Book ReviewThe second review of two crime novels whose titles hint at laughter and joy, Mankell's novel The Man Who Smiled is in my opinion the best to date in the Wallander series. In the first review, we discovered the significance of how morose Martin Beck finally came to emit a burst of laughter in the last paragraph of that novel: The Laughing Policeman. I find this significant. Let's face it: laughter, joy, humor, these are not exactly the words I would describe as pertinent to Nordic crime novels (with the possible exception of Jussi Adler-Olson's Department Q novels). Granted, some of the humor is lost in tranlation, as Jo Nesbo recently stated in an interview here on Goodreads. And as I mentioned in the Martin Beck novel of similar title, my reading these two novels in succession is entirely accidental. It just so happened that I found myself reading two scandinavian crime novels whose titles revolved around laughter even though the titles were not part of my selection process at all. I read series novels in succession, holding to the belief that authors who write series have a reason for doing so, and that one follows after the other especially in terms of ongoing character development and plot. To read them out of sequence is to miss key aspects of the ongoing story line. It's like arriving late to a meeting only to ask questions already discussed during one's absence. And it just so happened that #4 in both of these series were next in my queue. Do I think the similarity in titles between Per/Maj and Mankell's 4th in the respective series are coincidental? No, I do not. I believe this novel is Mankell's homage to the 4th in the Beck series and that the title is deliberate.Even though I've given this novel high ratings I do want to disclose something up front. Throughout the novel I was puzzled by the notion of a policeman so distraught about having to use his service revolver - one that ended up killing a criminal - that he left his police career and wandered a beach for weeks on end in obvious emotional pain. Clearly, any American policeman would frown at the notion. Here the police is trained to use their weapon, and though counseling is offered for any rightuous shooting, most policemen here would not leave their jobs as a result of having used their weapon. But, after some internal reflection I found that I, like our fictituous average American policeman, suffer from an ignorance of Scandinavia. Cover of Singing Sands, a Tey novel...but what I imagine as Wallendar, walking across a lonely beach As we saw in my first review, we find that Kollberg in that Martin Beck novel is a hard-core socialist, does not believe in guns and as a result doesn't carry one in his position as a police detective. Perhaps back then, this was doable. And certainly as a crime novel this tendency served to only accentuate violent crime and the apprehension of perpetrators for the purposes of writing a crime novel. The Martin Beck novels were written some 50 years ago, when Scandinavia was relatively peaceful, non-violent, and the countries did not suffer from later infiltration of crime families and consequent crimes that include gun smuggling, drugs and human trafficking, if not the threat of terrorism itself. In his Wallander novels, Mankell clearly carries over some of these concepts from the Per and Maj novels, infusing into Wallander's character socialist tendencies (though to a lesser degree) even though these novels were written some 30 years later. In general, most Scandinavian countries today are still known as benign, social democratic wellfare states. Ystad, where most of the Wallander novels take place is still relatively peaceful, even though hints of organized crime that are already tangible in larger cities like Stockholm are beginning to filter down to smaller locales like Ystad. Service revolvers in Ystad are often found in desk drawers, rather than on the detective's person when out investigating crime.Second, Wallander's character is such that facts are easily digested by this policeman, whereas emotional consequences are not (unlike the Martin Beck series). I relegate the cause for this to the writers themselves. In the Martin Beck series, we have police procedurals written by Marxists. Emotion is downgraded, social issues upgraded, statist policies encouraged as they are applied to the masses instead of to individuals and all of it accompanied by economic vitriol of anything that smacks of capitalism: namely individual success and wealth are the result of greed. Henning Mankell is not like Beck's authors in this regard. Mankell is a humanitarian. Aside from his career as a writer, his personal life is heavily involved with his emotional ties to disenfranchised third world countries (Africa, mainly) and his view of their inhabitants is one of indivduals, not the masses. Henning Mankel is an emotional man...and consequently, so is Wallander. Firing his service pistol and killing another human being stands against everything both writer and protagonist represent. Come to think of it: high crimes, violence and a large portion of citizens incarcerated seems to be a peculiar American phenomenon and I'm not sure how well that speaks of us as a so-called free nation (another discussion).As I said: the coincidence in similar titles is no coincidence at all. Aside from the similar title Per and Maj gave The Laughing Policeman, Mankell here gives us a phenomonal police procedural (my first 5 star rating for a Wallander novel) that revolves around the idea of wiping the smile off the face of a suspected criminal. In the case of The Laughing Policeman laughter is a response to futility and exasperation. In the case of The Man Who Smiled laughter when expressed as contempt for the disenfranchised must be wiped out. Wallander is not a humerous man and he is not prone to laughter. Scandinavia frowns rather than laughs at life. Like Beck, he has trouble connecting to family. Like Beck he is morose, cannot sleep, is lonely, and is often ill at ease with his colleagues. Like the Beck novel we know who the perpetrator is early on. The Man Who Smiled also speaks to a systemic dysfunction on police teams. It speaks to the unenviable boredom and tediousness that incorporates a police team's daily work. Unlike Beck, however, Wallander is driven by emotion: by loyalty and compassion and outrage.-----------------------------------------------------Series ReviewHenning Mankell is an internationally known Swedish crime writer known mostly for this fictional character Kurt Wallander. He is married to Eva Bergman.Henning Mankell - AuthorIt might be said that the fall of communism and the consequent increase in Swedish immigration and asylum seekers has been the engine that drives much of Swedish crime fiction. Mankell's social conscience, his cool attitude towards nationalism and intolerance is largely a result of the writer's commitment to helping the disadvantaged (see his theater work in Africa). In this vein, readers might be interested in his stand-alone novel Kennedy's Brain a thriller set in Africa and inspired by the AIDS epidemic (Mankell often traveled to Africa to help third world populations); or read his The Eye of the Leopard, a haunting novel juxtaposing a man's coming of age in Sweden and his life in Zambia. Mankell's love of Africa, his theater work on that continent, and his exploits in helping the disadvantaged is not generally known by his American readers. In fact, an international news story that has largely gone unnoticed is that while the world watched as Israeli soldiers captured ships attempting to break the Gaza blockade, few people are aware that among the prisoners of the Israelis was one of the world's most successful and acclaimed writers: Henning Mankell. It is no exaggeration when I say that Henning Mankell is by far one of the most successful writers in Scandinavia, especially in his own country of Sweden. The Nordic weather, cold to the bones, drives its populace indoors for much of the year where cuddling up to read the latest in crime fiction is a national pastime.For many GR readers who have been introduced to Kurt Wallander it is interesting to note that ultimately the success of bringing Mankell to English speaking audiences only came after bringing in the same production company responsible for Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy for the wildly popular BBC version starring Kenneth Branagh. Viewers had no problem with an anglicized version of Mankell's work, an English speaking cast set down in a genuine Swedish countryside. Of course, to those fans thoroughly familiar with Mankell's work, it is the Swedish televised version that is found to be a more accurately portrayal of Mankell's novels...not the British, sensationalized version. And there's a reason for that.Henning's prose is straightforward, organized, written mostly in linear fashion, a straightforward contract with the reader. It is largely quantified as police procedural work. The work of men who are dogged and patient to a fault. Kurt Wallander, the hero in Mankell's novels, is the alter ego of his creator: a lonely man, a dogged policeman, a flawed hero, out of shape, suffering from headaches and diabetes, and possessing a scarred soul. Understandably so and if some of the GR reviews are an indication; like his famous father-in-law Ingmar Bergman, Mankell is from a country noted for its Nordic gloom. But before you make the assumption that this is yet another addition to the somberness and darkness that characterizes Nordic writing Mankell often confounds this cliche with guarded optimism and passages crammed with humanity (for Mankell, this is true both personally and professionally as a writer).As Americans we often think of Sweden as possessing an very open attitude towards sex and that this is in marked contrast (or perhaps reprieve) to the somber attitudes of its populace. But this is a view that often confounds Swedish people. The idea of Nordic carnality is notably absent in Mankell's work, as much a statement of its erroneous perception (Swedes do not see themselves as part of any sexual revolution at all) and in the case of Mankell ironic because the film director most responsible for advancing these explicit sexual parameters (for his time) was his own father-in-law the great Ingmar Bergman. In a world where Bergman moves in a universe where characters are dark, violent, extreme and aggressive - take note that the ultimate root of this bloody death and ennui lies in the Norse and Icelandic Viking sagas of Scandinavian history - that dark, somber view ascribed to both Mankell and Bergman's work was often a topic of intense jovial interest between these two artists.For any reader of Nordic crime fiction, Henning Mankell is an immensely popular and staple read.Enjoy!
It's been awhile since I read one of Henning Mankell's Wallander's novels. I can't think of why it's been so long. I think I wanted to save them and not read them all at once, lest I run out too quickly. Whatever the reason was, I'm back on the Wallander train - this series is absolutely fantastic.This one begins with a deeply depressed Kurt Wallander. He killed a man in the line of duty and even though the shooting was justified, he feels horrible that he is directly responsible for someone's death. Let me just pause here and say how refreshing it is to have a police officer who genuinely feels guilty and sad about ending another person's life. This kind of remorse is often overlooked in novels. In real life it is even worse. For Wallander, an officer who rarely uses his gun, killing a human being, criminal or not, is devastating. And so as the novel begins, Wallander is on leave and dealing with his grief very badly. There's too much drinking, inappropriate behavior, and many solitary walks along cold foggy beaches. He is all set to quit the police force. Then an old friend finds Wallander trudging along the beach on yet another cold and foggy day and asks for Wallender's help. The friend's father recently died in a car accident, only the son doesn't think it was an accident and ask Wallander to look into it. Wallander declines and assures his friend that the officer in charge of his father's case is quite good at his job. Not long after their encounter on the beach Wallander's friend is found dead, and this time it is clear it was murder. Racked with guilt at having refused his friend, Wallander abruptly changes his mind about quitting and sets out to find out who murdered his friend and his friend's father. So begins another international Wallander mystery.The Man Who Smiled was a pleasure to read. One thing about Mankell, he doesn't waste time. So many books (that I enjoy) start off so slowly and I have to remind myself that the story will pick soon. That is not necessary with Mankell. The Man Who Smiled grabbed my interest right way and held onto it. The murders Wallander is tasked with solving are never run of the mill cases with simple motives. There is often an international aspect and some degree of commentary about the state of the world at large. This book was no exception. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone so I'll leave out those aspects here and simply say this is a great read, especially for anyone looking for an international mystery.
What do You think about The Man Who Smiled (2006)?
In my country of "make my day" and "bring it on," this book may be a hard start for US readers. Detective Wallander drops into a year of depression after shooting a bad guy. He is ready to quit the force, but he finally gets his mojo back and is ready to pop anyone. Happy ending.(you get the sense the writer went through this too, maybe after being financially forced to write yet another Wallander mystery) The book's mid-section, also, might be a hard read. In Sweden police have meeting after meeting after meeting. And the author invites the reader to every one. Mankell writes meetings well (as well as the chase scenes!) But they are still meetings. And overlaying the story is the weather in Mankell's little corner of Sweden. Cold, foggy, muddy, miserable. Makes you happy you are warm and comfy with his book. This book is an old man's lament. Well old for a cop--50. Wallander remembers when crooks were crooks. When you could tell the difference between good and bad. And cops did not go to computer school and meetings did not exist. You could just go out and nab the bad guys. No more.I read Mankell to pick up pointers (I write mystery novels too). If the plot or dreary Sweden do not interest you, then read him as a case study in writing. It is worth it.
—Charles Kerns
Lots of coffee and a few cheese sandwiches are consumed throughout this book. It's depressing Wallander again. The writing is as moody as it usually is. But in this one, the plot just was not right. It's a business bad guy who specializes in, uh, everything. The evidence that normally piles up in mysteries involving multiple murders and financial shenanigans really doesn't, or is just laughable. It felt a bit like a number of scenes developed for writing practice were stitched together. Seems like a good way to get a castle into a Wallander book, though. I see promise for the next one with the new detective coming on board in this one.
—Jay
The Man Who Smiled begins promising enough, with a murder disguised to look like an accident on a dark Swedish highway. Then we move to Kurt Wallander, brooding on a Jutland beach, trying to decide whether to quit the Ystand police department after he has killed a man in self defense. Of course, we know he won't quit, and he manages to get deeper and deeper into a murder investigation that soon turns into a gruesome investigation of a world-wide organ theft operation. The problem with the book starts with the knowledge of the identity of the perpetrator of the crimes, a bit of information the reader has, but not the cops. All that's left is for the plot to unravel itself as Wallander figures out who he should be after and then figures out a way to go after him. As the book winds down, the action becomes more James Bondish than Kurt Wallander-ish and finally ends with a bang that's more like a whimper.Given all that, though, it's reassuring that Wallander, while still brooding, will remain on the force, where he turns up in the next book in the series.
—Diane
