Once in a while, someone will recommend a book and then I hear the same book title mentioned on tv. Then I will see a review of the book. If I hear a title over and over within a short amount of time, I always look into it. I may not go through with reading it, but I will most certainly check it out.
Last month, I kept hearing of The Kurt Wallander Mysteries. It is a different enough last name that I didn’t forget it and it continually popped up. Then I saw a dvd with Kenneth Branaugh as “Kurt Wallander.” Ok, enough already! I went online to find the series and in which order I should read them and traveled to the Wheaton Public Library. As I checked out Faceless Killers (and the next two books), the librarian applauded my selection, saying she enjoyed them very much. An older gentleman standing next to us overheard the conversation and agreed with her.
When I asked my sister, Pam, if she had heard of them, she said “not another Swedish book!” I guess Mankell’s Wallander series has been overshadowed by a series by another Swede – Steig Larsson and his “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy.
(Sidebar – Now, I read the three Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books – The Millennium Trilogy, mostly because I was tired of people asking me if I had read them. I read them in late 2010 and while I am glad to have read them, I do not feel as strongly positive or negative about them as some people – but at the same time, I was eager to pick them up and felt satisfied when I finished them. I thought the trilogy worked really well, was cohesive and all three books were solid, unlike some trilogies (I’m looking at you, Hunger Games!). If you haven’t read them yet, be prepared for some stark/shocking events, some sadness and a solid three-part story. Lisbeth Salander is, as has been written, one of the most interesting characters in recent fiction. The Swedish films are good – but graphic and do show, in detail, what is in the book. I think the American versions that they are filming now will tone it down, but the severity of action is somewhat necessary to the plot. I think. Then again, the first book was called Men Who Hate Women in Swedish, and retitled to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when printed in English. )
Kurt Wallander is a hero of today. He is not pretty, he does not have it altogether, he is actually quite a mess. He is a cop and investigator in a small town in Sweden. The mood of the book and its setting reflect its main character – dank, depressed, overcast, less than lively, bleak, oppressive. It also has a slightly misogynistic tone to it – on a few occasions, when a female colleague contradicts or challenges Wallander, he mentally calls her a bitch. Really? If it was once, I would say there is some back story there, but it happens a few times and it felt angry. It did remind me of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in this and made me wonder – is this just Sweden? Is this the general mood of its people and country? If you know a Swede, please ask them – I am very curious. (It may be like people around the world thinking that Americans are all blond, blue-eyed Californians.)
Faceless Killers follows Wallander as he investigates the double murder of an elderly farmer and his wife. The thread of racism within Sweden simmers under the investigation and has Wallander and the reader wondering its impact. The investigation itself is solid and interesting, as is Wallander’s private life that weaves throughout the story. His own elderly father who is aging too rapidly; Wallander still mourns the separation from his wife and he is estranged from his only daughter. By the way Mankell has Wallander’s life running strongly within the story and often interrupting the investigation, it is clear that his family will be a large part of the Wallander story we have yet to encounter. Wallander is very cerebral – much of the book takes place in his head. Wallander thinking is much of the action. There is dialogue and observations, but much is the main character mentally talking to himself.
The Wallander series is now complete with the author publishing the final novel this year. Mankell wrote several Wallander books and then more that focus on Wallander’s daughter. I heard that all the books address the question “what went wrong with Sweden?” Makes me curious and quite interested in reading more.
Quotes I liked:
“Wallander looked at the man sitting in front of him. There was something hard and dogged about him. Like a man who had been brought up eating gravel.” (72).
“Wallander was instantly annoyed by the man’s attitude. Sweden had turned into a country where people seemed to be afraid of being bothered more than anything else. Nothing was more sacred than ingrained routine.” (92)
“Every time Wallander stepped into someone’s home, he felt as though he was looking at the front cover of a book that he had just bought. The flat, the furniture, the pictures on the walls, and the smells were title. Now he had to start reading.” (244)
I have yet to read other Wallander mysteries, but my interest is highly peaked and I look forward to them all. I liked the Kenneth Branaugh BBC version – he plays a great Wallander and I recommend those as well.
Faceless Killers – Borrow the book or get it from the library. If you read it and really like it, buy them all.
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