Being left-handed may be difficult - but does one have to die for it? In the village of Oosterby, teachers in the 1960s tortured left-handed people with the corrective glove. The stinking leather, lined with horsehair, stays on his left hand until evening, forcing her to write on the right. Five left-handers, school-less gifted and isolated from the others, are grouped together to form the "Association of Left-Handers" - that's the name of Håkan Nesser's new novel.
When the left-handers reunited in 1991 for the first time since school, four members of a boarding house died in a fire. The fifth is missing - investigator Van Veeteren explains him then the culprit. Case closed, it seems. But then in 2012 a corpse appears, the fifth member died then. Who was it then, and why is the body only appearing now?
Van Veeteren was planning his 75th birthday with his wife Ulrike when a colleague told him about the fifth light. Of course, he does not let himself sit on a failed case and grudgingly condescends to retire one last time.
In the "Association of left-handers" captures the slowly dissolving puzzle between the centuries more than the actual plot. This may occasionally confuse, but hardly a crime writer masters horizontal narrative such as the Swede Håkan Nesser. At the same time, Nesser outlines the dark school days of the left-handers - her club brings not only the first time or joints, but also mischief about their home village.
The left-handers are joined by two twin sisters, who are also involved in ominous events. Also because of this, the paths of the members separate after school, until they finally return in 1991 with discomfort. In the present, the police are on the trail of further complications around the club.
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DISPLAY
Håkan Nesser
The Association of Left-Handers: Roman - Commissioner Van Veeteren and Inspector Barbarotti on the trail of a murderer who fools everyone.
Publishing company:
btb publishing house
Pages:
608
Price:
EUR 24,00
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Not only does Nesser's book revolve around the secrets of the club, he also lets the popular commissioners Van Veeteren and Barbarotti meet. With the crime series around Van Veeteren Nesser got a good reputation especially in Germany, the "FAZ" aptly wrote: "That's how Albert Camus would write detective stories". Later came the turn with Gunnar Barbarotti. The younger commissioner sees the author as a "little brother", he once said, Van Veeteren rather put a father there for him. To a certain extent, "The Left-Hander Association" is changing towards the family reunion of veteran commissioners towards the end.
Because another body finding in Sweden also brings Barbarotti into play. Now it may be a nice fan service, as the two investigators and their partners near the end and try to solve the case. The plot would not have needed that, because almost everything that Barbarotti experiences, readers already know.
DPA
Author Håkan Nesser: Those who do not like digressions should not read his books
Nesser-typical is not a brutal murder and manslaughter, which serve other authors. Rather, Nesser scratched playfully on fundamental questions of life. The ironic conversations of the age-old Van Veeteren with his wife Ulrike revolve around the categorical imperative, the theodicy and sometimes provide curious comparisons. "If you look back on your work as a Criminal Investigator, then do you do it in the same way Churchill does when he looks back on the fight against National Socialism?" On a smaller scale, the investigator replies.
Ulrike mutates in the case also to the "interrogation psychologist" and drives her husband. For Van Veeteren, there is nothing left but to "sit here, complain and occasionally be astute". Van Veeteren accompanies an old man in his comforting evening, who, in order to escape congratulations and a celebration, tells everyone that he is traveling to New Zealand on the 75th.
Nesser remains faithful
Anyone who dislikes Nesser's digressions should not read his books. Also, the "The Left-Handers Association" is holding back with drama or Stephen King deposits. A Nesser is read because of the literary sophistication and multi-layered characterization. With these Nesser'schen virtues convinces "the association of the left-handers". People are always the sum of their experiences, Nesser understands to show in his figures.
Also, the investigators Barbarotti and Van Veeteren will be missing. If Nesser really lets her rest, as he said. But what does Nesser's work say: "truths change with time".
