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Loading... Italian shoes (original 2006; edition 2009)by Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson
Work InformationItalian Shoes by Henning Mankell (2006)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Something different from Mankell. A little slow but a good character study of a man brought out of self isolation by a person from his past. I enjoyed it. ( ) I read this because a member of my book club called it one of her favorite books. It looked promising from the start - thoughtful and atmospheric. It's definitely about the character development - what plot there is is slow-moving and bizarre at points. The characters aren't sympathetic, though. And there's some really out-there gross stuff - lots of death (peripheral to the story in many cases - meant to make some kind of dark point). I actually read it in French (copy found at the resort I was staying). First Mankell, an author I've been meaning to read for ages. Dark book, interesting message(s). Recommended. I'll read more Mankell! Bom What a beautiful story this was. It’s of an aging Swedish man, a former surgeon who left his practice because of an unfortunate incident, who lived alone in an archipelago of Sweden. He interacted with very few people, but had a cat and dog to keep him company. One day he spied a person on the ice whom he had known when he was younger. I don’t want to give away any of the beauty or surprises of this story, but I will say this person changed his life in many ways. This book moves slowly with its characters and its secluded environment. The awesomeness of nature is always the background to the relationships that change and develop as our main character decides if he would rather be alone of have some closer relationships. The story also presents the realities of aging in a serious, realistic way. The gorgeous writing and storytelling in this literary novel, surprised me because I thought that the author Henning Mankell has been a crime writer. This was the kind of story that I didn’t want to end. I hated to say goodbye to the elderly gentleman who shared his personal story with us, his readers. How would he fare in the future? I wanted to know. no reviews | add a review
Has the (non-series) sequel
Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly twelve years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past is about to catch up with him. The figure approaching in the freezing cold is Harriet, the only woman he has ever loved, the woman he abandoned in order to go and study in America forty years earlier. She has sought him out in the hope that he will honour a promise made many years ago. Now in the late stages of a terminal illness, she wants to visit a small lake in northern Sweden, a place Welin's father took him once as a boy. He upholds his pledge and drives her to this beautiful pool hidden deep in the forest. On the journey through the desolate snow-covered landscape, Welin reflects on his impoverished childhood and the woman he later left behind. However, once there Welin discovers that Harriet has left the biggest surprise until last. "Italian Shoes" is as compelling as it is disturbing. Through his anti-hero Welin, Mankell tackles ageing and death with sensitivity and acuity, and as with the critically acclaimed Depths, delivers a moving tour-de-force on the frailty of mankind. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)839.7374Literature German literature and literatures of related languages Other Germanic literatures Swedish literature Swedish fiction 1900-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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