|
Loading... Italian Shoes (original 2006; edition 2010)1,433 | 71 | 12,959 |
(3.76) | 33 | Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly twelve years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past is about to catch up with him. The figure approaching in the freezing cold is Harriet, the only woman he has ever loved, the woman he abandoned in order to go and study in America forty years earlier. She has sought him out in the hope that he will honour a promise made many years ago. Now in the late stages of a terminal illness, she wants to visit a small lake in northern Sweden, a place Welin's father took him once as a boy. He upholds his pledge and drives her to this beautiful pool hidden deep in the forest. On the journey through the desolate snow-covered landscape, Welin reflects on his impoverished childhood and the woman he later left behind. However, once there Welin discovers that Harriet has left the biggest surprise until last. "Italian Shoes" is as compelling as it is disturbing. Through his anti-hero Welin, Mankell tackles ageing and death with sensitivity and acuity, and as with the critically acclaimed Depths, delivers a moving tour-de-force on the frailty of mankind.… (more) |
▾Book information ▾LibraryThing Recommendations ▾Will you like it?
Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. ▾Conversations (About links) No current Talk conversations about this book. » See also 33 mentions ▾Series and work relationships Belongs to SeriesBelongs to Publisher SeriesHas the (non-series) sequel
|
Canonical title |
|
Original title |
|
Alternative titles |
|
Original publication date |
|
People/Characters |
|
Important places |
|
Important events |
|
Related movies |
|
Epigraph |
När skon passar tänker man inte på foten. - Zhuang Zhou When the shoe fits, you don't think about the foot. -- Chuang Chou There are two sorts of truths trivialities, where the opposite is obviously impossible, and deep truths, which are characterised in their opposite also being a deep truth. --Niels Bohr Love is a gentle hand which slowly pushes fate to one side. -- Sigfrid Siwertz | |
|
Dedication |
|
First words |
Jag känner mig alltid ensammare när det är kallt. I always feel more lonely when it's cold. | |
|
Quotations |
When the shoe fits, you don't think about the foot. Chuang Chou There are two sorts of truth: trivialities, where the opposite is obviously impossible, and deep truths, which are characterised by their opposite also being a deep truth, Niels Bohr Love is a gentle hand which slowly pushes fate to one side. Sigrid Siwertz Life is quite simply a matter of cruising along in your own little boat through a constantly changing but never-ending stream of promises. Broken promises are like shadow dancing around in the twilight. The older I become, the more clearly I see them. It was not so long ago since I was in the first act. Now the epilogue has already started. I was afraid that all the clothes he was wearing might make him fall over, like a defeated knight wearing armour that was far to heavy for him. Once upon a time, ages ago, I had imagined that when I grew old, I would have children to lighten the darkness of my old age. It was too late now - I’m a bit like my boat, out of the water and covered by a tarpaulin. ...a heart attack can strike for no obvious reason. It can swoop down on you from out of the blue, as if an unknown suicide bomber had burst into one of your cardiac chambers. One evening the telephone rang. A rare thing. More often than not it would be some telephone company or other urging me to change my supplier, or to install broadband. When they discovered where I lived and that I was an old-age pensioner, they usually lost interest. Besides, I haven’t the slightest idea what broadband is. | |
|
Last words |
|
Disambiguation notice |
English translation = Italian Shoes | |
|
Publisher's editors |
Information from the Catalan Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. | |
|
Blurbers |
|
Original language |
|
Canonical DDC/MDS |
|
Canonical LCC |
|
▾References References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English (1)▾Book descriptions Once a successful surgeon, Frederick Welin now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago. Nearly twelve years have passed since he was disgraced for attempting to cover up a tragic mishap on the operating table. One morning in the depths of winter, he sees a hunched figure struggling towards him across the ice. His past is about to catch up with him. The figure approaching in the freezing cold is Harriet, the only woman he has ever loved, the woman he abandoned in order to go and study in America forty years earlier. She has sought him out in the hope that he will honour a promise made many years ago. Now in the late stages of a terminal illness, she wants to visit a small lake in northern Sweden, a place Welin's father took him once as a boy. He upholds his pledge and drives her to this beautiful pool hidden deep in the forest. On the journey through the desolate snow-covered landscape, Welin reflects on his impoverished childhood and the woman he later left behind. However, once there Welin discovers that Harriet has left the biggest surprise until last. "Italian Shoes" is as compelling as it is disturbing. Through his anti-hero Welin, Mankell tackles ageing and death with sensitivity and acuity, and as with the critically acclaimed Depths, delivers a moving tour-de-force on the frailty of mankind. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
|
Current DiscussionsNoneGoogle Books — Loading...
|