Henning Mankell’s first novel, never before released in English, explores the reflections of a working class man who has struggled against the constraints of his station for his entire life. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.The year is 1911. The young rock blaster Oskar Johansson has been killed in an accident. Or so it says in the local newspaper. In spite of serious injuries, however, Oskar survives. Decades … survives. Decades later, Oskar looks back and reflects on his working life as an invalid, his marriage, his dreams, and his hopes. Oskar’s life is woven together out of fragments of voices, images, and episodes that, taken together, provide a sharp and precise picture of life in Sweden for the working class.
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4 stars
This is Henning Mankell’s first novel published only now in English. It is a distinct departure from his Wallander series. I loved the Wallander novels for the most part and was interested in reading this book about a different topic.
This is the story of Oskar Johansson from his point of view as told to a friend and fishing companion later in Oskar’s life. The book alternates between 1911 and later in Oskar’s life – about the 1960’s.
As with many of us, Oskar’s memories have a way of shifting about; one time he recalls it this way and another he remembers it another way.
Oskar’s story is one of a poor working class man who endures and perseveres following a dynamite blast that nearly kills him early in the 1900’s.
The book is a treatise on what it means to be poor in the early 20th Century. Oskar dabbled with socialism seeing the obvious need for change in the average Swedish worker’s conditions. He discusses his first love, Ellie and his subsequent marriage to her sister. Oskar talks about his hopes and dreams and how things turned out to depart from those hopes and dreams.
The book is written in an unusual style. It is not linear. It skips around and is, at times, a little confusing to follow. But is is a remarkable expose on the daily struggle and living conditions for the average working class Swedish citizen. Previously, I did not know much about this period in Swedish life, nor given it much thought. I’m glad I took the time to read this novel – and by one of my favorite authors.
I want to thank NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Vintage for forwarding to me a copy of this most interesting book for me to read, enjoy and review.
Compelling working man tale but too fragmented
I started this story looking forward to the tale, written by a favorite author, of a working man’s life and times after a terrible work accident in 1911. What came through of that story was compelling. Oskar Johansson and the working class men and women in his life lived on the edge of deprivation and despair through the early part of the 20th century and through the economic crisis of the 1930’s. Their constant hard work, physical struggles and poor living conditions made Oskar’s support of the socialist movement to win fair treatment understandable, even unavoidable. And his quiet acceptance that his activism and actions never succeeded in making an impact on the social balance was moving. Henning Mankell did, in this respect, make a compelling character come alive in the pages of his first novel.
But so much of Oskar’s life was either skipped over or told obliquely, in fragments or through the prism of politics. I also found the constant switch in point of view and time period made the story hard to follow. For me, the writing style in this early Mankell work did not serve the story justice. I am a fan of his later Kurt Wallender detective stories and his children’s books, but this story missed the mark in most respects for me.
Thanks to publisher Vintage and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.