Customer Reviews

Kennedy's Brain

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

What's going on here? I give five stars to all the Kurt Wallander novels that have been translated into English, except "The Dogs Of Riga," which bogs down and is, overall, a little tedious. "Kennedy's Brain" proved to be disappointing. The book posits a medical conspiracy which is intent on testing all manner of dubious and/or unapproved AIDS drugs on both healthy and dying Africans. The conspirators seem to have killed everyone around the book's heroine, Louise Cantor, but, for some baffling reason, they leave her alone: Louise's ex-husband, Aron, is killed, two Africans Louise befriends are killed (even though they will shortly be dead from AIDS), and Louise's son, Henrik, is killed. Or maybe not. But Louise is more dangerous to the conspiracy than most of these individuals. After 326 pages, we learn very little about this globe-spanning, destroy-everything-in-its-path conspiracy. Is it run by one (!?!) man, Christian Holloway, who appears to be working alone? And what has John F. Kennedy's brain got to do with anything? Some kind of metaphor? I still look forward to Mr. Mankell's future novels about Kurt Wallander and his daughter, but I might also note that the translator, Laurie Thompson, has done a sloppy job in "Kennedy's Brain." In a number of places, words and sentences don't seem to make sense in context. In the final analysis, "Kennedy's Brain" only tells a story on the periphery of the story I wish it had told.

Accomplished master of the police procedural Henning Mankell strays from this genre in his latest novel, "Kennedy's Brain". In his novel, Mankell in the guise of a mystery, has penned what is in reality a social commentary. Mankell who resides at least partially in Mozambique, takes aim at the plight of the African underprivileged particularly relating to the AIDS epidemic and it's exploitation by the pharmaceutical companies.

Swedish archaeologist Louise Cantor whose specialty is ancient Greek artifracts is leading an expedition in Greece sponsored by Uppsala university. She happily anticipates taking a break to return to Stockholm and visit her son Henrik. Much to her shock and dismay she arrives at his flat, unable to raise him on the phone, to find him lying dead in bed. She is stunned to learn that an autopsy confirms that he overdosed on barbiturates.

Unable to believe that Henrik would take his own life she commences her own investigation. She travels across the world to a remote area of Australia to recruit her estranged husband Aron and inform him of their son's death. Together they go through his papers that direct them to an apartment their son kept in Barcelona. Hacking into his computer they discover that he was HIV positive and that he had business that took him to Mozambique.

Louise Cantor proceeds to Africa after the mysterious disappearance of her ex husband. While there she is confronted by danger and the horrors of a village designed to care for AIDS victims where Henrik had worked. She discovers that there is quite a bit more going on there than administering to the sick.

Mankell paints a graphic picture of the misery endured by the suffering in Africa while being critical of those who opportunistically use them for financial gain. The plot of "Kennedy's Brain", metaphor for an inexplicable and secretive mystery is very much similar to Le Carre's "The Constant Gardener".

While I have read a few other Mankell books and have been modestly entertained I would suggest giving this one a miss as the ending is very weak!

The reader is left hanging with the question, "What is the follow up book titled??" I understood all the inuendo "AIDs conspiracy" and all that but after 326 pages of the mother seemingly roaming the world with endless financial resources (archeology must pay well??) (sorry her ex decided for no apparent reason to conveniently travel with a large bundle of cash) and no apparent need for visas etc. as well as putting herself into ridiculously dangerous situations she never solves the mystery but darned if she doesn't feel good about herself and resolves to continue with her quest!!

Good for her but bad for the reader. Yawn.

I love the Kurt Wallender mysteries and love the way Mankell writes. But this was a cross between a sermon, a tedious investigative report, and a stilted novice writer's story. I couldn't finish it---the mystery wasn't compelling, the characters were dull, and if I want a sermon, I'll go to church.

Mankell may have a deep interest in Mozambique and AIDS, but nonetheless, this was a very sloppily written book. In addition to the plot deficiencies noted by earlier reviewers, the main character, Louise, is poorly developed. One minute she's fearlessly (thoughtlessly?) marching into potentially dangerous situations, and the next she freaks out over nothing. Despite the frequently repeated archeological metaphor about putting the pieces of a clay pot back together, she doesn't analyze the information she obtains and then plan a course of action - her progress occurs via 'feelings' and 'intuitions'. To cap it off, she's always staying in expensive hotels - believe me, this is not convincing behavior for an academic.

I have much enjoyed reading Henning Mankell's Inspector Wallender books but this one is rather different. The story does involve the unravelling of a mystery but it is not the police procedural type.

Louise Cantor is the heroine who starts out on an unexpected trail when she finds her son is dead, apparently by suicide. Louise is an archaeologist and the parts of the plot she uncovers are likened to unearthing parts of a Grecian urn that need to be reassembled to see the whole.

The trail leads from Greece to Stockholm to Spain, Australia and then Mozambique. The disturbing element of this book is that based on the reality of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and the West's seeming reluctance to assist.

As a story it is enjoyable but I didn't think it compared to the Wallender books. As an insight into the author I found it very interesting as Mankell lives in Mozambique and works with AIDS charities.

So not my favourite Mankell book but I applaud the author for using the novel to highlight the human tragedy that is happening in Africa.

I think I've read of all of Mankell's books. This one is def' off-the-tracks. The explanation is in the Epilogue where the author affirms the book was written in anger. It looks it, too. Just one long series of clues that, in the end, go nowhere.

Henning Mankell has written 37 novels, with perhaps the nine Kurt Wallender mysteries best known in the United States. The present novel, while a mystery of sorts, really is a polemic based on the author's frustration with the poverty and disease rampant on the African continent. Indeed, it is a written indictment of the greed which is an inherent part of the African AIDS crisis.

Swedish archaeologist Louise Cantor returns home from her job of supervising a Greek dig to find her only son lying in his bed, dead. An autopsy shows the 28-year-old full of sleeping pills, and his death is ruled a suicide. Louise refuses to accept the ruling, believing his death was a murder, and embarks on retracing his various trails to discover the "truth." It takes her to Barcelona, where the son had a secret apartment, to Australia to find her ex-husband, and then to Maputo, Mozambique. Along the way she finds out her sun was HIV positive.

Bit by bit, Louise learns how little she knew about her son. In Mozambique she learns an awful truth about an AIDS hospice, and possibly its link to the son's death. Also, there appear to be links between the AIDS epidemic and Western pharmaceutical interests, giving the author more reason to raise criticism. This book is not a joy to read, despite how well-written it is, but then it is not meant to be. While it is a story full of mysteries, it is not the kind of tale a Wallender novel would be. It is more of a psychological inquiry with social overtones.

Gave up after 75 pages which I NEVER do. The writing is atrocious which I'd love to blame on an inept translator but unfortunately Mankell owns most of the errors. It's so inconsistent as to be almost impossible to follow. Take, for example, this section:

"She was often wrong when it came to judging people's character; but she had no doubt at all that Oskar Lundin would try to help her. [break] She had been trying to think about what she would do if Oskar Lundin was not able to giver her any information, or if he had tricked her and would never be heard of again."

Ok. So, "heard of" instead of "heard from" is clearly the translator's fault. But, more problematically, there is the issue of multiple contradictions in the narrator's logic. She says she's usually wrong about people but then says, with no justification for saying so, that she is certain Lundin is trustworthy. Then, in the next paragraph, the narrator relates her thoughts on a recent walk which included worrying that this guy was untrustworthy. WHAT?? Make up your mind!

This is just one example among countless others that damaged any trust I had in the narrator/author. I couldn't commit another five or ten hours to reading prose like this.

I've been on a Scandinavian mystery binge ( inspired by Lisbeth Salander) and this was the first book I've read by this author. I wanted to like this book, but ended up mostly hating it. The ending is vague, the protagonist is not likable, plot points are dumb, dialogue is unrealistic and awkward; you get my point. I am going to try a Wallander mystery by this author. I wish I hadn't wasted my time on this book.