The White Lioness Henning Mankell 9780099464693 Books
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The White Lioness Henning Mankell 9780099464693 Books
Sweden’s Henning Mankell is a great writer, period. That he is well known for authoring the Kurt Wallander detective novels, given wide world exposure by the BBC television series starring the great Kenneth Branagh, seems to be a coincidence. In a difficult publishing world, Mankell, like the comic writer Kinky Friedman, seems to have chosen the detective genre even though his novels are so much more.His description, for example, is of the first rank, at the level and sophistication and power of Ernest Hemingway.
“The White Lioness,” one of his Wallander novels, manages to describe the horrors of South Africa’s apartheid at the same time as it dissects an increasingly violent Swedish society. And it is equally proficient in describing the languid heat and humidity of South Africa and the cold, arid, lonely, terrain of southern Sweden. Part of the increasing violence in Sweden, as well as countries as far away as Israel and the United States, is the immigration of a more violent Russian tradition that is seen in its mob-like approach to crime. A major villain in this story is a former KGB operative whose goal is to prove his worth to the South African secret police so he can immigrate to a white’s only life of the elite in South Africa.
Like Hemingway before him, Mankell, who serves as director of a theater in Mozambique, artfully illustrates the traditions and humanity of African culture not yet tainted by the cold rationalism of northern European authoritarianism. Mankell makes clear that only a cold rationalism can lead to crimes of devious sadism that the former KGB operative can accomplish. For the African assassins who are hired to kill Nelson Mandela in this plot retain a sense of human dignity and are not told of their assignments until the very last moment.
Mankell’s description of the attempted assassination of Mandela, which the plotters hope will prevent integration and the fall of white apartheid, is a work of high art. Stepping up the a speaker’s podium, Mandela moves into the sights of the scope of the assassin’s rifle. Wallander and his side kick have left the stadium in Johannesburg where Mandela is speaking because they know the assignation attempt is coming on this day, but they don’t know from where Mandela will be shot. Shots are fired. Where is Wallander? This is where you come in and read this remarkable novel. For that is what it really is.
[Hansen Alexander is an attorney and author most recently of, “An Introduction to the United States in the 21rst Century,” an Amazon, e-book exclusive.
Tags : The White Lioness [Henning Mankell] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In peaceful southern Sweden, Louise Akerblom, an estate agent, pillar of the Methodist church, wife and mother,Henning Mankell,The White Lioness,Vintage Uk,0099464691,Crime & mystery,MysterySuspense
The White Lioness Henning Mankell 9780099464693 Books Reviews
I interesting mystery and certainly a departure for most Wallander books. I did get a bit annoyed by repeated facts, a less than satisfactory side line story about Wallander's daughter but on the whole I did enjoy this book.
This novel taught me so much more than I had ever been aware of about daily life in South Africa both prior to and during the destruction of the apartheid legal and political system. The consuming fear that people had for the changes that were shaking the foundations of the rich and powerful, and the lengths to what those in power would do to hold on. It was engrossing, and skillfully woven in many layers.
Another key factor was Henning Mankell's ability to write through the eyes of individuals who were at odds in the tale, and yet felt completely justified in their own validity. I found this style to really help put all the pieces together, and though I might find a character very distasteful, I appreciated their experience for what it was through their eyes.
Henning Manell turns his perceptive eye to South African society on the verge of change. Called upon to investigate a woman's disappearance, Police Inspector Kurt Wallander becomes embroiled in a plot to assassinate Nelson Mandela, by deftly switching the scenes between the actions in Sweden and in South Africa, the author investigates the social upheaval in South Africa at the point where Nelson Mandela has been released from prison and is campaigning to become President.
He presents Kurt Wallander with all his human fears and faults.
Well done.
This series gets better and better. It gets deeper, richer and more substantive as we traverse the struggles that Wallander goes through. There are so moments surprising real life resonance moments that I sometimes underline passages. And the stories continue to deliver in terms of being an engaging crime drama mystery. I really didn't expect to be this taken with the series but I'll be sad when I've gone through all the books. This book has a really nice turning point in terms of the overall series which is then really nice echoed and used for the beginning of the next book.
Mankell has created a fascinating character in Wallender, the grumpy, middle-aged, divorced policeman from Ystad in Sweden. I have read all of the Wallender series and this one is the best. He limns a local murder into an international plot to assassinate Nelson Mandela as apartheid is about to fall apart in South Africa, and he does it in a way that keeps the reader on edge all the way to the end. I love the way Mankell lays out the tedious tasks of a police investigation, the frustrations of the investigators, and then the tiny, seemingly unconnected bit of evidence ( in this case a black severed finger) that explodes the mystery into the full blown chase for the bad guys. He is very good at it and this is his best so far.
I have enjoyed the Wallander series on PBS for years, but had never read one if Mankell's books. White Lioness was wonderful. The story was very complex as it covered ground from Sweden to Russia to South Africa. It was nail-bitingly tense at points tempered with the psychological perspective of Wallander as he confronts the brutal violence of a modern world of crime he no longer understands. Well worth a read.
I have read every Wallander book and had avoided buying this one for reasons I cannot remember. My judgement was good as this is by far the worst of the Wallander books. Entirely too tied up with South African apartheid and politics. I recommend all the rest of the Wallander books, but suggest skipping this one.
Sweden’s Henning Mankell is a great writer, period. That he is well known for authoring the Kurt Wallander detective novels, given wide world exposure by the BBC television series starring the great Kenneth Branagh, seems to be a coincidence. In a difficult publishing world, Mankell, like the comic writer Kinky Friedman, seems to have chosen the detective genre even though his novels are so much more.
His description, for example, is of the first rank, at the level and sophistication and power of Ernest Hemingway.
“The White Lioness,” one of his Wallander novels, manages to describe the horrors of South Africa’s apartheid at the same time as it dissects an increasingly violent Swedish society. And it is equally proficient in describing the languid heat and humidity of South Africa and the cold, arid, lonely, terrain of southern Sweden. Part of the increasing violence in Sweden, as well as countries as far away as Israel and the United States, is the immigration of a more violent Russian tradition that is seen in its mob-like approach to crime. A major villain in this story is a former KGB operative whose goal is to prove his worth to the South African secret police so he can immigrate to a white’s only life of the elite in South Africa.
Like Hemingway before him, Mankell, who serves as director of a theater in Mozambique, artfully illustrates the traditions and humanity of African culture not yet tainted by the cold rationalism of northern European authoritarianism. Mankell makes clear that only a cold rationalism can lead to crimes of devious sadism that the former KGB operative can accomplish. For the African assassins who are hired to kill Nelson Mandela in this plot retain a sense of human dignity and are not told of their assignments until the very last moment.
Mankell’s description of the attempted assassination of Mandela, which the plotters hope will prevent integration and the fall of white apartheid, is a work of high art. Stepping up the a speaker’s podium, Mandela moves into the sights of the scope of the assassin’s rifle. Wallander and his side kick have left the stadium in Johannesburg where Mandela is speaking because they know the assignation attempt is coming on this day, but they don’t know from where Mandela will be shot. Shots are fired. Where is Wallander? This is where you come in and read this remarkable novel. For that is what it really is.
[Hansen Alexander is an attorney and author most recently of, “An Introduction to the United States in the 21rst Century,” an , e-book exclusive.
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