Mid-December sees new translations from Vintage of Per Wahlöö’s Murder on the Thirty-First Floor and The Steel Spring, first published in 1964 and 1968 respectively. The first English translations by the late Joan Tate (1966 and 1970) have long been out of print. Their new translator, Sarah Death, on the challenges they represented…
It has been said that Wahlöö’s partner Maj Sjöwall was the one who injected the social and emotional perspective into their well-known Martin Beck novels. It is certainly true that these two Per Wahlöö novels, standalones that are also linked, are pretty much devoid of human warmth. The main protagonist is a sociopath who finds it very hard to relate to people in any way but the professional. Considered somewhat old-fashioned in his habits and sense of duty by his contemporaries, Jensen – the only character in the books with a name – is a stoical, coolly calculating crime-solving machine who is fascinating to watch in action, and the plots are cleverly crafted. Jensen is a solitary and unenviable figure, but as time goes on it is possible to spot the occasional hint of human emotion. If he were a bit less taciturn, less of a stickler for procedure, we might feel more sympathy for his debilitating digestive problems (the prototype for Wallander’s diabetes?). The risky but vital organ transplant he undergoes in The Steel Spring is a crucial plot device, keeping him out of the country when disaster strikes, but there is no chance of enjoying his newfound health in the post-apocalyptic society that awaits him back home.
Like many a cop since, Jensen is the honest man in an otherwise corrupt system.
The crimes in these novels are crimes against society perpetrated by vested interests; ordinary people are mere brainwashed pawns in the games of big business. When the vested interests are cynical media empires in league with coalition governments, it all feels very close to home. The name Murdoch might just come to mind. The future painted in these novels, though divergent from our world in some crucial respects, is too like our own society for comfort: voter apathy rules, the media have dumbed us down, tasteless food and mindless television are the norm and the car is king; pollution and refuse mountains will engulf us all unless pharmaceuticals kill us first; material wellbeing signally fails to bring happiness. Wahlöö’s proposed solution was a radically left wing and egalitarian one.
As the translator, I have of course come to know the books pretty well. The translation was straightforward, but the question of period vocabulary had to be addressed. I could have made the language of the translation more retro in flavour, to match the original, but the publisher preferred to go for a more neutral or timeless feel. It is always intriguing to see the past’s vision of the future. In the lighter moments of the translation task I felt as if I were in an episode of ‘Thunderbirds’, in a world of multilane highways, flyovers and plastic furniture, and men who still wear hats. In terms of style and themes, comparisons have been made with Jose Saramago’s Blindness (1995) and Seeing (2004). Oh, and watch out for the Strindberg joke in Murder on the Thirty-First Floor. Not many Nordic Noir titles can boast one of those.
Per Wahlöö’s Murder on the Thirty-First Floor and The Steel Spring are published by Vintage
