- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Harvill Secker (3 April 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1843430495
- ISBN-13: 978-1843430490
- Product Dimensions: 14.5 x 3 x 22.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 740,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Eye Of The Leopard
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Product Description
Sunday Telegraph
`The Eye of the Leopard is a thriller of the mind: a chilling journey into the depths of fear, alienation and despair'
Guardian
'expose[s] the myth of Swedish neutrality with a savage portrait of its foreign aid system.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The novel juxtaposes the bereft childhood of Hans Olofson
in rural Sweden,abandoned by his mother and brought up by an
alcoholic father-with his subsequent life as a egg farmer in
Zambia.The picture of Africa described is sinister,corrupt,
violent,racist and superstitious as Hans endeavours to come
to terms with both the Africa he finds and himself.This is a
fine psychological thriller,that is far more than a white man
in Africa tale,as it journeys into the depths of Hans'mind
with considerable acuity.
in rural Sweden,abandoned by his mother and brought up by an
alcoholic father-with his subsequent life as a egg farmer in
Zambia.The picture of Africa described is sinister,corrupt,
violent,racist and superstitious as Hans endeavours to come
to terms with both the Africa he finds and himself.This is a
fine psychological thriller,that is far more than a white man
in Africa tale,as it journeys into the depths of Hans'mind
with considerable acuity.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Eye of the Leopard
Hans Olofson leaves his native Sweden to travel to Africa to fulfil the dream of another, Janine, `the noseless one'.
With each recurrent malarial bout, and the accompanying fevers and hallucinations, he takes us back to his life in Sweden, with a drunken father, a missing mother, his childhood friend, Sture, with whom he is fiercely competitive just once too often; and of course Janine, who is a source of fascination for both boys.
In Africa, a chance meeting with Ruth and Werner Masterton leads to him settling in Africa, initially as a temporary manager for Judith Fillington on her egg farm. When he takes over the farm he decides to lessen the huge divide between white and black, being more generous with pay and conditions for his workers. This does not have the results that he had hoped for.
Black violence escalates and you can feel his fear, which initially sounded like the neurosis of his malarial episodes, but later becomes fully justified.
Well written, you can really feel the deprivations, the misunderstandings, and the sheer terror.
Hans Olofson leaves his native Sweden to travel to Africa to fulfil the dream of another, Janine, `the noseless one'.
With each recurrent malarial bout, and the accompanying fevers and hallucinations, he takes us back to his life in Sweden, with a drunken father, a missing mother, his childhood friend, Sture, with whom he is fiercely competitive just once too often; and of course Janine, who is a source of fascination for both boys.
In Africa, a chance meeting with Ruth and Werner Masterton leads to him settling in Africa, initially as a temporary manager for Judith Fillington on her egg farm. When he takes over the farm he decides to lessen the huge divide between white and black, being more generous with pay and conditions for his workers. This does not have the results that he had hoped for.
Black violence escalates and you can feel his fear, which initially sounded like the neurosis of his malarial episodes, but later becomes fully justified.
Well written, you can really feel the deprivations, the misunderstandings, and the sheer terror.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I chose this book because I have read, and previously enjoyed, books by Henning Mankell - particularly the Wallander series. I knew that this was going to be a different experience but I trusted that Mankell would deliver a taut and sensitive piece of writing, which in my opinion he has done.
However, it doesn't seem right to say that I enjoyed this book because it is profoundly depressing. Our protagonist, Hans Olofson, has had a lonely and isolated childhood, abandoned by his mother and brought up by a father who is employed as a lumberjack but who would prefer to be at sea. The community in which they live is small, but Hans and his father exist on the edge and ultimately there is very little to hold him there. The trip to Africa is to fulfil the dream of a close friend of his adolescence (someone who also lives on the edge of the community). Arriving in Africa without any preconceptions and ideals, he serves as a blank canvas on which Mankell can portray the dark and ugly side of corruption in Africa and amongst the Swedish aid agencies.
I think that this would make an excellent book club read because there is so much within it that could be discussed - and perhaps much that ought to be discussed. If I was to recommend it to a friend, I would pick a friend who had a lively interest in the affairs of the world and who would appreciate a novelists attempt to portray ugly realities through the vehicle of a novel.
However, it doesn't seem right to say that I enjoyed this book because it is profoundly depressing. Our protagonist, Hans Olofson, has had a lonely and isolated childhood, abandoned by his mother and brought up by a father who is employed as a lumberjack but who would prefer to be at sea. The community in which they live is small, but Hans and his father exist on the edge and ultimately there is very little to hold him there. The trip to Africa is to fulfil the dream of a close friend of his adolescence (someone who also lives on the edge of the community). Arriving in Africa without any preconceptions and ideals, he serves as a blank canvas on which Mankell can portray the dark and ugly side of corruption in Africa and amongst the Swedish aid agencies.
I think that this would make an excellent book club read because there is so much within it that could be discussed - and perhaps much that ought to be discussed. If I was to recommend it to a friend, I would pick a friend who had a lively interest in the affairs of the world and who would appreciate a novelists attempt to portray ugly realities through the vehicle of a novel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
CLASSIC MANKELL PLUS
Mankell does it again. Clever plotting and several entirely plausible twists and turns made this a very good read indeed
Bryan Clark
Bryan Clark
Published 8 months ago by Bryan Clark
not Wallander, but an excellent book
Lets make it clear, if you are looking for a detective/Wallander story, then this book isnt for you. However it is an excellent read. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ken Grew
Very tense and gripping.....
In The Eye of the Leopard Henning Mankell offers the reader a great sense of place. The book switches from Sweden to Zambia and we get a great contrast between both... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Wynne Kelly
Changing his spots
This is the first book I have read by this author and I understand he is better known for his series of detective books (Inspector Wallender). Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2009 by Random Reader
henning Mankell but not typical
I did not enjoy this book, which is very unlike the Wallander series. I eventually gave up and never finished the book
Published on 9 Jun 2009 by John R. Sambrook
'Your dream might be my nightmare'
'He wakes in the African night, convinced that his body has split in two'.
Hans Olofson, lies wracked with malarial fever in the opening of this novel, terrified that... Read more
Hans Olofson, lies wracked with malarial fever in the opening of this novel, terrified that... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2009 by purpleheart
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