know, the new books should be out at roughly six-monthly intervals following Last Will: I should have finished all of them, including Book 9, by this time next year.Neil Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006995236841052257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-34417265346075990442011-08-06T06:32:23.610-07:002011-08-06T06:32:23.610-07:00But if a male character was obviously ambitious as...But if a male character was obviously ambitious as well as having young family, etc, would he be perceived as "flawed" or would he have some wife or female carer-figure in the background to do all that stuff for him? I don't know - interesting food for thought.<br /><br />On Neil's comments - I managed to read the first four Annika books in English in their previous translations, Neil's excellent transltion of Red Wolf came after a long wait as Marklund was dropped ( I presume) by her then-publisher. I am glad to hear from Neil that they other books are to be published in translation, but I wish that the rights had been bought so the older books could just have been reissued, and us impatient readers could move on to the new titles that have not yet been translated. Hope it does not take too long to get up to #9.Maxine Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06628509319992204770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-58644263327745486492011-08-06T05:40:04.221-07:002011-08-06T05:40:04.221-07:00Thanks so much for the very thoughtful review.
I&...Thanks so much for the very thoughtful review.<br /><br />I'm not sure how many of them are going to be published in the US, but Transworld in the UK have commissioned new translations of the whole of the Annika Bengtzon series (except Prime Time). So far only Red Wolf and Exposed (previously Studio Sex/69) have been published, but the new translation of The Bomber will be out in the UK in November. March 2012 will see the publication of both Last Will (following on from Red Wolf) and Vanished (previously Paradise), and the remaining three books (including the as-yet-untitled ninth book that Liza is currently working on) will all be out in English within a couple of years. It's been a long wait, but at last the whole series will have made it!Neil Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006995236841052257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-36064902581437526572011-08-02T17:22:40.963-07:002011-08-02T17:22:40.963-07:00OT, but there doesn't seem to be any other way...OT, but there doesn't seem to be any other way to send you a message.<br /><br />Recommending this site as a test of how truly international your blog's reach is:<br /><br />http://www.blaft.com/David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-4075363765897148342011-08-01T07:28:37.213-07:002011-08-01T07:28:37.213-07:00Maxine: thanks for the perceptive comments--I don&...Maxine: thanks for the perceptive comments--I don't disagree about the sources of Annika's personal difficulties, but I think it's one of the strengths of the series that Marklund doesn't excuse Annika for her faults. Annika is seen plainly from her own and other points of view, and she is who she is, ambition, self-protection, and all. Too many male detectives with personal problems seem to get a free ride for them, too many easy excuses (the job, etc), and from Annika's example, the stories would be stronger if we the readers could simply see them as they are, from the point of the view (sometimes at least) of the characters who have to put up with them.<br />thanks again,<br />GlennGlenn Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869155065647936216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15258276.post-43413405001420382882011-07-31T12:44:35.213-07:002011-07-31T12:44:35.213-07:00Very good review as ever, Glenn, but I have a very...Very good review as ever, Glenn, but I have a very different view about Annika. I don't find her flawed, I find her situations extremely realistic. Living through what she has done (not sure if you have read the other books, about her previous boyfriend, meeting Thomas, dealing with work sexism etc, having babies and trying to keep a high pressured job going).....it is a very realistic depiction of what it is actually like being in that situation, unlike most airbrushed fictional portraits. I am not a bit surprised that Annika is as she is, given what she has gone through. (Anne Sapphane her friend is even less together, in the pressured world of TV). <br /><br />Marklund often gets bored with the plots, one thinks (except possibly in the best book in the series, and most heartfelt, Paradise) but I think Annika is a great depiction of the toll taken by an idealistic person trying to do her best in impossible situations - state of modern journalism, being a good parent, etc. Sometimes I feel that characters in crime fiction with these domestic problems as well as their day jobs just ignore these real issues, particularly if the protag is a male ;-)Maxine Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06628509319992204770noreply@blogger.com