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DEPTHS
by Henning Mankell
Harvill Secker, October 2006
416 pages
16.99 GBP
ISBN: 1843432633


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

If you, dear reader, are experiencing almost unalloyed pleasure in life and are feeling a twinge of guilt, then I could not recommend more highly than that you resort to reading this latest offering from Henning Mankelll. This little gem will almost certainly transport you from the heights to the DEPTHS.

The book begins, ominously enough, with the escape of a woman from a Swedish asylum in 1937. Prior to her being retrieved by her carers, she remembers her husband and the happenings at the beginning of World War One.

Her husband was Lars Tobiasson-Svartmann, a naval engineer on a top secret mission. Sweden is officially neutral in the conflict but the navy has commissioned Svartmann (the officials are seemingly unaware that the officer has added his mother's maiden name to his father's surname) to take depth soundings and draw up charts for the safe navigation of warships.

In the midst of his work, Lars becomes curious about a skerry, an isolated little isle. He rows ashore and, to his surprise, finds a woman, Sara Fredrika, who has been stranded there since the drowning death of her husband. Despite his perceived devotion to his wife, Kristina Tacker, Tobiasson-Svartmann becomes obsessed with Sara Fredrika to the extent that he travels to the skerry at every opportunity, even after his official duties are completed and he has returned to Stockholm.

The 403 pages are divided up into 206 annoyingly short chapters. Since Mankell's work usually comprises chapters of more extensive length, I assume the short fragments are meant to reflect the fragmentation of Tobiasson-Svartmann's personality. His devotion to his lead, the instrument with which he takes the depth soundings, is extreme, seemingly greater than that for his wife; in fact, he takes it to bed with him.

When I read THE RETURN OF THE DANCING MASTER, I was impressed by the translation, which seemed to flow effortlessly. Unfortunately, I was not similarly impressed with this translation, finding it almost clunky in places. Take, for example, this extract: "He parked the toothless man outside the building in Wallingatan and went to a modest licensed cafe in the next block."

What on earth could it mean? Is it, perhaps, an obscure Swedish figure of speech, one with which English speakers are thought to be familiar? There is no mention of Tobiasson-Svartmann speaking to anyone at this time nor even obtaining a vehicle. I confess myself to be thoroughly confused. While there are several hiccoughs throughout the text that seemed clumsy to me, this is the most egregious.

The entire text is redolent of the isolation of the sea and an unutterable pessimism as Tobiasson-Svartmann's life and personality degenerate. The author has invested a great deal in the character of the naval engineer and, as a study, it is impressive. Incident builds on incident as all serve to topple the engineer's ordered life. Of course, he also has to come to terms with three girls named Laura.

There is no doubt this is an impressive piece of writing. There is also no doubt that it is depressing as all get out.

Reviewed by Denise Pickles, October 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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