Faceless Killers (Kurt Wallander, #1) in Read a book from each country

Dec 17, 2010 Chinook rated it liked it

“We’re living in the age of the noose. Fear will be on the rise.”
"Faceless Killers", Henning Mankell

In the last two weeks I’ve read two mystery novels, which isn’t something I do terribly often. I’m not a particular fan of the genre and got into it more as a locational thing – I started reading Ian Rankin novels because of the Edinburgh setting. “The Naming of the Dead” isn’t Rankin at his best (my favs are “The Falls” and “A Question of Blood”) but it is enjoyable. I like the way Rankin uses cu “We’re living in the age of the noose. Fear will be on the rise.”
"Faceless Killers", Henning Mankell

In the last two weeks I’ve read two mystery novels, which isn’t something I do terribly often. I’m not a particular fan of the genre and got into it more as a locational thing – I started reading Ian Rankin novels because of the Edinburgh setting. “The Naming of the Dead” isn’t Rankin at his best (my favs are “The Falls” and “A Question of Blood”) but it is enjoyable. I like the way Rankin uses current events to direct his novels – this one about the G8 protests. I did love the character development of Siobhan and the relationship between the two of them. I’ll be sad when the series ends. How can John Rebus possible retire?

The other book I read, recommended perhaps by Sofiya or by a Swedish friend ages ago, is “Faceless Killers” by Henning Mankell. While not as immediately engrossing as a Rankin read, it reminded me a lot of Rankin’s Rebus series. It also unfolds in the midst of a topical discussion; this one about immigration and refugees. I thought it dealt with the issue sensitively and in a very European way. My North American mind has always struggled, even after almost 4 years in Scotland, with the European immigration issues. But perhaps this novel has helped me understand better – Wallander is trying to think of all the possible foreign targets that might exist in his area and it says “How many pizzerias were there in the Ystad area?” I can barely comprehend pizzerias as foreign food or the culture that thinks they are. A subtle but important reminder that understanding the current events of other cultures is hindered by our lack of ability to understand the mindset of the people involved.

Both of the authors evoke strongly a sense of place. Rankin’s Edinburgh was far removed from my own and yet I always recognized it when reading. Mankell certain evokes the flat, chill of a Swedish winter that I envision when thinking about Sweden (the closest I’ve ever gotten myself is Denmark.) The names of characters and places and even the pared down language (which I suspect comes from reading it in translation) lend a sense of place.

In “Faceless Killers”, Kurt Wallander wonders “why almost every policeman was divorced. Why their wives left them. Sometimes, when he read a crime novel, he discovered with a sigh that things were just as bad in fiction. Policemen were divorced. That’s all there was to it.” Rebus and Wallander are such similar detectives. The broken home lives, the distant daughters, the obsession with music, the poor diet and problems with weight. A notable difference is Rebus’s drinking. Wallander seldom drinks.

I’m not a Wallander fan yet (granted, I am only one book in). The spareness of the language doesn’t entirely appeal to me. The female characters are particularly poorly drawn. The love affair (of sorts) is particularly hard to understand as written. The only character other than Wallander who I found well drawn (Rydberg) doesn’t seem likely to make it into the second book. I have another book already, found it secondhand, and while I am curious to see where the author goes with the character, I hope things get a little more engaging soon.

Read in Koyang. ...more

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Jan 06, 2010 David rated it really liked it

Shelves: novels, mystery

Translation of the first of the Kurt Wallender novels by Swedish author Henning Mankell. It's a police procedural, set in a small city in Scania, southern Sweden. The atmosphere is bleak, the perspective on changes in Swedish society--urbanization, immigration, divorce--also bleak.

Nevertheless, it's eminently readable, a page-turner, and does give a picture of modern Sweden, especially if read in combination with the works of the late Stieg Larsson. ...more

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Jan 11, 2010 Bonnie rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery, world-lit-nordic

I finished Larsson's Millenium trilogy and, like many readers, decided to give another Swedish crime novelist a try. Not because I was so enamored of Larsson, but because I wanted to know if some of the things I hated about Larsson's writing were special to him or general tropes in Swedish crime novels. Now, I know that two authors do not a good generalization make, but I'm going to do it anyway. Maybe because I'm a bad person, or maybe because I do not really care to read more Swedish novels af I finished Larsson's Millenium trilogy and, like many readers, decided to give another Swedish crime novelist a try. Not because I was so enamored of Larsson, but because I wanted to know if some of the things I hated about Larsson's writing were special to him or general tropes in Swedish crime novels. Now, I know that two authors do not a good generalization make, but I'm going to do it anyway. Maybe because I'm a bad person, or maybe because I do not really care to read more Swedish novels after this. (And, yes, I realize that if I read two American pulp crime novelists, say Janet Evanovich & John Grisham, I'd have a very skewed version of American literature).

This is the first book in the Wallander series, which is apparently quite popular in Europe and even got a BBC miniseries starring Kenneth Branagh made about it. This book was also published in 1991 (isn't it crazy that that's 20 years ago?) so it's been around for a while.

Unfortunately it is BORING. Oh my stars, I thought that being quite slim it would be less full of inane details than the Millenium Trilogy. I thought wrong. We learn that Wallander's current pair of underwear is dirty and needs to be changed (ew). We learn EXACTLY what time EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN THING IS HAPPENING (I thought that was just a Larsson tick, but does this mean it's a Swedish [crime] novel thing?). We learn exactly what people are eating for no apparent reason.

Wallander is completely unlikeable. I mean, screw the fact that his family life is in shambles and I don't even care (his wife left him, his daughter tried to kill herself and now barely talks to him, his father is a curmudgeonly old crank). Wallander slapped his wife when she left him (but only once and he felt bad so it's okay!). He has a tedious obsession with the prosecutor, sexually harasses her (but it's okay and she readily forgives him, because he felt bad and sent her flowers!) and then has an adulterous affair with her (she has a husband and kids). He also drinks and drives (it's okay, he feels bad when he's caught!). And is a mouthpiece for the author's anti-open immigration policy (it's okay, not because he feels bad, but he's not shooting up random immigrants like those REALLY evil anti-immigration people! Also, Mankell considers setting people's houses on fire a "youthful prank." Kids these days! What rascals!).

I was also amazed (/horrified) at all the blatant sexism in this book. Now, I know pulp crime novels aren't known for their sterling portrayals of females, but every woman who disagreed with a male character was a "bitch." This was most women in power. People in authority who weren't Wallander were generally portrayed as incompetent, but only the women got called names. All I could think about was that Larsson's first book was called Men Who Hate Women in Swedish and that's what this book should've been called.

What about the mystery, you ask? Well, besides being used in service to Mankell's views on immigration (needs to be better regulated), it started out intense but kept getting sidetracked by Wallander's tiresome domestic life and ultimately limped along until being suddenly solved at the end. ...more

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Jul 27, 2010 Shadazz rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, policial

Me pareció una historia emocionante. El policia Kurt Wallander, como lo dice el mismo nunca fue un buen filosofo, y por lo tanto es capaz de transmitir el desconcierto que le produce ser un policia en estos días y época.

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