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A review by jessica_sim
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
2.0
Even though I like to read detective stories/ mysteries, Scandinavian detectives do not agree with me. There is too much violence, too much gruesomeness for me to handle. Due to the "1001-books to read before you die"-status, and the elements of realism in the personal life of the main character, I kept giving the story the benefit of the doubt. Towards the end, the solution seemed to come together nicely. Until the very question of the why behind the outrageous use of violence did explicitly not get solved. Instead, it got put away as something that is just there to deal with, which reinforced my prejudice against the grisly nature of Nordic detectives.
In the course of reading this book, I got stuck with images of excessive violence in my head, with unsolved problems regarding a dementing father, with the mysterious theme of (race)-horses, with an unsalvageable old friendship, ruined dreams of operatic life, a celebrated cop with a drinking problem and his weirdly specific sexual dreams and much more. A total flurry of negative inputs.
In all that I, however, do not think that the level of personal drama in the main character's life is unrealistic. Actually, it is very realistic. I even got to care about his life and would want to know how it all will pan out. My involvement does not go so far as to want to read more of these books.
I also appreciate the handling of the immigration issues that are actually still (or again) very relevant in society today, yet not openly talked about. The one change in general attitude to asylum seekers is that they no longer are offhandedly regarded as either opportunists or victims, there is a third category feared now: terrorists.
I also found it interesting to read about East-Germans trying out their newfound freedom by travelling to Sweden. That is something that really marks the time of writing for this book.
I can appreciate this book status as a first of its kind and am glad to have read it. I tried to move past my own preconceptions of this book, but it is still too violent for my own taste. My star rating is therefore based on personal enjoyment only.
In the course of reading this book, I got stuck with images of excessive violence in my head, with unsolved problems regarding a dementing father, with the mysterious theme of (race)-horses, with an unsalvageable old friendship, ruined dreams of operatic life, a celebrated cop with a drinking problem and his weirdly specific sexual dreams and much more. A total flurry of negative inputs.
In all that I, however, do not think that the level of personal drama in the main character's life is unrealistic. Actually, it is very realistic. I even got to care about his life and would want to know how it all will pan out. My involvement does not go so far as to want to read more of these books.
I also appreciate the handling of the immigration issues that are actually still (or again) very relevant in society today, yet not openly talked about. The one change in general attitude to asylum seekers is that they no longer are offhandedly regarded as either opportunists or victims, there is a third category feared now: terrorists.
I also found it interesting to read about East-Germans trying out their newfound freedom by travelling to Sweden. That is something that really marks the time of writing for this book.
I can appreciate this book status as a first of its kind and am glad to have read it. I tried to move past my own preconceptions of this book, but it is still too violent for my own taste. My star rating is therefore based on personal enjoyment only.