Very enjoyable. Intriguing plot and an interesting discussion of the global economy. ( )

When Swedish writer Stieg Larsson burst upon the literary scene a few years back he was often compared with Henning Mankel. Since I really enjoyed Larsson's trilogy I felt it would be a good idea to read something by Mankel as well. And so it was ! And while the murders in this novel do take place in Sweden and consequently, we are treated to a fine portrayal of the Swedish legal system, what sets this book apart as the title implies, is the excellent and fascinating examination of Chinese history and culture. Much as been said and written about the emergence of China as a super power on the world stage and for anyone interested in this topic I defiantly recommend reading The Man From Beijing. ( )

Muito Bom ( )

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Anche se inizia molto bene e la suspence rimane sino alla fine, questo non è il mio libro preferito di Henning Mankell. A mio parere l'autore si sofferma un po' troppo su fatti storici e usanze che lui stesso conosce molto bene, ma che ai fini della trama risultano superflue e noiose per il lettore. Alcuni tagli avrebbero reso la lettura molto più piacevole. ( )

Below par for a genre thriller. Writing is too simple, the plot over complicated, the situations absurd, and rambles. Sorry I spent time with it. ( )

I registered this book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14028609

A stand-alone novel by one of the best mystery writers.

This complex tale begins when a man traveling through a tiny village discovers that most of its inhabitants are dead, murdered. Birgitta Roslin, granddaughter of two of the victims, travels to the village to see it and to learn more, and can't leave it alone. While the investigators of the crime think they have it covered she is not so sure. But will they listen to her?

The story reaches back in time to China and the United States and in the present to China again, where Birgitta is threatened while continuing her search for answers.

As is often the case in Mankell's novels, this one brings in parts of history some of us know nothing about or prefer not to remember. I love his sense of justice. ( )

Ein grausiges Massaker

An einem frostigen Januartag 2006 macht die Polizei von Hudiksvall eine entsetzliche Entdeckung. In einem kleinen Dorf sind neunzehn Menschen auf bestialische Weise ermordet worden. Die Polizei vermutet dahinter die Tat eines Wahnsinnigen. Als Richterin Birgitta Roslin in der Zeitung von der Tat liest, ist ihr sofort klar, dass die Pflegeeltern ihrer Mutter unter den Mordopfern sind. Mehr noch: Sie erkennt, dass die Polizei eine falsche Spur verfolgt, und beginnt selbst zu recherchieren. Ein Hinweis führt nach China, wo Birgitta auf grausame Machenschaften der politischen Führungselite stößt.

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

When I was going through some of the reviews, it almost seemed like everyone was disappointed by The Man From Beijing, but this was not at all the memory I had about the book.

Yes, it is slow paced, and not all the jumps may make a lot of sense, but I still remember it as an interesting story, after the mass murder on the first few pages. Although even I have to admit that the Wallander series stands out.

Side note: I was once able to pass a geography question in high school about Chinese investments into Africa because I'd read this book. ;) ( )

Very, very creepy. If you get queasy at descriptions of bloody murder scenes, don't read this book. Otherwise, it's a good read. ( )

Henning Mankell is a prolific Nordic author whose novels I have only recently begun reading. It is not yet, nor may it ever be, an altogether comfortable and pleasurable fit for me. Before embarking, I read that the Nordic style of writing is often unemotional, or emotionally awkward, for American readers. I agree.

That being said, I am impressed with the depth of Mankell's writing. The amount of obvious research and factual integrity in his novels is commendable and I greatly enjoy his deftness at weaving historical facts into a work of fiction.

Mankell is an excellent storyteller, leaving a reader with no blank spaces or question(s) unanswered. At times, I want the level of unnecessary detail to lessen and the story to more quickly move forward.

The Man from Beijing is the second novel of Mankell's that I have read. It is a stand-alone book, while the first Mankell book I read was one of many books in of one of his series. I plan on returning to that series to read another of its books. ( )

Inquietudini dal "Paese di mezzo"

Nel romanzo di Mankell viene messo in scena il lungo cammino del disprezzo degli occidentali verso il popolo cinese, il medesimo che quotidianamente sento nei discorsi della gente. Considerati generalmente "infidi" ed "inferiori", ma tollerati perchè tuttosommato "bestie da lavoro", questa civiltà ha pagato e paga tuttora secoli di schiavitù e miseria: prima nel loro stesso paese e poi al servizio di nascenti economie capitalistiche occidentali. Considerati al di sotto degli irlandesi, dei tedeschi e degli italiani (ma solo perchè non di razza "bianca") e solo un gradino più su degli africani, gli "schiavi per eccellenza", come tutti gli schiavi sono stati deportati e adoperati come "carne da macello" nei cantieri della nascente ferrovia americana, spina dorsale delle vie di comunicazione che guideranno l'espansione industriale ed il commercio. E allora che legame c'è fra la fuga dalla miseria di un popolo e un brutale omicidio di massa in un villaggio svedese? Sembrano mondi agli antipodi, ma gli estremi spesso si toccano a chiudere un cerchio di corsi e ricorsi della storia. La Cina sta comprando anche l'Africa per espandere il mercato dei suoi prodotti e per il reperimento delle materie prime, ma l'ipotesi raccontata da Mankell parte da notizie reali per affondare in trascorsi politici Maoisti e in errori da non ripetere. Perchè non accettare quest'altro punto di vista? In fondo, come fa dire a un cinese nel libro, gli occidentali non hanno mai capito niente della loro cultura. Conquiste come la carta, la stampa, la bussola sono difficili da digerire per l'egocentrica razza bianca. Ma chissà che non sia proprio la Cina, attraverso la sua millenaria cultura e la forza dei suoi numeri, a ricordare ancora una volta agli occidentali che l'uomo bianco è un dettaglio di tutto il panorama.

I love Mankell's Inspector Wallander series. I picked up this book in an airport on a whim after facing a probable delay due to weather.

What makes me enthusiastic about this book:
1. Women are the central characters.
2. All the women are at least middle-aged or older.
3. The main protagonist is a successful judge having a mid-life crises that doesn't mimic that of a man's (it is a soulful and thoughtful portrait of an older woman neither acting like, nor desiring to be, 18 again).
4. It takes place in Sweden, Nevada (!!), southern Africa, and Beijing. I raised my daughter in the northern Nevada desert (below freezing in winter, scorching hot in summer). I never thought I would enjoy reading northern Nevada history, fictionalized though it may be, in an international mystery novel.

Unfortunately, the plot really slows towards the end. I kept thinking that Mankell should have written more but felt pressure to wrap things up...or, maybe it was that the characters were fighting to put an end to things so they could carry on with their lives. I feel he should have let things linger for a couple of more chapters. Of course, I spent a very rainy day in southern California devouring the pages of this book. I was cuddled on the couch with homemade soup cooking in the crockpot. Perhaps it was me. Perhaps I just did not want the mystery to end because it took me to such lovely places. ( )

Not a Wallander book, and not up to the level as those I've read from that series. The start is excellent, but it doesn't carry through very well at all. ( )

This book started off really well but seemed to lose its way. The first part of the book that deals with the mass murder is fine but when the story moves to the nineteenth century and then back to the modern day taking in china and zimbabwe it falls apart.

The female detective investigating the murders could have been much better developed and it feels as though she is there just to be a point of contact for the judge, also some of the things the judge does just strike me as being unbelieveable. Would a judge really enter a crime scene and remove documents from it?

( )

Surely entertaining in that good on the edge way. From Sweden to China to Nevada to China to Mozambique. I liked this book. ( )

a suspenseful easy read that moves briskly. ( )

I have read many of the inspector Wallander books, and like their mixture of crime, (usually international) politics, agonising over immigrants in Sweden plus extracts from the personal life of the hero.

Without Wallander this mixture did not work so well. The geopolitics became overbearing and far fetched. Who could really believe that the Chinese could have a plan to export their peasants to Africa to exploit the agricultural potential? Or that Africans are not restive enough about the Chinese presence to accept it?

The crime got lost.
( )

Disappointing: a) desperately needs editing; b) wildly implausible crime scene and investigation; c) clumsy plotting; d) highly unlikely unravelling. ( )

I love Mankell's Kurt Wallander series, so I thought I'd give one of his stand alone novels a try. I loved parts of this one, and found myself wanting other parts to move along a little more quickly. It starts with a mass murder in a small village, Hesjövallen, in Sweden. All of the victims are related in some way. A judge, Birgitta Roslin, from Helsingborg, becomes involved after she realizes that two of the victims had been her mother's foster parents. The police from the smaller village believe they have the case solved, but Birgitta doesn't believe it. From there the story goes back in time to the building of the transcontinental railroad, and the brutal treatment of the Chinese who had been kidnapped and brought to America to do the work. Birgitta winds up in China, and finds herself fearfully looking over her shoulder. Mankell takes the story from China to Africa and then back to Sweden.

Despite some flaws, I enjoyed the book.

Read July 2014 ( )

Begins as a conventional Swedish murder mystery in which virtually all the inhabitants of a remote village are slaughtered. Te reader is then transported to China and then America during the 1800's to follow the fortunes,or should I say misfortunes of three young Chinese brothers.Modern-day China comes next and finally to London's China-town.
The main character is a Swedish judge who attempts to solve the original murders. She is no Wallender and thats a fact.She just gets herself deeper and deeper in trouble.
Is it a good read or is it not ? On the whole it holds the attention,although it could have done with a little editing i think. ( )

Henning Mankell has written some terrific books, but his isn't one of them. The book contained a lot of superlative dross that added nothing to the story, rather left me as the reader bored and waiting for the story to get back on line. There are some 35-40 characters in this novel -- some of them to such a minor degree one wonders why they are even brought in. Disappointed in the effort. ( )

This story ends well, and has a wonderful main character. Brigitta Roslin is a middle-aged judge in Sweden with a marriage that has stopped being a source of nourishment. A series of odd murders in northern Sweden captures Judge Roslin's attention and this ultimately leads her to China, London, and other locals. The author, Henning Mankell, taking along detour through China in the mid-nineteenth century and tries to connect it up to the murders in northern Sweden that pull Judge Roslin in, and almost get her killed. It was a long detour and I am not sure it was worth the trip. The last 100 pages are quite suspenseful. The story is well crafted and I love that the main character is a judge in her fifties... ( )

Although Birgitta Roslin is not anywhere near as interesting a character as Kurt Wallander, the story is still fascinating. It took some time to get going but once it did, it was hard to put down. Still, I want to read the final Wallander book.

The man from Beijing wanted revenge on behalf of his ancestors. A relative of the victims gradually puts the pieces together. Having read Mr. Mankell’s “Kurt Wallander” series, where his detectives systematically get the bad guys, I found these policemen to be written quite differently. (hmm...)

The action goes from the harsh winter scene in the small Swedish hamlet where the mystery starts, to the streets of Beijing and a glimpse into a vengeful mind. Along the way, is a back story of China in the 1890s, with starving Chinese, peasants Shanghaied and sold to work building the railroad on the American continent. Chinese politics and problems facing the country are also touched upon.

I’m already a Henning Mankell fan, and this was another good story. ( )