For scotman and other Wallander buffs

[swedeheart]

Henning Mankell, author of the Wallander books, was on one of the ships to Gaza and is one of the survivors. I thought some of you might be interested in reading this http://www.thelocal.se/27000/20100602/

[chokkie]

That's amazing! Thanks for letting us know. Shall go and tell OH, he'd be interested to know, too.

[chokkie]

well, swedeheart, I mentioned it to my OH - and he already knew! Well that stole my thunder. Anyway, even though no-one else has responded except me - i was interested to read it. Chox.

[swedeheart]

LOL chokkie sorry 'bout the no-thunder-effect but I'm glad you enjoyed the article. You heard about the six degrees of separation theory...? (Wiki quote) "...(also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in six steps or fewer".

...well, go tell your OH that somebody you talked to on AB (me!) literally almost ran into one of the Ship to Gaza Swedes today, here in Stockholm...! (Mattias Gardell, a scholar of comparative religion who is quite well known here in Sweden.) So that means there are now only three links in the chain between your OH and Henning Mankell - you, me and that other Gaza Swede I ran into. That should impress him! :)

[swedeheart]

(...and I live a fifteen minute walk away from Mankell's publishing house:)

[chokkie]

Oh, wow. Will tell OH when he comes back from work later. I presume that you've read all the books! We've read our way through all the Wallander novels and one or two non-Wallander books. But not sure that we liked any of the others .... Would still like to meet him ....

[swedeheart]

I haven't read a one chokkie but I have respect for the man. Seen some Wallander films on the telly, there have been two different Swedish actors and then Kenneth Branagh. I grew up in Wallander-town Ystad and the funny thing is that the Branagh films are the ones that most remind me of my childhood, they're very Ystad. I'm not so sure I'd like to live there now (as I love Stockholm so much) but it's a wonderful place to have grown up in http://www.ystad.se/y...B6F67C1256E1D0050B91C

[chokkie]

Oh, double wow! We quite enjoyed the Branagh Wallander,but are enjoying the Krister Henrikssen version even more. Although having said that, the series that's currently being screened on BBC4 is sooo different to the first one, not just because it's being filmed in a different way. We reckon that the first series was actually Mankell's own stories, but this second series is more based on stories written by Mankell. For starters, there is no daughter Linda (because the actress who played her committed suicide after the filming of "Before the Frost") (well I suppose you knew that anyway. And that other policeman (?Sven) topped himself in the last series. The female prosecutor Katarina is not mentioned in the books, nor are those two rookie cops, Isabelle and Pontus. So there you go. Oh - and in the first series, the police-station was in the town square and in this series it's on the waterfront.

We always think that Ystad is something like Midsomer in "Midsomer Murders". It seems that, very soon, there will be no-one in the town left because everyone's being killed off!

We would really love to visit Ystad and the countryside around there. It looks lovely, albeit very flat and huge skies. We'd also love to meet Mankell and Krister Henrikssen.

Some years ago, we won a holiday to Stockholm and had a marvellous time. Our hotel was right by the railway station and it was pretty seedy,but we just walked around the city for the few days we were there and enjoyed the lovely atmosphere. We also did a boat trip out to the open air living museum, on one of the islands, can't remember what it was called now. We thought it was really expensive though. Marvellous and unforgettable trip!

[swedeheart]

Skansen, perhaps? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skansen / "Very flat and huge skies" sums the Ystad surroundings up well. There's a saying here that Skåne/Scania (the province) is "as flat as a pancake" and there is *some* truth to it.

You'll think I'm having you on but I have on occasion bumped into Krister Henriksson as well... it's not the unlikely coincidence it may seem - I live in a part of Stockholm where - I once read - 90% of Sweden's actors and writers and painters live...! (Don't know if that number is accurate, it seems awful high - but the gist of it is correct.) A long time ago I was friends with somebody who had worked with Henriksson and he (my friend) said that Henriksson was extremely cooperative. When the director told him "could you possibly find another way to deliver that particular line, please?" and then the director's phone rang, when the director returned five minutes later, Henriksson would still be standing there searching for different ways to deliver the line. (I should explain, this was for a play on the radio theatre, so Henriksson didn't see the director leave the recording booth.) He's a bit wacko, I suspect, a bit of a pathological liar (by his own admission) and I once saw him coming out of a liquor store looking like Robinson Crusoe and his fly all unzipped... and he's been arrested for shoplifting... but he's very, very talented. Much more so than comes through in the Wallender film I think - but I'm glad the two of you have discerned it:)

If ever you do go to Ystad, be sure to visit Ale Stenar - Sweden's own Stonehenge. It's magic http://www.youtube.co...unDi4&feature=related

[swedeheart]

OMG I'm turning British - I just wrote 'Wallender' instead of 'Wallander'...! =:0

[chokkie]

Hello again, swedeheart. OH and I had a look at that little vid link you sent. Really enjoyed it, thanks. There's another programme about the series on BBC4 this coming Thursday quite late in the evening, so have put that on to record. If you ever ever see Henriksson in the street - and if you remember and/or have the bottle, please tell him from us that there are two avid fans of him and the series in the UK. We think he's great. We will both be devastated when the series ends in a few weeks time.

[quincyg]

I run a Krister Henriksson group on Facebook and have tried to cover as much of his non-Wallander work as I can get access to...it's been a nightmare to get at times living in UK, but well worth the effort.

As much as I enjoy his portrayal of Kurt, I feel sometimes it doesn't really show him at his best, which is a shame.

I have heard many 'tales', but then no-one is perfect. Much has happened in his past which will have had an impact on his life, but that just makes him human and he's still a bloody good actor.

I've added a link to the group if you are on Facebook and fancy a gander
http://www.facebook.c...d=228829076900&ref=ts

[swedeheart]

Thanks quincyg. I don't suppose you had the chance to see Henriksson in Doktor Glas (Doctor Glass)...? It was televised as well as staged. It's a really good book, as is "the sequel" that was written almost a century later. Well actually it's not so much a sequel as the same story seen from another perspective, that of much despised Pastor Gregorius. Here, I've borrowed this summary from Sweden Book Shop but I've blotted a spoiler out. Both books are available on Amazon also and both are among my top hundred.

"In 1905 Hjalmar Söderberg published his diary novel, Doctor Glas, a literary tour de force which has remained one of the masterpieces of Swedish literature. It is a complicated love triangle, which culminates in [...]

[...] Gregorius, an apparently repulsive and hypocritical priest [...] Doctor Glas, hopelessly in love with Gregorius' young wife...

Bengt Ohlsson, one of Sweden's most successful young writers, has responded to Doctor Glas with [the book] Gregorius, which is the voice of Gregorius himself over the course of what could be his last and fateful summer. It is a compelling study of loneliness, longing and the nature of love; the desires that bring people together and the fears that keep them apart."

Not a sequel - but still vital that you read them in the correct order. Enjoy!

[quincyg]

tack swedeheart. I haven't seen it, but do have the CD of a Radio Sweden recording of one of Kris's performances of the play in Ystad. It's a shame SVT have not released their recording on DVD...we do have the trailer on the group though.

I have read Doktor Glas, it's an excellent book, I was really impressed. Krister spoke of the Gregorius book in an interview. I didn't know it was available on Amazon, will certainly check that out. :)

[chokkie]

Ooh, thanks guys. Will check it out on Amazon. too. Cheers for the tip.