Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö
Howard Duck
Honest to pete! I picked this at random out of a stack TBRs to read
to my wife (this is the way we while away the rainy hours). I cannot
imagine why any publisher would publish something like this. Page
after page of something like:
He knelt down and tied his shoelace. He got up and said, Ho hum.
Went to the window and stared out at the bleak rain, then walked to
his desk and sat down. He picked up a pencil and started to chew on
it until it broke... de-da, de-da, de-da.
Little humor, no suspense. One obligatory sequence of the keystone kop
type. In a way it may have been a Swedish version of Ed McBain's 87th
Precinct, except that McBain usually has some humorous personal stuff.
Some of the stuff that gets published today overwhelms me with its
tripe and trivia.
--
Howard Duck
Katarina
I think I'll just hi-jack what someone else has already said. And much
better than I could:
Maj Sjöwall (born 1935) and her husband Per Wahlöö (1926-75) transformed
what was an overtly conservative and cosy genre in their home country into a
radicalized vehicle for social criticism and left-wing political commentary,
making realism, society, politics the by-words of the Swedish police
procedural. Their ten novels - all subtitled 'novel about a crime' -
appeared in the '60s and '70s about Inspector Martin Beck and his team of
investigators in Stockholm, although there is regular input from colleagues
in Malmö.
Ironically, although they did indeed update the detective story, their
intentions were not to update the genre but to hijack it, to gain a wide
audience and specific platform for their political views. They had a clear
plan and clear aims and intentions before writing their ten police
procedurals. Part of the plan was to usher their political agenda in
gradually. "From the beginning we planned it that our mask would begin to
fall from around the fourth or fifth book", says Per Wahlöö. The last books
reflect a criticism of the development of the police force towards greater
centralization, and the appearance of a more military set-up. The increasing
criticism of society is partly shown in an increase in direct comment by the
omniscient third-person narrator. Social criticism and political comment is
also introduced through the changing type of crimes and criminals they
choose to depict. Initially the criminals in their novels are fairly
conventional for the genre and readers are only introdcued to a fairly
shadowy picture of them. Yet by the later books, we meet them as individuals
and become aware of their social problems.
At a time when realism and documentarism were in vogue in mainstream
literature in Sweden, Sjöwall and Wahlöö bring to the detective novel an
added realism. They carried out careful research before embarking on their
project and they have clearly benefited from Per Wahlöö's experience as a
crime reporter in Stockholm.
Sjöwall and Wahlöö's books have appeared in at least 25 different countries
and in numerous translations.
Note that the books were written already in the 60's and 70's and that the
intention was never to be a Swedish version of the 87th Precinct series.
Considering both Jonathan Franzen (author of Corrections) and Michael Dirda
(Washington Post) recommend Sjöwall/Wahlöö's books I think that even in
English translation your description of their writing style is a tad unfair.
Oh, and I wouldn't try anything by Henning Mankell if I were you.
Katarina
"Howard Duck" <hbd...@geusnet.com> skrev i meddelandet
news:71pj709pgdk436rfh...@4ax.com...
Pogonip
> Aaah. Where to start?
>
> I think I'll just hi-jack what someone else has already said. And much
> better than I could:
>
I read their books many years ago, and enjoyed them very
much. I seem to recall some hilariously funny scenes.
There was one on a bus, IIRC, but I don't recall the
details.
---
Joanne @ stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us
http://bernardschopen.tripod.com/
Life is about the journey, not about the destination.
Ali
>From: Howard Duck
>Some of the stuff that gets published today overwhelms me with its
>tripe and trivia.
>--
>Howard Duck
I'm very surprised, I loved them 10 years back, and found them very observant.
I'm surpised
Ali
Howard Duck
No doubt you're right - I'm definitely suffering from burnout, plus
being a chronic curmudgeon in general.
One thing more, though. And this will be a SPOILER for anyone who
hasn't read it and wants to:
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
The criminal in this is clearly a psycho, but we are given no real
explanation of why he is what he has become. We are only given the
clue that he was raised by his mother, and has been schooled to
believe that loose women are subhuman creatures who don't deserve to
live. I'm not sure what in the book would suggest a liberal bias
socially.
--
Howard
Annie C
original Duck post here because he got 'plonked' some time ago.) This is
the very first crime/mystery series I ever read -- and in order.. and every
single book, way back in the 1970s. (Talk about escapist reading, these were
mine..;)
To this day, I vividly recall so many of the scenarios, shadowy characters,
and the underlying political commentary that weaved it's way through these
stories. Their take on the 'weaknesses' of Western societies probably still
has relevance in today's world? I don't know without rereading, it's been
too long. To a large extent, I think the Wahloo/Sjowall books must now be
very much like a 'time capsule' from those fascinating years of social and
political experimentation in Sweden. Imo, their team-writing is the most
seamless of all collaboratively written books I've encountered over the
years. So well done.
I've oftentimes wondered where these authors would have taken us next if
Wahloo had not suddenly died at that early age? Some things we'll just
never know...
Annie
so nice to see you back here!
"Katarina" <katarina...@chello.se> wrote in message
news:0Yrec.8382$EV2.68977@amstwist00...
Janet Puistonen
although I don't remember the specifics of any of the books, I remember
liking them a lot.
--
Janet
Dear Artemesia! Poetry's a Snare:/Bedlam has many Mansions:have a
care:/ Your Muse diverts you, makes the Reader sad:/ You think your
self inspir'd; He thinks you mad.
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