Reading Journal 2023: The Night House

Reading Journal 2023: The Night House
Author: Jo Nesbo

From the famed voice of the Harry Hole series comes a decidely different kind of story, one that at least protends to delve into straight up horror, albiet with his typical allegiance to crime and mystery/thriller.

The book is written in three parts, each part bringing its own twist to the story. Part 1 is where we get the straight up horror vibes. Given where part 2 and 3 take the story, I do think mileage will vary. In truth, I didn’t expect the story to go where it does, and it does aim for something far more ambitious than the title and synoposis might suggest.

But much of that ambition is tied to thematic concern, and I am someone who is big on theme. If a story wants to give its horor a grand metaphor or an allegorical force, I’m typically all in. And to be clear, what Nesbo does with the story isn’t overly complicated. It could, in fact, be that straightforward simplicity that turns people off. It could be interpreted as something of a betrayal. For me though, I felt like affording the story the freedom to go where it wants to go is precisely what my expectation should be. It would be a different thing if I didn’t care about the characters or the themes or the tension. Given the fact that I did, goiing in a direction I did not expect was part of the enjoyment. I would even go so far as to say it was a genuine page turner. There was another degree of investment for me too once I reached part 2, because once I understood what Nesbo was willing to do with the story, I was all in on trying to guess where he might go next. The mark of a good storyteller.