In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. then added man. he might not have done it if he had known what was coming. anyway, adam and eve were wrong, god was furious and launched the fall of man project. in doing so, he also created revenge as a concept.
As my new novel sweet sweet revenge ltd has been published in country after country, I’ve learned to answer questions about my general view of revenge in the most civil way possible. I always say that revenge works best as a form of self-therapy. someone steps on your toes and you plan 10 ways to get revenge. if you are a bit like me, these thoughts will make you feel better. but stop there. don’t follow.
You are reading: Best books about revenge
If you don’t know how to plan a good revenge, let yourself be inspired by literature. These are my top tips on how you can learn to become a worse person.
1. the count of monte cristo de alexandre dumas they say that an elephant never forgets. The same goes for the self-proclaimed count in Dumas’s classic adventure novel. revenge is rarely as beautiful as when the practitioner is in no hurry. Edmond Dantes waited 24 years. In my new novel, one of the main characters fantasizes about planting a hedge next to his neighbor’s plot, intending to let it grow until dark for the neighbor’s bed of carrots. he would have to wait 500 years, but all good things come to those who wait.
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2. william shakespeare’s hamlet great literature, of course. perhaps the largest. If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest the following: Buy two copies and give one to your friend. read the book separately. Then sit down to discuss who the danish prince hamlet really is. You’ll never finish, I promise. Hamlet is second on my list because, in terms of revenge, shakespeare found his match in dumas. one slowly builds revenge on him over a quarter of a century. the other engages in hasty murder and long delays.
3. summary by ian mcewanin my youth, i was fascinated by swedish writer pc jersild’s novel a living soul, in which the protagonist is actually a brain floating freely inside an aquarium in a laboratory. the brain falls in love with his caretaker, which doesn’t work out brilliantly. when, 37 years later, i read ian mcewan, i was reminded of a living soul. In short, the protagonist is an unborn fetus inside the womb of his mother. it’s dark, fun, killer, and village-inspired.
4. wuthering heights by emily brontë during his short life, he only published this novel. the violent story was met with dismay. but her reputation grew. and she grew up in a classic. it was published 174 years ago and still feels relevant and contemporary. Foundling Heathcliff could never cope with the fact that his twin flame Catherine married a childhood friend. a wonderful novel depicting passion and revenge across generations.
5. escape, evasion and revenge by march stevens “only stevens knew firsthand how much hitler and his cronies deserved what he was about to deliver. and he wished with all his might that one of his bombs would hit the mark and rid the world of this unspeakable evil.” The quote is from Stevens’ extraordinary biography of his father, Peter Stevens, who is currently flying over the English Channel in a bomber, headed for Berlin. The year is 1941. Peter is about to be shot down and captured, and that’s just the beginning. the true story of a German-Jewish pilot who became a British war hero.
6. gillian flynn, gillian flynn, a well composed psychological thriller with a high revenge factor. writers nick and amy are the perfect couple. or are? one day, amy is gone. The reader follows the perspectives of Nick and Amy, the latter through his diary entries. Flynn’s success in getting under the skin of two very different characters, in a far from happy marriage, is impressive. but can the storytellers be trusted?
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7. Frans G Bengtsson’s The Long ShipsThe fantastic story of Viking Orm Tostesson was published 80 years ago, but it’s just as readable today. In Orm’s world, turning the other cheek is not an alternative to revenge. there, the one with the sharpest sword wins. During a party at the court of King Harald Blåtand, Vikings Dyre and Toke argue at the table. but starting a duel in front of the king is not a good idea. “Should we go out for a piss, you and me?” ask dyre. “I’d love to,” Toke replies. They bring their swords. after 10 minutes, the toke comes back, covered in blood. When he asks where Dyre is, he replies, “It took me a while, but now he’s done pissing.” He’s read The Long Boats 10 times. at least.
8. The BibleThis book is a bit heavy for my taste, but it’s worth reading in parts. In it, we learn that the right to take revenge belongs to God alone. in deuteronomy, god himself speaks, and he does not stop: “when i sharpen my shining sword and my hand wields it in judgment, i will take revenge on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the dead and of captives, the heads of enemy chiefs. a personal reflection: i think god takes it a little too far. after all, he was the one who started the circus with the forbidden fruit in the garden of eden. a little humility wouldn’t have hurt.
9. stieg larsson’s millennium seriesintroverted computer genius lisbeth salander is mistreated by the authorities and men in power in a dystopian sweden. but she defends herself without forgiveness. when i travel the world with my books, the international press makes constant connections between larsson’s sweden and mine. everyone seems amazed at how two Swedish writers can achieve such diametrically different tones in their storytelling and yet achieve huge international success. or as a French journalist put it: “You don’t seem at all melancholy. are you sure you are swedish?”
10. crime and punishment by fyodor dostoevskythe protagonist raskolnikov is reasoning with himself. if he kills the terrible pawnbroker he torments so much, he would be doing the world a favor, on behalf of humanity. At the same time, Raskolnikov himself turns out to be one of the indebted people whose finances suddenly improve with the disappearance of the moneylender. in an internal dialogue, he is torn between the conviction that he has acted correctly and the alternative theory that he is, in fact, quite lousy. Simply put, Raskolnikov takes revenge on Raskolnikov. a masterpiece of literature!
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jonas jonasson’s sweet sweet revenge ltd is published by harpercollins. To order a copy, go to guardianbookshop.com.
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