The Pyramid: The Kurt Wallander Stories
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Pyramid (Kurt Wallander) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
When you spend a lot of time enthusiastically recommending a favourite writer to people unfamiliar with him, it's easy to acquire that cosy feeling that you're one of the initiated, spreading the word to those who aren't. For many, that used to be the case with Henning Mankell; crime aficionados who had discovered the Swedish master could hardly wait to extol the virtues of his wonderfully written novels -- and Mankell’s taciturn copper, Kurt Wallander. But the days when Mankell and his creation were known to just a privileged few are long over. There has already been an acclaimed television series made for the Scandinavian territories, and a major new English-speaking series beckons (starring Kenneth Branagh); even more fame is guaranteed for the writer and his detective.
So the time is probably right for The Pyramid, even though those of us who enjoyed putting out the word about Mankell will have to relinquish their proselytising role. Wallander first appeared in Faceless in 1991, when he was a senior police officer just out of his 30s and with his private life in chaos. The stories here describe his early years: the events, the people and the crimes that forged the man we first met in Faceless. We encounter Wallander as a beat cop attempting to crack a murder in his spare time; we follow him in his tentative first steps with Mona, the woman he has decided to marry (his wife, of course, had left him by the time of the events in that first book), and we are shown why his relationship with his father is quite so fractious. The elements that make the full length Wallander novels so successful are all here in microcosm: a cool, dispassionate treatment of crime, the understated evocation of the Scandinavian locales; and (best of all) the puzzling, fascinating character of the tenacious cop at the centre of the narrative.
Mankell fans may prefer the full-length novels (and not every piece here is vintage Mankell), but they will feel the need to catch up with the insights provided by these striking stories. --Barry Forshaw
Review
`A triumph...Mankell's quiet specificity is mesmerising...They are surprising small masterpieces' --TLS
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
77 of 77 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It's not the bright sunny, northern summer days, it's the long, dark, dank, cold, sleepless, foggy nights, when Wallander is alone with his fears or in solitary pursuit of a psychotic killer, that creep off the page and take hold of you. At times, Mankell simply wraps us in evil atmosphere.
How did Kurt Wallander become the angry, insecure, single-minded investigator we first encountered in Faceless Killers?
Well, The Pyramid and its accompanying short stories finally give us some of that fascinating background. From Wallander's First Case, which shows him as a young beat copper trying to solve a murder in his off-duty hours, these stories track his early career in the latter part of the twentieth century. It must be difficult to backtrack with such an established character, but Mankell has done a good job of unravelling some of Wallander's ingrained traits and taking them back to their origins. We are treated to his early insecurity and confusion in his knife-edge relationships with Mona and his father. Meanwhile we see the development of his rigour and dogged determination to get to the root cause. If you listened to Wallander himself, you would believe he was the slowest, dumbest cop in the force but, of course, he is rising like cream to the top, although he may be closer to the truth when it comes to his personal relationships. These are thrilling stories.
How did Kurt Wallander become the angry, insecure, single-minded investigator we first encountered in Faceless Killers?
Well, The Pyramid and its accompanying short stories finally give us some of that fascinating background. From Wallander's First Case, which shows him as a young beat copper trying to solve a murder in his off-duty hours, these stories track his early career in the latter part of the twentieth century. It must be difficult to backtrack with such an established character, but Mankell has done a good job of unravelling some of Wallander's ingrained traits and taking them back to their origins. We are treated to his early insecurity and confusion in his knife-edge relationships with Mona and his father. Meanwhile we see the development of his rigour and dogged determination to get to the root cause. If you listened to Wallander himself, you would believe he was the slowest, dumbest cop in the force but, of course, he is rising like cream to the top, although he may be closer to the truth when it comes to his personal relationships. These are thrilling stories.
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book contains 5 short stories involving the Swedish detective who was recently bought to our screens by the BBC with Kenneth Branagh in the lead role. in 'Wallander's First Case' the young policeman investigates the sudden death of a neighbour. 'The Man with the Mask' is a brilliant example of how a routine call can threaten to turn into a tragedy for a policeman as the now married Wallander walks into a seige situation. 'The Man on the Beach' finds the body of a tourist in the back of a taxi cab and Kurt and his team have to try to recreate the last known movements of the victim. 'The Death of the Photographer' has a seemingly unassuming local business man beaten to death in his studio with no clear motive available. Lastly, 'The Pyramid' sees a light aircraft crash and raises the suspicion of a drug run, whilst Wallander and his colleagues are shocked at the brutul death of two elderly sisters who ran a sewing shop.
Each story details the ordinary work the police do, running down evidence, interviewing friends and neighbours and painstakingly piecing together the reasons behind a crime. The stories are an excellent introduction to the full length novels by Henning Mankell and we get some background on Kurt, his wife (and eventually ex-wife Mona) and daughter Linda - as well as his difficult and demanding artist father whose grip on reality appears to be failing.
Hunt down a copy of this book - it will lead you straight on to the others in the series.
Each story details the ordinary work the police do, running down evidence, interviewing friends and neighbours and painstakingly piecing together the reasons behind a crime. The stories are an excellent introduction to the full length novels by Henning Mankell and we get some background on Kurt, his wife (and eventually ex-wife Mona) and daughter Linda - as well as his difficult and demanding artist father whose grip on reality appears to be failing.
Hunt down a copy of this book - it will lead you straight on to the others in the series.
56 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
These fascinating five stories portray stages in
Wallander's career and life prior to his appearance
in 'Faceless Killers'.We see him in Malmo as a keen raw
21 year old policeman in his first case with the
criminal investigation unit,and then in another case
after he has been made a detective.The last three stories
show Wallander after he has moved to Ystad and are Mankell
at his best.We learn about his colleagues who feature in the
subsequent novels ,and of Wallander's relationship with
his wife Mona,his father and his daughter Linda,and discover
the roots of his loneliness.
For Wallander fans these stories are a must read,but each
story stands on its own as a cracking good read.If this is the last we read of Wallander -we are left with a book to savour.
Wallander's career and life prior to his appearance
in 'Faceless Killers'.We see him in Malmo as a keen raw
21 year old policeman in his first case with the
criminal investigation unit,and then in another case
after he has been made a detective.The last three stories
show Wallander after he has moved to Ystad and are Mankell
at his best.We learn about his colleagues who feature in the
subsequent novels ,and of Wallander's relationship with
his wife Mona,his father and his daughter Linda,and discover
the roots of his loneliness.
For Wallander fans these stories are a must read,but each
story stands on its own as a cracking good read.If this is the last we read of Wallander -we are left with a book to savour.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Pyramid.
The Pyramid tells of the early years of Kurt Wallander's life in the police force, including before he became a detective. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. H. F. Courage
A Good Read
A brilliant book but difficult to obtain through ordinary outlets at a reasonable price. Service from this retailer was excellent and I would not hesitate to use the site again.
Published 1 month ago by Lionel H. Munn
Good detective story
I am a Wallander fan and have most of his books. This one is nicely plotted and well written, like most of them are.
Published 1 month ago by Johanna
KURT WALLANDER
Prompt delivery. Bit disappointed with this book. The stories are very short and lightweight for Mankel,l but It does give you a taster for a full Mankell novel.
Published 2 months ago by abbie
Disagree - Start here, before entering the novels...
A relatively different (for me) diversion from my current obsession with Skandi-crime/fiction. In so much as this is 5 short stories - of varying lengths, complexity and... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ginola14
Great Writer
Henning Mankell shows what is lacking in British thrillers although his stories are somehow a little more than just thrillers. Read more
Published 13 months ago by G. Hagon
Good beginning to the series
Good book to start with before reading the rest of the series of books as gives an insight into Wallanders early life. Read more
Published 14 months ago by YODA
The Pyramid: the Kurt Wallander Stories - Vintage
The stories in this book, Vintage edition, are good, especially if you are familiar with the Wallander TV series (all 3!) and interested in Wallander's 'back story'. Read more
Published 16 months ago by GolfinaLondon
First Wallander novel read
My first Wallander read, after watching all the TV series (1 and 2). Found the book odd, as I was so used to the Wallander on the TV - but still, the story and the character grew... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. A. Buckle
More misery from that seedy Swedish bloke
Does the sun ever shine in Skane? Will our hero ever get a grip on his life and start looking after himself? Read more
Published 17 months ago by John Williams
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
