Goodbye Kurt !
Nov. 21st, 2010 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniI read until 2 am last night for I couldn't drop Henning Mankell's novel before the end.
L'homme inquiet tells Kurt Wallander's last story. The mystery could be have been better crafted but the mystery wasn't really the point in that 9th novel and it is not Wallander's case even though he can't help investigating. This detective story is all about our beloved detective, and "the worried man" from the title is neither the possible victime nor the possible criminal, but the aging hero (and probably his aging creator as well) who gives away a last confession, a testament.
It isn't Mankell's best Wallander book, crime novel-wise – far from it –, but it has its moments here and there.
Obviously Mankell was fed up with Wallander, a character he doesn't like much which he admitted in several interviews; he had already turned the page and involved himself in other projects (books and plays) for a few years, but I guess the pressure was there so he needed to get rid of the myth for good, and destroy the creature that gave him a world wide success (the Holmes syndrom as Conan Doyle's legacy!) . I won't reveal how Wallander "leave the stage", but it's quite depressing. Mankell is merciless!
I think it's probably better that the series ends before it becomes really poor, but I was sad to see Kurt disappear. He has been in my life for so long, it's like losing an old companion.
L'homme inquiet tells Kurt Wallander's last story. The mystery could be have been better crafted but the mystery wasn't really the point in that 9th novel and it is not Wallander's case even though he can't help investigating. This detective story is all about our beloved detective, and "the worried man" from the title is neither the possible victime nor the possible criminal, but the aging hero (and probably his aging creator as well) who gives away a last confession, a testament.
It isn't Mankell's best Wallander book, crime novel-wise – far from it –, but it has its moments here and there.
Obviously Mankell was fed up with Wallander, a character he doesn't like much which he admitted in several interviews; he had already turned the page and involved himself in other projects (books and plays) for a few years, but I guess the pressure was there so he needed to get rid of the myth for good, and destroy the creature that gave him a world wide success (the Holmes syndrom as Conan Doyle's legacy!) . I won't reveal how Wallander "leave the stage", but it's quite depressing. Mankell is merciless!
I think it's probably better that the series ends before it becomes really poor, but I was sad to see Kurt disappear. He has been in my life for so long, it's like losing an old companion.
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Date: 2010-11-21 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 04:35 pm (UTC)But those in the middle are great! :-)
My favourite are la Muraille Invisible ( Brandvägg in Swedish) and Les Morts de la St Jean (Steget efter), they are excellent!