Macbeth*

Jo Nesbo follows the storyline and creates a contemporary narrative to the Shakespearean classic!

This book was so awful and so contrived that I could not read beyond the first one hundred pages. Do yourself a favor and skip this ill conceived and poorly executed attempt on a contemporary noir version of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

A great read!

Dark, more dark and noir. That’s the overwhelming feeling I had throughout this book. Dank and decrepit industrial town where it rains and sleets constantly, where drug lords and gangs and corrupt officials control the town, or have endless conflict over it, where lots of people are addicts to drugs and gambling, and, in this book, where murders happen in astounding numbers.Okay, but I really respect Jo Nesbo. I’ve read The Snowman and Midnight Sun. The three are very different from each other, all very satisfying with great characters. And yes, I had read Shakespeare’s MacBeth, but like a million years ago, and I vaguely remember it as one of my favorites — the witches and their incantations, Lady MacBeth and her wringing hands, the catchy speeches like “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.” I didn’t actually remember that there were endless murders.That said, reading this MacBeth made me go back and read the summaries of Shakespeare’s MacBeth, and Nesbo still does a fascinating job of retelling the story. The characters are well-developed and complex in their motives, at least if you like characters that have traumatic and violent pasts with nothing much positive to be said about them. And of course MacBeth kills to get power, then kills more to keep and consolidate power, then faces guilt and his own personal weaknesses, and there’s his journey toward his final tragic end. And some of the other characters start off good, become bad, then become good again. So there’s a lot of movement. And I’m really glad Nesbo gave most of them their original Shakespearian names or I would’ve been lost.As another reviewer said, I think Nesbo missed an opportunity to make Lady MacBeth a really interesting character and spend some time with her. We did hear some of her motives and (also depressingly horrible) background, but she didn’t get enough time on the page. Nor were there other significant female characters; always a loss.Overall, I was pretty rapt, though a bit nauseous with the violence and gore, the whole way through this pretty hefty novel. The way Nesbo adapts the MacBeth plot to 1970’s, I assume but it’s not stated, Norway gave the book depth.

I've read every of Nesbo's Harry Hole books. Loved them. Macbeth is so bad I have a hard time believing Jo wrote it. Preposterous plot.Looking forward to his next Hole novel. Everyone gets a Mulligan.

Wish I had read prior reviews prior to wasting my time with this book. Loved all the other Nesbo books I read but this one is unreadable...finally quit after about 150 pages. Waste of time. It may well follow the Shakespeare tale but not well. You have to be willing to accept some of the stangest plot advancements I have ever seen to be able to buy into this story. Sorry Jo, you blew it on this one.

finde sehr gut

Im still reading it. Terrific. Jo Nesbo is brilliant.

Nesbo remains a very good writer but this story isn’t his best.

Good writing ✍️. Up to his usual standard.

Jo Nesbo ist einfach der größte - düster, aufregend, starke Sprache!