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Loading... Daniel: A Novel (original 2000; edition 2010)by Henning Mankell, Steven T. Murray (Translator)
Work InformationDaniel by Henning Mankell (2000)
   No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) Soulmuser | May 30, 2017 |  This book is only a bit about Africa, but all the more about human beings. How they act, react, that they really are the same deep down, no matter where they were born or what the color of their skin is. Now I think I'll give Tea-Bag a try as well! (  ) BoekenTrol71 | Nov 19, 2014 |  ) sianpr | Sep 20, 2014 | In the 1870s, Hans Bengler leaves the dark and frigid land of his birth and sails from Sweden to South Africa. A man of meager abilities, he’s determined to make his mark on the world by discovering a new insect that he intends to name after himself. But he encounters a native child, the boy he adopts and names Daniel, and along with him, a lucky find with 6 legs. Bengler takes them back to Sweden where he will display them both and earn fortune and fame. Bewildered, disoriented, and beyond his element, Daniel struggles to cope with his new environment, learns Swedish ("My name is Daniel. I believe in God."), and dreams of reaching the sea so he can walk across the water to the Kalahari desert, all the while entertaining visions of his murdered parents who beckon him home. But Bengler can not support himself, much less a son, and he abandons Daniel to Alma and Edvin’s farm where Daniel meets the crazy girl, Sanna. From some students who come to examine him like he was a specimen, Daniel learns what direction not to go to find the sea and sets out. However, escape and return to the Kalahari are not so simple and the Fates will not allow any outcome other than a tragic one. Disturbing and unforgettable. Mankell writes the Kurt Wallender mysteries. ( ) Limelite | Feb 6, 2013 | This book however is about something completely different. I read it during my trip to Ecuador, and it takes place across the world in southern Africa and in Sweden, in the late 1800s. A failed young Swedish scientist travels to Namibia to collect insects, especially new species, to finally become famous and be someone at home. While in Africa he adopts a young African boy from the Kalahari desert, who he brings home to Sweden and teaches Swedish. There is a string of sadness through the whole book - of course the boy is miserable, and Sweden is full of racism and discrimination. The scientist is also unbalanced and the book does not have a happy ending. But it is a good book. The book is being translated into English, will be titled The Son of the Wind, and will be released in 2012 (why does it take 5 years to translate it?). My only main problem with the story is that Mankell could have done a little more research into how taxonomy and systematics is done. First of all, people that work with insects are entomologists, and do not get degrees in botany. Second, it has been considered bad practice to name a species after yourself for hundreds of years, and this simply isn't done, but this is one of the premises for the book. Finally, finding new species, especially in the late 1800s, was easy. You don't have to travel to Africa to do it, and probably the worst place to find one would be in the Kalahari desert. Go to any rain forest and you find dozens of new species, especially insects. In the 1800s new species were reported by the thousands every year, and still is. A new species isn't really a big deal (says someone that has described a few). Mankell should have done a little more research and talked to some taxonomists. But the book is a good read and he describes the poverty and misery of the lower class in Sweden very well. Read more: http://pondpond.blogspot.com/search/label/book%20review#ixzz0iaS64ERE Under Creative Commons License: Attribution (  ) klockrike | Jul 23, 2012 | no reviews | add a review
Fantasy.
Fiction.
Literature.
Historical Fiction.
HTML: From the bestselling author of the Kurt Wallander novels: The "haunting and fascinating" tale of a young boy's harrowing odyssey from Africa to Sweden (Booklist). No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)839.73Literature German literature and literatures of related languages Other Germanic literatures Swedish literature Swedish fictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.61)
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