Three Seconds: Part One

[no4daughter]

I am so glad that I am not the only one who was having trouble, at first, figuring out who was who!  Once I figured out that Peit and Paula were the same person, I wondered if my trouble stemmed from a pre-conceived notion that Paula must be a woman.   At the end of part one, I am very interested to find out just how Peit is going to explain his anticipated absence to Zophia.

[no4daughter]

Thank you for mentioning the italics used in this book.  Here is the section that I had the most trouble understanding with respect to italics:

"Wilson had twelve passed through the County Communications Center thirty-seven when he left Kronoberg and had checked fifty the recording." 

[no4daughter]

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How is he going to explain where he's going for the next three months? Business trip? No phone calls from him to his children or to her? Yeah he can lie  about wher he's going but I don't think she'll believe him. Not this time.

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Especially since his wife was upset with him when he wasn't able to stay with the sick children for the entire day.

[elaine_hf]

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no4daughter wrote:

Thank you for mentioning the italics used in this book.  Here is the section that I had the most trouble understanding with respect to italics:

"Wilson had twelve passed through the County Communications Center thirty-seven when he left Kronoberg and had checked fifty the recording." 

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Hi, no4daughter!

Those numbers are referring to the time - I don't have my book with me, but if you do a quick search through the previous posts in this thread, I'm pretty sure it was discussed. And would probably be more helpful! The italics are reflective of thoughts, in general, but the ones you mention are referring to the time.

[no4daughter]

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elaine_hf wrote:

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no4daughter wrote:

Thank you for mentioning the italics used in this book.  Here is the section that I had the most trouble understanding with respect to italics:

"Wilson had twelve passed through the County Communications Center thirty-seven when he left Kronoberg and had checked fifty the recording." 

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Hi, no4daughter!

Those numbers are referring to the time - I don't have my book with me, but if you do a quick search through the previous posts in this thread, I'm pretty sure it was discussed. And would probably be more helpful! The italics are reflective of thoughts, in general, but the ones you mention are referring to the time.

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Thanks for the reply!  After posting this I came across an explanation that another had posted which cleared everything up for me.  I had figured out that the italics were reflective of thoughts but, in this particular passage, couldn't figure out what Erik was thinking.  At first I thought he was counting, LOL. 

[BookWoman718]

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no4daughter wrote:

Thank you for mentioning the italics used in this book.  Here is the section that I had the most trouble understanding with respect to italics:

"Wilson had twelve passed through the County Communications Center thirty-seven when he left Kronoberg and had checked fifty the recording." 

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Have you read through all the posts?   We discussed this a week or two ago when we were "on" Part One.  Twelve thirty-seven fifty  *think 12:37:50  was the exact time that the phone call from Piet was recorded when he quietly tipped the police about the murder at the drug meet.  The italics in this book are sometimes used to denote the characters thoughts at that moment.  So when Wilson is carefully questioning Piet's story about the murder, he is also remembering the info that he got at the County Comm Ctr, earlier;  the exact timing of the phone call, which helps confirm the veracity of the story Piet is telling him. 

[jabrkeKB]

Well, this is not a book I can breeze through. I have to really concentrate on the story to understand it. It has helped to read the thoughts of others.

My favorite character so far is -family man Piet. I'm sure that story line will develop as the novel  continues.

[Superbookworm]

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jabrkeKB wrote:

Well, this is not a book I can breeze through. I have to really concentrate on the story to understand it. It has helped to read the thoughts of others.

My favorite character so far is -family man Piet. I'm sure that story line will develop as the novel  continues.

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I have to really pay attention when I am reading this book too.  But you get the hang of it after a while. My favorite parts to read is also the Piet's family life.

[Lis49]

I liked family man Piet too.  He is a very caring person.  I really would like for him to have the family man life.  No other characters are presented as family men like he is.

[floreader]

I am a little late in posting about Part One, due to the hectic Christmas season.  I have been having a hard time keeping the characters straight so far and have had to re-read a few parts.  I am suspending judgment about the characters so far since the lines seem very fuzzy regarding who's "good" and "bad".

[Lycan731]

Soooo, this book is very different to what i usually read. Crime novels are not my thing and i find that i struggle just to get trhough a chapter.

I was confused thoose first chapters, it took me a while to identify the characters.

I also don;t like when they refer to things in the original language...i don't know what they are talking about. but, then again, it's not my kind of thing.

[merl]

I also had to look on a map so I could find out the cities and get a sense of what was going on and the story started to come together more.

[deannafrances]

I have had a very hectic time --I was gone for 2 weeks and forgot to take the book--so it made it hard to read!!!! 

However, I don't know if if it is the season but for whatever reason, I am having a hard time being drawn into this book.

[HannibalCat]

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Vermontcozy wrote:

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thewanderingjew wrote:

I am late to the reading because of some unexpected personal issues so I am not yet prepared to answer the questions, but I have noticed some parallells in the descriptions of some of the characters as they have been introduced.

The mule was standing at the railing on the boat, watching the water. He was frightened.

Ewert Grens stopped his car on the bridge and looked at the water, searching for peace.

The mule could not sleep .

Erik Wilson found sleep eluding him. He was lonely.

Ewert Grens was consumed with love for his wife. He was lonely for his deceased wife.

Piet Hoffman was consumed with love for his wife. He was lonely for his wife when he traveled.

Ewert Grens stayed in his office all night. sleeping dressed, on the hard floor.

Piet Hoffman lied down on the hard hotel bed, fully clothed.

Has anyone else noticed any other similarities? I wondered if they were intentional and would have greater meaning later on or were they merely accidental.

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I think Borge and Anders meant this to be intentional..To see the Human side...Not a word or sentence is accidental, in "3" Seconds..Its very tightly and deliberately  written ..132 pages of an enormous amount of information...

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I heartily agree. The men are so similar in their feelings, desires, problems, etc. It is as so many say about the diversity of humans, we are all the same under the skin. We have much more in common than we have differences. These are prime examples. Even the sameness of crooks and cops is shown. The good and the bad have the same feelings and motivations. We will have to wait to see how different, and how similar they become.

Great observations!

[bookowlie]

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deannafrances wrote:

I have had a very hectic time --I was gone for 2 weeks and forgot to take the book--so it made it hard to read!!!! 

However, I don't know if if it is the season but for whatever reason, I am having a hard time being drawn into this book.

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Add me to the list.  I am also having a hard time being drawn into the story.  I thought it was because I haven't had long stretches of time to read lately.  I am starting to think it's the flow of the book.

Carolyn

[bookowlie]

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jabrkeKB wrote:

Well, this is not a book I can breeze through. I have to really concentrate on the story to understand it. It has helped to read the thoughts of others.

My favorite character so far is -family man Piet. I'm sure that story line will develop as the novel  continues.

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I thought I was the only one!  I think this may not have been the right book choice for the holiday season.  It's been frustrating keeping track of who's who.  It took me a little while to figure out that Piet and Paula were the same person.  Piet is also my favorite character so far.  He is a complicated character living a double life.  I think his wife suspects a lot more than she lets on.

Caroyln

[swan480]

Sorry to be joining the party at the very end.  I got sick about a week into December, and it knocked me on my butt for a full two weeks.  As a result I didn't get finished with the book until earlier this week, and by then I was so behind on getting ready for the holidays that this is the first chance I've had to sign in to the forum.

I haven't had a chance to browse this thread yet (ten pages -- yikes!), but once I post my own responses, I will.  Sorry if I repeat anything that has already been said.

One of the more interesting questions posed for this section was about how the first part of the novel challenged our ideas of good vs. bad guys.  I hadn't thought of it quite like that.  I think we are pretty familiar with the idea of the antihero because of how much popular culture likes to play up that particular role.  In addition, those of us who have watched shows such as The Shield are pretty accustomed to the idea of criminals working for the police as informants, and of the idea that some of the folks in law enforcement taking... creative... approaches to fighting crime.  Perhaps because I've already been initiated into some of those ideas, I liked Paula/Piet from the very beginning.

The sections that focused on Grens had me more confused.  I had a really difficult time figuring out his background.  Obviously he is haunted by some very poignant demons of his own, and he is obviously the "honest cop" figure from the very beginning, but I had a hard time following the subtle hints about what had happened to him, and why there was such a big deal made of him packing up his cassettes.

[tarynlindsey]

Part One of Three Seconds is pretty well written, but I found the first few short sections rather confusing.  As someone mentioned earlier, I also did not understand the reason for using male and female code names for informants.  Other than that, I have found the plot moves pretty quickly and is an interesting read.  

[gmfuhlman]

I feel the same way you do, I just didn't get the code names for male and female either. Any way  it was such a very interesting way to tell a story. Plus there was a lot of research that went into writing this book. You can tell that this author wanted us to really get into the story that he was telling us. I have really enjoyed this book, it was a great read for me.

[gmfuhlman]

I have to say that I have really enjoyed from all of you some very good point of views. I love reading all of the posted. It gives you something to think about, plus I just love this book club. I have met some very interesting people who I have really enjoy reading there take of the stories that we have read. You all have a very Merry Christmas, and for other happy holidays.