BrainFreeze Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Has any ever read any of these or know anything about them? Would you recommend them? How would you describe them? Who, if anyone, would you say they're like? I've just heard about them and the only description I've got is 'Widely recognised as the greatest masterpieces of crime fiction ever written, these are the original detective stories that pioneered the detective genre.' which sounds great, but doesn't give me much insight. Quote
Charm Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Sorry, never heard of him I'm also interested to hear if anyone has though. Quote
Colin Jacobs Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Oh, he's that Swedish Chief inspector, the books are set in the 60's and 70's I have never read any of the books but I have heard of the character. Hmm! might see if there are any at the library tommorow Quote
Ceinwenn Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Are they anything like the Wallander series? Quote
germinal Posted February 22, 2009 Posted February 22, 2009 The Martin Beck series is the forerunner of every other series involving morose, middle-aged detectives. It's a very realistic portrait of Sweden focussing on a team of gumshoes through ten years of experiences. Each novel builds on the previous one, so they should be read in order. Quote
pontalba Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 I've read two of them, The Laughing Policeman and Roseanna, I did enjoy them, but probably not as much as the Wallander series by Mankell. Beck is a little more low key, at least in those two. Quote
BrainFreeze Posted February 24, 2009 Author Posted February 24, 2009 Ooo thank you for that feedback - think I might give them a whirl actually! They don't sound too bad. Quote
emelee Posted July 27, 2010 Posted July 27, 2010 (edited) Martin Beck and his sidekick Gunvald Larsson are my favorites by Swedish crime writers. There are 10 books but many more films. Like Wallander. Martin Beck is cheif inspector and Gunvald Larsson his Troy/Jones (if you´ve ever seen Midsomer Murders....) However Gunvald is not like them at all. He is brutal and often uses threats and violence to get the answers he wants. But he´s a nice guy anyhow. They solve murders in Stockholm. Not just them of course, they are a group of people but Beck & Larsson are the main characters of the group. And of course their sometimes controverse ways (mostly caused by Larsson) are frowned upon by their boss. Most of the humor are the encounters Beck has with his neighbour who is a very entertaining character. There are some critique of the society in the stories and of course some stories are heavy but there´s also a bunch of warmth and humor in it all. "Beck" is a really famous and extremely loved series of films in Sweden. For the past 13 years, Beck and Larsson has been played by popular Swedish actors Peter Haber and Mikael Persbrandt. The latest film with them, film # 26, is said to be the last. Haber & Persbrandt as Beck & Larsson: Edited July 27, 2010 by emelee Quote
emelee Posted July 27, 2010 Posted July 27, 2010 Since it´s difficult to post clips from the books, here are clips - trailers - from the last two films; "I stormens öga" (In the eye of the storm) and "Levande begravd" (Buried alive)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4o-IuECCQ0 Quote
fayezie Posted October 31, 2010 Posted October 31, 2010 I finished the first book in this series last month. I quite enjoyed it, and will definitely be looking at getting the second one at some point. Quote
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