Henning Mankell's Wallender Series (novels, book club, best, crime)

[quiet walker]

Originally Posted by colorado native

Netherland writers are suddenly gaining prominence, though. Outstanding stuff from Henning Mankell and Per Petterson (genius) are flying off the shelves. A few others have been doing well, too, but, of course, I can;t think of their names. dang

Originally Posted by katzenfreund

... And I enjoy reading books by Henning Mankell, he writes mysteries, but my favorite of his is "chronicler of the wind" which tells the story of a 10 year old african boy. This might have been a good choice for the book club, too. ;-)

I just watched the second of three episodes of Wallander on PBS' Masterpiece/Mystery last night, based on Henning Mankell's Firewall - A Kurt Wallander Mystery. I wished I'd known about this sooner and hadn't missed the first episode. Kenneth Branagh is superb as the detective. If a TV show can be a good recommendation for a book or author, then this one certainly has me on the way to the library to find more books by Henning Mankell. I found the above two above quotes about the Swedish author in this forum from last year.

Masterpiece | Wallander: Series I | PBS

Amazon.com: Firewall: Henning Mankell: Books

[Mooseketeer]

I haven't read the books yet but they are on my "wish list" . Like you Quiet Walker I really loved the series and hope the BBC will make another one. I thought Kenneth Brannagh made a superb Wallender and I liked the way the various relationships were explored. It is very dark and I like the fact that the main protagonist is such an anti-hero, brooding, depressed and cynical.

I also thoguht it was beautifully and skillfully shot and had a very definite "look" about it.

It is not a straight cop show but has a bit more subtlety and oomph to it.

Apparently there have been other Swedish "Wallender" series , it would be interesting to compare.

[katzenfreund]

I have read a couple of Mankell's books and very much enjoyed them. A couple of them were mysteries, but I also read a wonderful book by him about a young boy in Africa. I will be looking for more of his books soon.

[miguel's mom]

I've read all the Wallander books and they are great reads! Most of them were already made into movies in Sweden and they were shown here on German TV. Anyhoo' I didn't like the actor who played Wallander, he was so different that I just couldn't watch the movies buhu.

However, I do recommend the books. Great Swedish scenery and also very entertaining pageturners!

[BigSwede]

Here is the full list with both the swedish and english Wallander:
Henning Mankell

[TexasJeff]

The 3 Kenneth Brannaghn series is available on the PBS.org site for viewing.* Check the Mystery Masterpiece site for the link to view.I have read all his books and rate him in my top 5 mystery writers, along with Arturo Perez-Reverte, Linda LaPlante, Michael Connelly, Kakan Nesser, and Johnathan Kellerman. Sorry, that's 6 not 5.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I like both the sub-titled Swedish version and the English version. The Swedish actress who played Linda Wallander in the Swedish versions committed suicide in 2007 and Mankell refused to write any more novels with her character, he was that upset by her death.

[Mark S.]

I love the TV show. Branagh is great.

But I just could not get into the books. Perhaps it's a poor to-English translation, but I thought the writing was stiff, clumsy, and the pacing turgid. Perhaps it reads better in Swedish?

[Mooseketeer]

I started reading the books and simply could not stop. I am absolutely addicted to "Wallander" , books and TV series. Including the Swedish TV series with Krister Henriksson. Kenneth Brannagh truly is superb in the BBC series as well.

I find the books deeply poignant and with a hugely human dimension to them. I love the way Mankell writes, his writing has a social and psychological clarity I find utterly mesmerising and his understanding of depression is superb .

Wallander is the ultimate anti-hero, a good man who does his best but realises the futility of the task which drives him further into depression and self reflection. He is very introspective and thus quite self destructive. I can relate to this a little too well and his character really does ring very true.

All the secondary characters are well developed and the interaction between all the different protagonists does ring so true. There is great humanity in the books and the TV series.

I read all his books in one big block, unable to put them down ( have re-read them already) and was devastated when the series came to an end. Linda Wallander as a new detective is fine but she is no Kurt. I am waiting for "The Troubled man" to be published in English and want MORE.

So Please Mr Mankell, please, pretty please get back to the desk and write me some more books.

I even managed to convert my cynical Husband to Mankell's masterpieces of crime.