Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Man from Beijing

3.41 of 5 stars 3.41 · rating details · 6,079 ratings · 1,140 reviews

From the internationally acclaimed author of the Kurt Wallander mysteries comes an extraordinary stand-alone novel -- both a mystery and a sweeping drama -- that traces the legacy of the nineteenth-century slave trade between China and America.
January 2006. In the small Swedish hamlet of Hesjovallen, a horrific scene is discovered: nineteen people have been tortured and m...more

Paperback, Large Print, 616 pages

Published February 16th 2010 by Random House Large Print Publishing (first published 2008)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 07, 2011 Kemper rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery, scandinavian-mayhem, thriller

Despite a bloody gore fest kicking off the action and a story that spans from 19th century America to present day China, Sweden, Africa and England, this ended up being about as interesting as a lecture on geopolitics from a semi-bright junior high student.

This book begins with the discovery of a massacre of almost the entire population of a tiny village in a remote area of Sweden. 19 people have been sliced and diced in various ways. Even the pets have been brutally killed. (Hey, Sweden. WTF? S...more Despite a bloody gore fest kicking off the action and a story that spans from 19th century America to present day China, Sweden, Africa and England, this ended up being about as interesting as a lecture on geopolitics from a semi-bright junior high student.

This book begins with the discovery of a massacre of almost the entire population of a tiny village in a remote area of Sweden. 19 people have been sliced and diced in various ways. Even the pets have been brutally killed. (Hey, Sweden. WTF? Seriously. I thought America was supposed to be the king of using wanton acts of violence for pop entertainment. But after reading Let the Right One In, Stieg Larsson and some of Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series, I’m starting to think you’re even more twisted than we are.)

A criminal judge with a foundering marriage and a bit of a mid-life crisis named Birgitta Roslin realizes that her deceased mother’s foster parents were among those killed. When Roslin unexpectedly has some time off work, she travels to the area of the slaughter for reasons she doesn’t really understand, and she ends up coming across clues indicating that the killer may have been from China. However, when a better local suspect pops up, the police chase that angle instead. Birgitta doesn’t realize that she’s stumbled into a story of revenge that began in America during the building of the transcontinental railroad during the 1860s. Great set-up for a story, but it fails miserably.

The first problem is that I don’t even know what kind of book it’s supposed to be. It’s not a horror novel or a schlock crime story despite the grisly murders that start it. It’s not a whodunit because the villain is introduced pretty early in the book along with his motives for the crime. You’d think it’d turn into a globe-spanning thriller then, right? Wrong. Despite the many exotic locales and a couple of other murders, most of the book consists of various characters' thoughts about China or their personal lives. So if you know who committed the crime, and there’s no action driving the resolution of the plot, what’s the point of the story?

The second problem is that the main character is an amateur slueth. I’m not a big fan of these characters, and it’s tricky to make it work. If you’re going to have an investigator who isn’t a professional and is outside the system, then a writer usually has to make the authorities corrupt or completely stupid. Or the protagonist has to be put in circumstances so that they won’t be believed when they uncover evidence. But in this case, you’ve got a respected Swedish judge, who the police are at least willing to listen to. So the second she realizes she’s in danger or gets a critical piece of information, you’d think she’d be on the phone. Uh…no. Because Birgitta Roslin is an utter moron.

She’s naïve when she should be paranoid.. Paranoid when she has no reason to be. Trusting when she shouldn’t be. Untrusting when she has no reason to be. All in the interests of just moving this glacially paced plot forward. Which doesn’t matter. BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW WHO DID IT AND WHY. It’s maddening knowing everything that your idiot heroine doesn’t and is too stupid to figure out.

Prime example: At a key point near the end of the book, Birgitta, gets a critical piece of news dropped in her lap. (Everything is dropped in Birgitta’s lap. She doesn’t actually DO anything except kind of grope around in a clumsy way while claiming that she’s just trying to stay informed about the on-going investigation.) It involves locating a person that the police know they should at least talk too. You know, to solve THE GODDAMN MASS MURDER. But old Birgitta just goes to bed. She’s shocked in the morning to discover that her night’s sleep resulted in another murder, and she has good reason to think that she’s next. Despite the fact that a person of interest in a GODDAMN MASS MURDER may very well be coming to kill a freaking judge, Birgitta does NOT call the cops. Instead, she flees Sweden in a panic to go to London and seek help from a Chinese woman that she had met only once. Because when a GODDAMN MASS MURDERER is on your trail, it’s always best NOT to inform the agents of the same justice system that employs you. It’s much better to seek aid in a foreign country from someone you don't really know.

Jesus wept….

I can’t believe that the guy who writes the terrific Kurt Wallander novels is the same person who came up with this piece of crap. If Wallander would have been the guy investigating a GODDAMN MASS MURDER, you can be sure that he’d call the other cops for help when he found the guy responsible.
(less)

70 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2012 Ian rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

He can certainly tell a story, however I found his characters, in this book, very thinly drawn and unsympathetic. Also, the primary plot line ultimately makes little sense when all is said and done.

I liked it a lot in the beginning and began to dislike it more and more as I got further along. He wants to talk about globalization and colonization and the New China. Fine. Why not write a travel book or non-fiction essay or something ? This is a poor piece of fiction used as a wrapper for some act...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2010 Anmiryam rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've heard a lot about Henning Mankell from others that know I am an aficionado of Nordic mysteries, so I was excited when a friend passed this along for me to read. My enthusiasm was premature. If I was to use this book to pass my final judgement on Mankell as an author, I'm afraid I would be rather harsh. There were hints through this book of the thriller that could have been -- compelling, fast-paced, filled with interesting characters -- but these are drowned in extended polemics about the h...more

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 21, 2013 Panagiotis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ένα κατ' επίφαση αστυνομικό. Ενώ ξεκινάει τόσο δυνατά παρατάει εντελώς την αστυνομική ιστορία την παρατάει εντελώς για να μπλέξει στα γεοπολιτικά παιχνίδια της Κίνας που θα την οδηγήσουν στην οικονομική κυριαρχία του κόσμου, δε λέω ενδιαφέρον και η κινέζικη παράλληλη ιστορία του Σαν και οι εξηγήσεις για τη πορεία της Κίνας στον 20ο αιώνα αλλά εγώ ήθελα να διαβάσω αστυνομικό αλλιώς θα ξαναδιάβαζα τους ''Αγριόκυκνους'' της Γιούνγκ Τσανγκ.

http://www.biblionet.gr/book/10894/Ju...

Τώρα ενώ δεν έχω ξαν...more Ένα κατ' επίφαση αστυνομικό. Ενώ ξεκινάει τόσο δυνατά παρατάει εντελώς την αστυνομική ιστορία την παρατάει εντελώς για να μπλέξει στα γεοπολιτικά παιχνίδια της Κίνας που θα την οδηγήσουν στην οικονομική κυριαρχία του κόσμου, δε λέω ενδιαφέρον και η κινέζικη παράλληλη ιστορία του Σαν και οι εξηγήσεις για τη πορεία της Κίνας στον 20ο αιώνα αλλά εγώ ήθελα να διαβάσω αστυνομικό αλλιώς θα ξαναδιάβαζα τους ''Αγριόκυκνους'' της Γιούνγκ Τσανγκ.

http://www.biblionet.gr/book/10894/Ju...

Τώρα ενώ δεν έχω ξαναδιαβάσει Μάνκελλ κατάλαβα ότι είναι ένας καλό συγγραφέας που μάλλον του ξέφυγε το θέμα και πέρασε σε αστοχίες όπως:

ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ SPOILERS:

1. Μια δικάστης φτάνει στο αστυνομικό τμήμα μιλάει με την αστυνόμο για κάποια στοιχεία καθώς και για ένα παρόμοιο φόνο που έγινε στη Νεβάδα των Η.Π.Α. και κανένας δε τη παίρνει πολύ στα σοβαρά αν οσυγγραφέας είχε ακολουθήσει αυτό το μονοπάτι θα μπορούσε να είχε πει αυτά που ήθελε αλλά με πιο ''αστυνομικό'' τρόπο.
2. Δε μπορώ να χωνέψω το τέλος της Χονγκ Τσόου, πως μια τόσο έξυπνη και διορατική γυναίκα τη πατάει από αυτό που όντως περίμενε και ήταν προετοιμασμένη, θα μπορούσε στο κάτω κάτω να πει ότι έχει πονοκέφαλο. Επίσης μια και το περίμενε πως μια τόσο κολλημένη με το κόμα και την ιδεολογία του δεν είχε ετοιμάσει μια επίσημη ανα φορά just in case, είναι έξω από το χαρακτήρα της.
(less)

like · see review

May 12, 2012 Beesley rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This novel did not live up to its very ambitious premise. Mankell seems to have set out to spin a mystery that swept across continents and generations, and that created connections between the most unconnected of individuals. His ambition far exceeded his execution, making me wonder if this is yet another example of publishing houses rushing books to print without taking the time to properly foster and edit them. This read more like a draft -- albeit a late draft -- than a completed novel. There...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 21, 2012 Allison rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Beginning the book from the viewpoint of a starving wolf who finds a murder victim was brilliant. Unfortunately, continuing to vary the viewpoints with such frequency was an unfortunate decision that prevents The Man from Beijing from what could have been a great novel. Changing the point of view from character to character and jumping in time and geographical location are both techniques that should be used to keep the reader's attention--and they do. However, doing it too often and between too...more

like · see review

Mar 03, 2012 Andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-books, fiction

I read this book in a day, not so much because the book was that good, but more because I was in the mood to spend the day reading, and wanted a plot heavy book, something a bit lighter than my ordinary "literary" fiction. This Swedish crime novel fit the bill, and in many ways did not disappoint - it's plot kept me turning the pages, and the international scope of the book was interesting, and yet . . . And yet, now that I am done with reading, nothing continues to resonate with me. There was n...more I read this book in a day, not so much because the book was that good, but more because I was in the mood to spend the day reading, and wanted a plot heavy book, something a bit lighter than my ordinary "literary" fiction. This Swedish crime novel fit the bill, and in many ways did not disappoint - it's plot kept me turning the pages, and the international scope of the book was interesting, and yet . . . And yet, now that I am done with reading, nothing continues to resonate with me. There was no bell ringing of recognition in the book, no deeper reflection of humanity. It is what it is, and I leave the book unconvinced that anyone in the book is changed through the course of the novel.

Beyond lacking any deeper resonance, the novel also came up short in regards to several elements of craft. I didn't fully believe the main character of Brigitte, and did not believe how she acted in various places of the books. At times she came off as ridiculously naive, but I think it was also the result of a failure of scene and characterization in fully developing how and why various people acted around her. Additionally, some of the dialogue was wholly unbelievable, and the character often thought in a stiff 1st person voice which narrated long paragraphs of thought in their minds. This paired with one too many descriptions of characters flinging their arms open in disbelief, and at other times leaping out of bed (the act of leaping from a bed is physically impossible, unless you are a child bouncing on a bed), made for some occasionally painful writing that drew attention to itself. However, since this is a translation, that very well could be the fault of the translator.

Despite all of the above problems, for many, many pages, the writing did not call attention to itself, and I was left alone to enjoy the plot. Indeed, despite all of my above complaints, I kept with the book all day, and was interested and invested with the characters (even though the characters that were first painted as the main characters were mostly abandoned). Additionally, I liked Mankell's use of the omniscient voice, giving us insight both into the investigators and "bad guys," and the telling of the story within the story (set in 1864) was really beautifully done. Indeed, those three brothers were my favorite characters in the book. So, all in all, it was a pleasant way to pass the day.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 10, 2012 Laura C. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I loved the Wallander series on PBS with Kenneth Branagh as the gray and brittle detective, Wallander. (I mean - who does not love Kenneth Branagh?) This novel is by Henning Mankell, who also wrote the Wallander novels upon which that series is based. This story begins with a wolf. Then there is a horrific murder. For me, two things pervade this novel. One is the curious refusal of the main character, Birgitta Roslin, a judge in Sweden, to tell anyone in her family about the unusual events that...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 06, 2012 Steve Dennie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I cannot over-emphasize how disappinting this book was. It started out great: nearly everyone in a small village in cold and snowy northern Sweden is massacred, a hideous scene. A woman deputy is introduced, then a woman with a connection to some of the victims. Then Mankell takes us back to a the American West, where some Chinese immigrants find themselves serving as slave laborers on the continental railroad. I was fully engrossed.

But I don’t think Mankell really thought through where he wante...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 26, 2011 Steve Lindahl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell is a book that takes some interesting political positions. In the struggle between the followers of Mao Tse Tung and the followers of Deng Xiaoping, it is the Mao disciples who are fighting ruthless corruption in China. Capitalism is not producing positive results for the masses and Mao even gets a pass on the cultural revolution. The heroine of the novel, a Swedish judge, had admired China's red guard during her college years, so the admiration for the ol...more

like · see review

Oct 22, 2011 Ken rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A sprawling work which spans over a century and a half, and visits nearly every continent on the globe. Yet, maybe it's just a bit too sprawling.

The novel begins after a mass murder in a tiny village in rural Sweden. The reason for these killings seems to be linked to a trio of Chinese brothers who were shanghaied, and forced to work on the American continental railroad project of the mid nineteenth century. The evil gang/boss of these railroad workers had relatives in this Swedish hamlet, and t...more

like · see review

Oct 09, 2011 Alana rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the worst books I've ever read. Maybe I should back up and say that I don't like crime fiction and that the only reason I read this book is that it was given to me as a gift from my in-laws (who I now respect less for recommending this garbage. I kid. Sort of).

Internationally bestselling novelist? This is a joke, right? The author is in serious need of a thesaurus because you can only read the same descriptive phrase so many times in a single page, let alone paragraph (perhaps th...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 27, 2011 Stephen Gallup rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is possible to like a book and be disappointed with it at the same time. That's the way I feel about The Man From Beijing.

The parts that work best are those when one character is being stalked by another, especially when Hong Qiu suspects that her psychopathic brother Ya Ru plans to kill her, and when the main character, Birgitta Roslin, realizes the killer is now coming for her. The mood in both sections is pretty creepy.

So the story has appeal (assuming you like the genre). But now for the...more It is possible to like a book and be disappointed with it at the same time. That's the way I feel about The Man From Beijing.

The parts that work best are those when one character is being stalked by another, especially when Hong Qiu suspects that her psychopathic brother Ya Ru plans to kill her, and when the main character, Birgitta Roslin, realizes the killer is now coming for her. The mood in both sections is pretty creepy.

So the story has appeal (assuming you like the genre). But now for the drawbacks. The first, which other reviewers also pick up on, is the failure to provide motivation for Birgitta's odd behavior near the beginning, when she puts aside her day job as a judge and becomes an amateur private eye chasing clues in a gruesome murder case. Her interest in the matter is understandable, but not her tendency to run her own investigation and the way she selectively withholds her findings from the police.

Next are the multiple, extended nostalgic references to her youthful days as a naïve Maoist agitator (perhaps I too am naïve but I would expect a judge to have outgrown that sort of thing). That political bent figures in her decision to visit China, where her sleuthing continues.

Mankell provides a reasonably convincing sense of place for both Sweden and Mozambique, the two places where he spends his time, according to the biographical note (neither of which I have ever seen). He does less well with China, China's government, and his portrayals of ordinary Chinese people. My sense is that the author has had an extensive study of Mao Tse-Tung thought (which apparently he still thinks has merit) and has combined that with maybe a week's worth of personal observation of the country from within the bubble of a tour bus. Speaking as a 大鼻子 who probably can be justified in saying this, I found all these depictions to be painfully off-base. He needed a Chinese connection to make the plot work, but given his concluding note, which says that "even in a novel, the most important details ought to be correctly presented," what he came up with fails completely.

The story provided a diversion during a busy week, but I wish it had been better. It could have been better.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 09, 2011 Meg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Meg by: Entertainment Weekly

Shelves: 2011-justmakeitto52, on-my-shelves

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Blergh. It's really hovering around 1.5 stars. Again, the style differences threw me, as the "Scandinavian mystery writer voice" (which I can only base off Girl w/ Dragon Tattoo and this, so, grain of salt) seems very stilted and matter of fact and just... there's nothing hidden, is the best I can come up with? It's not that it's plain, because I don't really have a problem with that, but there's nothing to ever decipher or wonder about. That said, there are far less mentions of SANDWICHES in th...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 04, 2011 Javier_fernandez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Henning Mankell. EL CHINO.

Es la primera vez que encuentro en una historia de Henning Mankell lagunas tan grandes, aristas tan notorias que primero asoman como si fueran errores tipográficos, sobresalen, irrumpen y alcabo de 300 página casi desencuadernan el trabajo de Tusquets Editores. Me da la impresión (pero es sólo una impresión: esto puede cambiar con el paso de los meses, con el glaciar de los años) que Mankell tomó excesivos riesgos al querer adentrarse en la cultura cantonesa y específi...more

like · see review

Jul 10, 2011 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-group

We read this book for book group in the month of June, and the overall average score that this book received was a 3.43 out of 5. Originally I gave it a 4 star rating, but upon considering things as I prepared for this post I think I would have to knock my rating down to a 3.5, so I don't know what that would do to the above average.

Henning Mankell is a well-known author, though this was the first of his books that I had ever read. I got the free sample from Amazon and was hooked - the brutal mu...more We read this book for book group in the month of June, and the overall average score that this book received was a 3.43 out of 5. Originally I gave it a 4 star rating, but upon considering things as I prepared for this post I think I would have to knock my rating down to a 3.5, so I don't know what that would do to the above average.

Henning Mankell is a well-known author, though this was the first of his books that I had ever read. I got the free sample from Amazon and was hooked - the brutal murder all but guaranteed a great story that I would really enjoy. I love murder mysteries and intrigue.

I did enjoy the book as I was reading it. Let me say that upfront, because I would be insincere if I were to just criticize it and leave it at that.

The things I liked about the book:
1. I wanted to read it and see what happened next in the story, because I was interested in the way things played out.

2. The crime-solving narrative was interesting. As was the railroad narrative.

The problems that I had with the book:
1. There was a serious lack of tying up loose ends. I wasn't expecting everything to fit together really well like an episode of Law & Order or anything; there were just things that seemed like they were going to be important for a fair amount of time that ended up being relatively inconsequential and were never addressed, but I don't want to ruin the story so I won't say what they were here.

2. I think that it's possible that Mankell suffers from a bad translator, because a lot of the language seemed really forced and unbelievable.

3. The actual premise behind the murders was *somewhat* far-fetched. I say somewhat with a certain level of sarcasm, because it seemed really unrealistic.

4. The different parts, with the different narratives, didn't make the story hard to follow, but it seemed like they could have been separate books on their own and Mankell just didn't want to take the time to develop them very well.

5. There were many things that various characters did that seemed completely out of character, but they weren't explained in any way. It seemed like Mankell didn't have notes on the characters when he wrote the story, or that wouldn't have happened.

Okay, so would I recommend the book? Sure. But I wouldn't want you to expect it to be another Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Because it isn't. Where Stieg Larsson wrote a relatively complex story that was really well-developed, Mankell fell short on the development part and got a little too complex without explanation. Of course, I think that Mankell churns out a lot of books, so he might not have time to worry about these things.(less)

like · see review

Jul 06, 2011 Al rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was disappointed in this book. It's like Mr. Mankell suddenly decided to write something about China politics, and had to fabricate a plot to support his subject. The plot is disjointed, and the few loosely connected acts of violence do little to support it. The protagonist, a female Swedish judge, has the requisite existential angst seemingly required in Swedish detective novels, but floats in a cloud of vague dread and foreboding throughout most of the book. She's aware something is wrong,...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 04, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book after reading something about it which said like Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell was a Swedish author, and like Larsson this book had a strong female character, but it was a middle aged judge. It sounded interesting. And the book is. It revolves around a massacre of nineteen people in a small village in Sweden. Turns out the judge is related to two of the victims, and she becomes involved in the case, doing some of her own detective work. The book then goes back in time 150...more

like · see review

Jul 01, 2011 Allan MacDonell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So I watched all three of those movies with the dragon-tattooed girl, even though only the first one held my full interest, and the viewings left me open to the notion that Scandinavian noir may be the new noir for me. If The Man From Beijing is good enough for the book kiosks at JFK, I further reasoned, it should be good enough for me, and I suppose the book is partially a dark treat of low horizon pessimism and chill. But the narrative slips from the precise and complete butchery of a tiny ice...more

like · see review

Jun 23, 2011 Gerry Claes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is no question that China has become an economic powerhouse. The question is, is it a communist country, a capitalist country or both? This book looks at those in China who who want China to adhere to the principals of Chairman Mao and place the well being of the masses above all else and those in China who have become capitalists and are hell bent on amassing wealth no matter what the cost.

All of this is played out starting with a massacre in a small Swedish town that makes no sense and b...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 16, 2011 Sophia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, china, mystery, sweden

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

May 12, 2011 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, I freely admit that I am one of those people that tends to think in outline form. I like things to flow in a logical manner. At times, this book made me feel like I was listening to my four year old nephew tell me about a movie. It was here, there, and all over the place, meandering into circumstances in China, Africa, the history of Mao's policies, etc. There were parts where I found myself wondering: did this book have an editor? If so, where were they? I mean, the background of the guy...more

1 like · like · see review

May 06, 2011 Rod rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While this is a crime novel it is also a wide-ranging and ambitious book, connecting events in Sweden with the neo-colonialist activity of the Chinese in Africa.

The starting point is a series of murders all occurring in the same night in a remote Swedish village. The local police believe that the murderer was a deranged Swedish man who commits suicide while in custody. However a visiting judge, Birgitta Roslin, who has connections with some of the victims, comes to the view that the murders wer...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 26, 2011 Darryl Mexic rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In this novel of racial intolerance and generational vengeance, Mankell takes us from 1860’s Nevada to modern day Sweden, Beijing, London and Mozambique; from the harsh slave labor conditions imposed upon Chinese workers building the western U.S. railroads to the gleaming towers of Communist Beijing’s fabulously wealthy business magnates, to the hideous torture murders of eighteen seniors, one child and one dog living in the tiny hamlet of Hesjovallen, Sweden. What is the reason for the murders...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 17, 2010 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

A carefully written tale of misguided retribution that explains but of course does not justify an atrocious crime by finding its origin in the past, the atrocities suffered over 150 years ago by Chinese immigrants who built the Western pieces of American railroad and were treated no better than slaves. As imperfect as Wallander, the truth-seeker here is Judge Birgitta Roslin who becomes obsessed with figuring out an apparently senseless crime, the murder of 19 people in the little hamlet where h...more

like · see review

Dec 01, 2010 Susanhayeshotmail.com rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmmm, how to describe this one...starts out with a bang,then wanders around quite a lot, from one storyline to another, across time and through several countries. It was engaging enough and yet, yet it seemed to me to lack something, parts that could have/should have been more fully developed? I found the geopolitics kind of interesting, if kind of scary and appalling. I don't need every t crossed and every i dotted in a mystery to enjoy it but really, though this was pretty good I felt like it...more

like · see review

Sep 08, 2010 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Beth by: murderblog@yahoo.com

On page 328 of THE MAN FROM BEIJING, Henning Mankell writes, as part of a conversation, “We are still embroiled in a large-scale investigation with lots of complicated details.” This pretty much describes the book. It starts with the murders of 18 elderly people and 1 child in a hamlet in Sweden in 2006. By the time the story ends, the reader has been to China in 1863, Nevada during the building of the transcontinental railroad, back to China while still in the 19th century but then slipping int...more

On page 328 of THE MAN FROM BEIJING, Henning Mankell writes, as part of a conversation, “We are still embroiled in a large-scale investigation with lots of complicated details.” This pretty much describes the book. It starts with the murders of 18 elderly people and 1 child in a hamlet in Sweden in 2006. By the time the story ends, the reader has been to China in 1863, Nevada during the building of the transcontinental railroad, back to China while still in the 19th century but then slipping into 2006, back to modern day Sweden, then back to China, and, finally, returning to Sweden after a momentous side trip to Africa and a significant pause in London.

Mankell writes so well that the reader can actually keep all of this straight. When all is said and done, THE MAN FROM BEIJING is not about international travel or politics (although Mankell writes reams about the politics and the economy of China). It is about two families and the collision of their lives in 19th century Nevada. Two brothers from China, San and Guo Si, are worked mercilessly by the Swedish supervisor of their crew, Jan August Andren. When San returns to China he begins to write every detail of his life. He doesn’t know if he will ever have someone in his family who will want to read it but he continues his task for the rest of his life.

Back in Sweden in 2006, Birgitta Roslin, a judge, learns that she is related to the Andren family, brutally killed in their homes. Birgitta is drawn to the murder scene and, as a judge, is given considerable latitude at the crime scene. In the house, she finds an old journal written by JA Andren and outside, in the snow, she finds a red ribbon. Birgitta chooses to eat in a Chinese restaurant later that day and she notices that the red ribbon hanging from a lantern over her table is an exact match to the ribbon from the crime scene. In fact, a red ribbon is missing from a lantern over another table.

In present day China, Ya Ru, highly successful and a major player in moving China to capitalism, has been studying the journal of his ancestor, San. Thus begins the dueling recollections of the ancestors and, assisted by an inordinate number of coincidences, Birgitta and Ya Ru move toward a confrontation.

This is not a Wallender book. It is entertaining and worth reading as long as the reader doesn’t expect everything to make sense. Sometimes, major issues are resolved so smoothly that I almost missed them. Mankell offers up plenty of information about the characters but I didn’t find myself caring very much about any of them. Birgitta is the main character but Hong Qiu, an important figure in China, is more interesting.

Read and enjoy the book for what it is, a somewhat engrossing stand-alone by Henning Mankell. Mankell is always a great writer. But don’t expect this to be on the same level as the Kurt Wallender books.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 24, 2010 Sugarski rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 22, 2010 Vegantrav rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having been thoroughly delighted with and entranced by Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy, I decided to read this mystery/thriller from another renowned Swedish author, Henning Mankell.

Mankell, though, is no Larsson. The Man from Beijing begins as an intriguing mystery with a mass murder in a small village in a remote area in the northern part of Sweden. As the novel progresses and we learn who massacred the elderly residents and one child in this village, our normal willingness to suspend our di...more

like · see review

Aug 17, 2010 Margot rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: detective-suspense, scandinavian, translation, international

This reads like a mystery version of a Tom Robbins novel, meandering and covering topics you never thought could come together in the same plot. Mankell connects Chinese slave laborers working on the railroad in Nevada to a tiny hamlet in Sweden 150 years later, and all of that somehow connects to Zimbabwe and Mozambique's economic development. Whew!

I'm never sure if it's because of the translation when I feel this way, but these disparate plot sequences felt a bit forced and didn't flow as well...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Did anyone else find this a let down?	9	42	May 20, 2013 05:37am
Goodreads Librari...: please merge these 2 books	2	142	May 15, 2012 12:57pm

combine
Other Editions (56)

More editions...

Genres

Thriller

51 users

Mystery

49 users

Cultural > China

36 users

Cultural > Sweden

27 users

European Literature > Scandinavian Literature

27 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

22 users

Mystery > Crime

19 users

Suspense

14 users

Historical Fiction

13 users

Mystery > Detective

12 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Death on the D-List
by Nancy Grace
Borkmann's Point
by Håkan Nesser
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
by Maj Sjöwall
The Shadow Woman
by Åke Edwardson
Studio sex
by Liza Marklund

About Henning Mankell

Henning Mankell is an internationally known Swedish crime writer, children's author and playwright. He is best known for his literary character Kurt Wallander.

Mankell splits his time between Sweden and Mozambique. He is married to Eva Bergman, Swedish director and daughter of Ingmar Bergman.

More about Henning Mankell...

Books by Henning Mankell

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Man from Beijing

6 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Man from Beijing

“The evil always comes from details.” — 4 people liked it

“There's no reality without battles and no future without fights.” — 3 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Man from Beijing
avg rating	preview: The Man from Beijing Goodreads rating: 3.41 (6079 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7009170-the-man-from-beijing?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328041394l/7009170.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7009170-the-man-from-beijing?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell[/url]

The Man from Beijing

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website