A review by levishak
The Eye of the Leopard by Henning Mankell

5.0

This author came highly recommended to me, so I went to the library. None of his mystery books were on the shelf. No surprise there. Rarely do I find what I want at the public library, though I am still a strong believer in public libraries. Instead of one of Mr. Mankell's mystery stories, I picked up the one lone Mankell book on the shelf, The Eye of the Leopard. I was treated to a very well-written semi-autobiographical, fictional account of a Swedish man's experiences in Zambia in the 1970's and 1980's. Though somewhat outdated by now, I think the message is still relevant. Black Africans and white Africans do not understand each other. They come from different cultures and thereby view the world differently. This is not meant to be rascist just a fact. (There are rascist characters in the book.) Unfortunately, the most common traits that the people from other cultures share are dishonety, violence, rage, and corruptability. The main character, Hans, begins his Africa journey as an idealistic, young liberal and ends it as a realistic, middle aged man, probably still liberal but certainly jaded. It is a common coming of age tale, set in the newly independent nation of Zambia, complete with broken down cars, decrepit old buildings, wild weather, and the rustle of creatures, both large and small, dangerous and benign. Of course, I am sure there are other viewpoints about living in Africa, but based on my experiences in different cultures, this one seems quite true.