Reviews

After the Fire by Marlaine Delargy, Henning Mankell

missmesmerized's review against another edition

4.0

Fredrik Welin lebt alleine auf einer kleinen Schäreninsel. Der 70-Jährige hat nur wenig Kontakt, der Postbote kommt regelmäßig vorbei, an Land tätigt er seine Besorgungen und untersucht gelegentlich die Nachbarn. Als sein Haus nachts niederbrennt, verliert er alles, nichts bleibt ihm mehr, nicht einmal ein paar Gummistiefel. Nachdem die Spurensuche vergeblich verläuft, verdächtigt ihn sogar die Polizei, da kommt es ihm gerade recht, dass seine Tochter im fernen Paris seine Hilfe braucht.

Henning Mankells letzter Roman ist kein Krimi, wofür er in Deutschland so bekannt ist. Es ist ein Abschied, Abschied vom Schreiben, Abschied vom Leben. Aus jeder Zeile spricht das nahende Ende – nicht nur, weil der erzählende Protagonist selbst schon im vorgerückten Alter ist und der Tatsache ins Auge sehen muss, dass sein Dasein sich langsam dem Ende zuneigt. Auch die alten Bekannten des Erzählers werden nach und nach weniger, ein schwacher Trost ist es ihm, dass junge nachrücken, seine Tochter Mutter wird. Das Leben wird auch in den letzten Jahren nicht einfacher, Beziehungen bleiben so kompliziert, wie sie es immer waren, aber die Erinnerungen sind mehr und ebenso das Gefühl von Verlust, vieles ist bereits vergangen und kommt nicht mehr. Aber man kann vergeben und nicht mehr alles in menschliche Hände legen, worüber zu urteilen ist.

Ein melancholisches, tieftrauriges Buch. In gemäßigtem Ton nimmt es dem Leser die Hektik des Alltags, es verweigert sich der modernen Schnelllebigkeit und entschleunigt. Passender können Schreibstil und Inhalt kaum zueinander passen. Vermutlich kann dieser Text auch nur entstehen, wenn der Schriftsteller sich in einer bestimmten Fassung und Gefühlslage befindet. Für mich ein Abschiedsbrief eines geschätzten Autors.

jnkay01's review against another edition

1.0

I just do not understand how a novel as lyrical as "Italian Shoes" could have a sequel, with most of the same characters and scenery, that was this infuriating and narcissistic. There was a great novel in here about Jansson, I'm sure of it; what an opportunity wasted.

cate_ninetails's review against another edition

2.0

I took my time over this book, because this book seems to take its time with you. Fredrik is ornery, solitary, horny, and sometimes completely unlikeable as a character. Yet there is something about him, and this odd little story, that keeps the reader curious. I have never read anything by this author and it was an interesting introduction, though I felt and still do feel that this is an unsatisfactory book. It spiralled round and round, sometimes with glimmers of promise in characters like Louise the political pickpocket and Rut Oslovski the village enigma but more often falling flat. Despite beautiful prose, an interesting setting and even a promising plot mystery, by the end of the story I was somehow still left disappointed.

cclaire's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

bookgirl_71's review against another edition

3.0

Fredrik Welin is a 70 year old Swedish doctor, who retired early after he amputated a young girls arm "accidentally." He lives on a tiny island in the Swedish archipelago, that his grandparents left to him. He has an only daughter Louise, that he rarely sees and never knew she existed till she was 30 years old. He has one friend Jansson, and I use that term loosely, who was the former postman. Fredrik is completely happy living as a recluse until one night he is woken up with his house completely engulfed in flames. He loses everything and only escapes with the clothes on his back and a mismatched pair of wellingtons (which he talks about a lot). When the police become involved, he is suspected of arson.

I truly have mixed emotions about this book. The story was told in the first person which is not my favorite narrative. There were times I could not put the book down as the writing and flow of the book were great and very much enjoyable. However, I was very surprised that the mystery was not the forefront of the story. And I think that is the main reason the book just didn't work for me. I was expecting a mystery and what I got was the constant internal dialogue of Fredrik that honestly at times grated on my nerves. He was uninteresting and would go off on constant childhood memories (that lasted for pages) that I thought irrelevant to the story.

I felt that most of the characters were selfish and not very likable. His daughter Louise was very obnoxious and just down right mean. She became physical with her father on several occasions. Fredrik toward the end did have some good character development. My initial rating was 4 stars, but the ending sadly dropped it to 3 stars. When he finally figured out the arsonist and asked the question "why?" we never got a full explanation and I kinda just felt left hanging.

I have had this authors Wallander series on my TBR for awhile, so I was very excited to be approved from NetGalley. Those that have read the series (or any of his other books) and enjoy the author might like this book more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Vintage for an ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

giuseppepepe's review

5.0

Another good book following Italian Shoes. Wish there were a third in the series.