onsdag den 25. marts 2009

Bait in the Box # 10 & Competition

[The charming old suitcase is my own, and a very suitable ´box´ for this week´s competition]

You may have read this English novel without thinking of it as a crime novel. Nevertheless there is a crime which is solved in it, but there is also so much else.

"The girl pulled the hood of a cloak she wore, over her head and over her face, and, looking backward so that the front folds of this hood were turned down the river, kept the boat in that direction going before the tide. Until now, the boat had barely held her own, and had hovered about one spot; but now, the banks changed swiftly, and the deepening shadows and the kindling lights of London Bridge were passed, and the tiers of shipping lay on either hand.

It was not until now that the upper half of the man came back into the boat. His arms were wet and dirty, and he washed them over the side. In his right hand he held something, and he washed that in the river too. It was money. He chinked it once, and he blew upon it once, and he spat upon it once, - ´for luck,´ he hoarsely said - before he put it in his pocket."


If you should choose not to participate in the competition, I am sure the other participants are not against your leaving little, discrete hints of the usual kind.

Rules of the competition: If you are able to guess the author and title of this book, please send a mail to do.hu.ja@mail.tele.dk called ´competition´ with the answers plus your full name and postal address. The competition ends Sunday by midnight (Danish time), and on Monday I will ask a family member to draw the lucky winner.

Prize: a used paperback edition of Sophie Hannah´s great thriller Little Face (a book in very good condition, read twice) - sent all over the world.

Gæt en bog – og vind.
[Den charmerende gamle kuffert er min egen, en meget passende emballage til ugens bog]

Det er meget muligt, at du har læst denne engelske roman uden at tænke på den som en krimi. Der forekommer imidlertid en forbrydelse som bliver løst i den, men den indeholder også rigtig meget andet.

Jeg har valgt ikke at forsøge at oversætte afsnittet til dansk, dels fordi det snarere ville blive knudret og forvirrende end til nogen egentlig hjælp, og dels fordi en læser som ikke kan forstå citatet, nok ikke har noget at bruge en engelsk krimi til alligevel. Men bogen er skam oversat, og hvis du kender dine klassikere, kender du sikkert også denne her.

Hvis du af en eller anden grund ikke ønsker at deltage i konkurrencen, er jeg sikker på de andre deltagere ikke har noget imod, at du lægger små, diskrete vink af den sædvanlige slags.

Regler for konkurrencen: Hvis du kan gætte forfatteren og titlen på bogen, så send venligst en mail til do.hu.ja@mail.tele.dk med overskriften ´konkurrence´ med svarene, samt dit fulde navn og postadresse. Konkurrencen er slut søndag aften ved midnat, og på mandag vil jeg bede et familiemedlem om at trække den lykkelige vinder.

Gevinst: en brugt paperback-udgave af Sophie Hannahs thriller ”Little Face”. Bogen er i god stand, kun læst to gange – på engelsk, men efter min mening ikke frygteligt svær at læse.

NB: jeg lover at udlove en dansk bog i min næste konkurrence.

16 kommentarer:

Julia Phillips Smith sagde ...

Love the suitcase, Dorte H! Another very intriguing excerpt - of course, you know I'm never in a million years ever going to guess the books, but I love your Bait in the Box series so I'll always drop by.

How did you know, all the way over there in Denmark, that I wasn't feeling well? I'm not at work for the second day in a row. Migraine Number 14 in a series - we've had the same number of storms this winter over here in eastern Canada, and with each storm system I've had a week-long migraine. If this doesn't stop, I'm going to develop post traumatic stress disorder.

Dorte H sagde ...

Julia, two days without a post from you? I hoped you were away for a spell, but in that case you would probably have posted about it so what else could it be, really?
You know my methods, Dr Watson ;)

Poor you, my father suffered from migraines so I know a little about what you are going through. I sincerely hope you´ll be better soon.

Kerrie sagde ...

Sounds like a Dickens to me

Dorte H sagde ...

Don´t expect me to comment on that, Kerrie :D

Care sagde ...

I think I might know! and where do you find these COOL boxes? How do I play? Did Sean Penn's wife play this role in a movie?

Dorte H sagde ...

Care, just send me a mail with the name of author + title and your postal address before Sunday.
And I am not going to comment on people´s questions & clues this time; I don´t want to make it TOO easy to participate :)

This cool suitcase was a gift for our wedding anniversary a few years ago.

Sherrie sagde ...

Hi Dorte,
I have no idea what the book is, but that box/suitcase is great! Thanks for stopping by my place. Have great evening!

Sherrie

Unknown sagde ...

I have no idea what the book is but gee, do I love this suitcase or what! It's amazing.

Dorte H sagde ...

Sherrie and Lilly: I am glad you enjoy my old suitcase, at least :)

Nille sagde ...

I found it - but not because I knew it... so it hardly counts. But in any case it is fun!

Dorte H sagde ...

Nille: of course it doesn´t matter how you found out (as long as you don´t tell anyone - they will have to find their own ways to cheat)
Please do participate, by all means, and let me have a really international competition :D

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks sagde ...

I haven't the foggiest on the bait, but I love the box!

It looks well-loved, don't you wonder about the history of the suitcase?

Dawn
She is Too Fond of Books

Dorte H sagde ...

Dawn, I agree it looks well-loved, and I might try to trace it one day. What I know is my world-famous countryman, Andersen, owned one quite similar to it: http://www.hcandersen-homepage.dk/rosen-rejsekuffert-hca.htm

Mine may not be as old as that one; still I am quite proud of it.

Uriah Robinson sagde ...

I think I know this but these are both hard times and the best and worst of times so I will let others win the prize result happiness. ;o)

Anonym sagde ...

I was going to guess the same author as a couple of other people, possibly to do with a common amity because of the river theme, or possibly to do with a small female person. I do like Uriah's three-part answer! (I could actually go and check all of his and my suggestions, but that would be cheating, also I would possibly find out they are all wrong, thus putting me back to square one.)

Dorte H sagde ...

You are absolutely on the right track, Maxine, as is Norman wuit his elegant clues.
And I am happy to say, Norman, that I recognized them immediately (I am very grateful to my old English professor).