Jo Nesbo’s MacBeth – My Two Cents

Normally I. would not place z post on my website reviewing a book, but MacBeth by Jo Nesbo is extraordinary. After I read the book and went to post a review on
Amazon, I noticed a great many people had panned the book giving it 2 or 3 star reviews.

While I appreciate everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I believe many missed the point of the book. The publisher has indicated they are focused on asking current best-selling authors to retell Shakespeare’s plays in modern terms. Jo Nesbo has performed a credible job in retelling “MacBeth” and setting it in a Norwegian village in the 1970s.

Before I read Jo Nesbo’s version, I went and reviewed a detailed summery of the Shakespeare play several times so I could get the sequencing of events down. Mr. Nesbo did a great job of adapting the tale to late1970s Norway.

In large part, the events in the book parallel the events in the play. So, any criticism of Mr. Nesbo’s plotting must apply equally to William Shakespeare.

This is my two cents worth