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A review by scottlukaswilliams
Fall of Man in Wilmslow by David Lagercrantz
3.0
The publishers sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the story of a young police detective, Leonard Corell... or is it the story of Alan Turing? In the end, it is neither and both. For me, the book would have been more enjoyable if it had remained focused on Corell's story. He is an interesting character and I enjoyed getting glimpses into his re-awakening mind as he investigated Turing's death.
To me, Corell seems lost. We meet him at a time in his life when he is struggling to come to terms with the path he has chosen (police work rather than academia). I can relate to this type of struggle. Corell is also coming to acceptance about the lives and deaths of his parents and waking up to a new world that is the 1950s. In this world, the discussion about homosexuality is starting to open up and it was interesting seeing Corell's internal struggle to discover what he really feels about homosexuality.
Alan Turing is a fascinating character and his story is a very important one but it has been told elsewhere more strongly. I think this book suffers from too much historical exposition about Turing. The story would have been better served if Lagercrantz had left his readers to do their own research about Turing if they so chose.
It's worth noting that I read the English translation of this book rather than the original Swedish. I can't know what might have been lost in translation.
Overall this was an enjoyable read but, for me, it could have been improved by staying with the Corell character. In fact, he is interesting enough that I would read more books about his life after this chapter.
This is the story of a young police detective, Leonard Corell... or is it the story of Alan Turing? In the end, it is neither and both. For me, the book would have been more enjoyable if it had remained focused on Corell's story. He is an interesting character and I enjoyed getting glimpses into his re-awakening mind as he investigated Turing's death.
To me, Corell seems lost. We meet him at a time in his life when he is struggling to come to terms with the path he has chosen (police work rather than academia). I can relate to this type of struggle. Corell is also coming to acceptance about the lives and deaths of his parents and waking up to a new world that is the 1950s. In this world, the discussion about homosexuality is starting to open up and it was interesting seeing Corell's internal struggle to discover what he really feels about homosexuality.
Alan Turing is a fascinating character and his story is a very important one but it has been told elsewhere more strongly. I think this book suffers from too much historical exposition about Turing. The story would have been better served if Lagercrantz had left his readers to do their own research about Turing if they so chose.
It's worth noting that I read the English translation of this book rather than the original Swedish. I can't know what might have been lost in translation.
Overall this was an enjoyable read but, for me, it could have been improved by staying with the Corell character. In fact, he is interesting enough that I would read more books about his life after this chapter.