So behold, Invisible Murder, the last of my "grab any books at all costs" library run. But first, a confession. I returned this book late. I returned five books late, this was just one of the bunch. Leaving me with not only $1.25 in library fines but also the mortification of having to walk up to the librarian and murmur, "um, I have to pay a fine, please." I was mostly afraid, though, that Mr. Bookman would come after me.
Luckily, he didn't! I renewed the book just to write this blog, so here we go!
For those who have not yet read Invisible Murder
First off, Invisible Murder is a Danish book, by which I mean it was written by two Danish women and also takes place mostly in and around Copenhagen, though we venture to Hungary a little bit, too. Apparently it is part of a series, which I did not know when I started reading it. It was just fine as a stand-alone read, though.
Invisible Murder is about a group of illegal alien Roma who fall ill just outside Copenhagen, and nurse/activist (nactivist?) Nina Borger's attempts to help them. It quickly becomes apparent that this is no ordinary illness, and when Nina herself falls sick things get bad, fast. Things also get bad, fast, for Sandor Horvath, a brilliant Hungarian law student who suddenly finds himself entangled in a big mess that he has nothing to do with. Unfortunately I can't really say more about the plot without spoiling it, so just know that what seems to be the Danish equivalent of the NSA (or maybe FBI or CIA, I'm not really sure) get involved as well.
One thing that I liked about this book is that it offers a peak into life in an idyllic European country. Maybe it's just me, but I'd be willing to bet that many Americans feel this way too: I grew up thinking that life in Europe must be perfect. People sipped drinks outside cafes on beautiful European streets and explored and read books and went to museums all day. Actually living in Europe for a year didn't do much to dissuade me of that notion, to be honest, because I found my time in Europe to be pretty much like that (with a liberal dose of school work mixed in). But this book goes to show that, well, it's true...people are alike all over. I mean, look at these pictures of Copenhagen:
I think we're pretty tempted to think that life would be pretty much perfect across the board if you lived in a place like that. Or in Istanbul, where Sandor lived before his life was interrupted:
I mean, life there has to be PERFECT, right? Not so much, as we learn from Invisible Murder. I'm sure for some people life in these places is as perfect as it gets, but certainly not for everyone, as we see in the novel. Some people have small problems in these places, and some people have huge problems. Sandor finds himself in a huge problem, and he also introduces us to another very real problem: the Romani people, who are the largest minority in Hungary, face massive amounts of discriminations. From the (admittedly cursory) research I've done, it's not unlike how we in the US treated blacks before the civil rights movement. It's that bad.
So as far as the writing goes, it's hard for me to say on a translated work. I always wonder, how much of the art of the writing is lost (or invented) in translation? Plot-wise, it's solid. It kept me interested. Character wise, also solid; I cared about the characters, especially Sandor and Nina. But the craft of the writing, which is a major point for me...again, it's hard to say due to translation. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't say it was beautiful, either. There was one aspect of the plot that I thought was absurd and poor writing, but I'll get to that in the next section.
However, that said, I enjoyed this book, mostly due to the insight it afforded me to those living in countries I've never been to (but I'd love to go, especially to Budapest...which actually used to be two cities, Buda and Pest, until they were united in to one). I also enjoyed learning about the political and social realities of these two countries. Isn't it amazing how we can learn so much through fiction? A good, solid read.
Recommended
Yes. 3/5 stars.
Tips
The book before this is The Boy in the Suitcase. You might want to read that first, though I did not.
For those who have read Invisible Murder
What makes a good surprise ending?
To me, a good surprise ending is one that I should have seen coming all along. It's one that, looking back, I realize all the hints and clues were there. It all makes sense, I just didn't notice it. When I re-read a book with a good twist ending, I spot clues left and right.
I don't think this book had that.
Does anyone else think it's absurd? That Helle the timid housewife was a secret terrorist? Nope, sorry. Don't buy it for a second. Don't buy it then, don't buy it now, won't buy it tomorrow. It's sloppy writing, in my opinion. A trick.
But beyond that, what do we make of the rest of the book? I enjoyed Nina and Ida's relationship, for one. Not enjoyed it in the sense that I liked that they had a poor relationship. Rather, I enjoyed it in the sense that it seemed real. I felt bad for Nina with the whole Morten issue, I really felt for her and this was one of my favorite aspects of the book. I felt that she was really stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If she was to do what Morten wanted her to do, she'd have to live with possibly letting people die when she could have done something. But doing what she did, trying to save them, she lost Morten. I understand his reasons but it seemed like an unfair position to put her in.
I also felt very bad for Sandor, a true victim of circumstances if ever there was one. I felt his loyalty to Tamas to be misplaced, to be honest, but it might be a cultural thing and it might be because I don't have siblings. I know we are supposed to find Sandor's loyalty noble, but truthfully I saw it as sort of silly. This was a brother he barely knew and barely saw, he didn't even recognize Tamas at first, and who knowingly and willingly implicated him in something very bad. I would have sung like a canary, I think, and I don't think that would make me a bad person.
So, what do you think? Haha, how quaint I still pretend people read this blog!
-What do you think Sandor should have done? Do you find his actions noble or foolish?
-What do you make of Helle being the buyer? Ridiculous? Not ridiculous? Why?
-Was it right for Morten to leave Nina? Conversely, was it right for her to go to Valby?
-Have you read The Boy in the Suitcase? If so, do you recommend it?
Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!
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