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The Generals
Er hatte gedacht, am Bau eines Paradieses auf Erden mitgewirkt zu haben – und jetzt steht er deshalb vor dem » Sonder-Kriegsgericht« der Putschisten, die das Paradies alles andere als paradiesisch gefunden haben.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
2 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Per Wahlöö
90 books149 followersPer Fredrik Wahlöö (5 August 1926 - 22 June 1975) was a Swedish author. He is perhaps best known for the collaborative work with his partner Maj Sjöwall on a series of ten novels about the exploits of Martin Beck, a police detective in Stockholm, published between 1965 and 1975. In 1971, The Laughing Policeman (a translation of Den skrattande polisen, originally published in 1968) won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel. Wahlöö and Sjöwall also wrote novels separately.
Wahlöö was born in Tölö parish, Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland. After his studies, from 1946 onwards he worked as a crime reporter. After long trips around the world he returned to Sweden and started working as a journalist again.
He had a 13 year relationship with his colleague Maj Sjöwall but never married [1] Both were Marxists.
He has been married to Inger Wahlöö, née Andersson. He was brother to Claes Wahlöö.
He died of cancer at Malmö in 1975, aged 48.
Series written with Maj Sjöwall:
* Martin Beck
Wahlöö was born in Tölö parish, Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland. After his studies, from 1946 onwards he worked as a crime reporter. After long trips around the world he returned to Sweden and started working as a journalist again.
He had a 13 year relationship with his colleague Maj Sjöwall but never married [1] Both were Marxists.
He has been married to Inger Wahlöö, née Andersson. He was brother to Claes Wahlöö.
He died of cancer at Malmö in 1975, aged 48.
Series written with Maj Sjöwall:
* Martin Beck
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 15, 2022
Brilliantly executed novel. Not a mystery, by the way. This is the fourth novel I've read by Wahlöö (writing solo) and I've noticed that there are never any likeable characters in his stories, not even those who could be considered protagonists -- and those protagonists almost always lack personalities.
November 21, 2013
"It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves." Franz Kafka, The Trial
The generals and admirals conducting the courts-martial of one Corporal Edwin Velder in Per Wahloo' s The Generals were nothing if not sure of themselves.
By way of background, Per Wahloo and his literary (and domestic) partner Maj Sjowall teamed up in the 19960s to write the Inspector Martin Beck series of books, starting with The Laughing Policeman (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard). Writers such as Jo Nesbo have referred to them, as Nesbo does on this book's cover, as the godparents of Scandinavian crime fiction. The series ended with Wahloo's death in 1975. I did not know, until Vintage Crime/Black Lizard decided to republish them this past year, that Wahloo had written four dark, nourish books on his own. The Generals is one of them and it is well worth-reading.
The story is an interesting concoction: it one part reminiscent of Koestler's Darkness at Noon as we see laid before us the story of one man's role in war and revolution; and one part Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory as we look at and mock the preening arrogance and gross incompetence of those sometimes chosen to lead. The story is set on an unnamed island nation that had recently overthrown its colonial European rulers in a bloodless coup. Set up as some sort of Randian/libertarian paradise, the free market and the absence of any laws or rules governing social conduct quickly turns the island into something of a vacation Garden of Eden (Garden of Hedon might be more apt) and the island prospers. However, as one might expect certain forces conspires to put an end to this tyranny, battle lines are drawn between the old guard power base (now reconstituted as some sort of Marxist ruling class) and a new ruling elite with a focus on a return to traditional values. The latter takes power after a bloody civil war. The story is told in the form of the transcript of the trial of one seemingly, seemingly, little player in the civil war, a militiaman Edwin Velder. Set in the context of the courts-martial the story is revealed slowly in the form of Velder's testimony and by way of the prosecution's case and the comments of the military high command sitting in judgment.
The Generals works as a story on a number of different levels. First, Wahloo's use of the transcript is very-well done. The storyline is revealed slowly and cleverly. Velder's physical condition and the personality of the Generals is not revealed directly but obliquely and casually, and I found myself reading between the lines as much as the lines themselves. There is a great deal of dark humor in the story even as one winces at the preening arrogance and incompetence of the powers that be.
This is not what I would call an openly political polemic. As more is revealed of Velder and his allies in the civil war the less likely it is that anyone will find anyone with clean hands. So while there may not be any blatant `lessons' to be learned here there is a good story, one that kept me engaged from the start to the somewhat surprising finish. It was good enough that I am now making my way through the remainder of Wahloo's stand-alone work.
All-in-all I would not hesitate to recommend this, particularly to any reader familiar with the Inspector Beck series.
The generals and admirals conducting the courts-martial of one Corporal Edwin Velder in Per Wahloo' s The Generals were nothing if not sure of themselves.
By way of background, Per Wahloo and his literary (and domestic) partner Maj Sjowall teamed up in the 19960s to write the Inspector Martin Beck series of books, starting with The Laughing Policeman (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard). Writers such as Jo Nesbo have referred to them, as Nesbo does on this book's cover, as the godparents of Scandinavian crime fiction. The series ended with Wahloo's death in 1975. I did not know, until Vintage Crime/Black Lizard decided to republish them this past year, that Wahloo had written four dark, nourish books on his own. The Generals is one of them and it is well worth-reading.
The story is an interesting concoction: it one part reminiscent of Koestler's Darkness at Noon as we see laid before us the story of one man's role in war and revolution; and one part Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory as we look at and mock the preening arrogance and gross incompetence of those sometimes chosen to lead. The story is set on an unnamed island nation that had recently overthrown its colonial European rulers in a bloodless coup. Set up as some sort of Randian/libertarian paradise, the free market and the absence of any laws or rules governing social conduct quickly turns the island into something of a vacation Garden of Eden (Garden of Hedon might be more apt) and the island prospers. However, as one might expect certain forces conspires to put an end to this tyranny, battle lines are drawn between the old guard power base (now reconstituted as some sort of Marxist ruling class) and a new ruling elite with a focus on a return to traditional values. The latter takes power after a bloody civil war. The story is told in the form of the transcript of the trial of one seemingly, seemingly, little player in the civil war, a militiaman Edwin Velder. Set in the context of the courts-martial the story is revealed slowly in the form of Velder's testimony and by way of the prosecution's case and the comments of the military high command sitting in judgment.
The Generals works as a story on a number of different levels. First, Wahloo's use of the transcript is very-well done. The storyline is revealed slowly and cleverly. Velder's physical condition and the personality of the Generals is not revealed directly but obliquely and casually, and I found myself reading between the lines as much as the lines themselves. There is a great deal of dark humor in the story even as one winces at the preening arrogance and incompetence of the powers that be.
This is not what I would call an openly political polemic. As more is revealed of Velder and his allies in the civil war the less likely it is that anyone will find anyone with clean hands. So while there may not be any blatant `lessons' to be learned here there is a good story, one that kept me engaged from the start to the somewhat surprising finish. It was good enough that I am now making my way through the remainder of Wahloo's stand-alone work.
All-in-all I would not hesitate to recommend this, particularly to any reader familiar with the Inspector Beck series.
March 4, 2011
This is black comedy about the trial of poor Erwin Velder, accused of treason, blasphemy, rape, and many other crimes by the fascists who took over his wonderful little utopian country, which he had served as a casual militiaman. Velder has been tortured in long preparation for trial and seems only about half-human except for the chipper delivery of his self-damning testimony. It becomes pretty farcical, especially when his judges turn out to be so morally corrupt. I got a few chuckles from reading it. I wouldn't say it has provoked deep thought, except the reflection that oftentimes it's 50 years or more before ideas--whether they're political or technological--are accepted by society. Wahloo had some pretty extreme notions. I've read several of the Martin Beck mysteries he co-authored with his wife Maj Sjowall. And I've read "A Necessary Action," his other solo political novel, that one set during (I think) the Spanish Civil War. Everything from his pen is of high quality.
June 29, 2025
Satire of fascism in the form of court-martial transcripts of a renegade militiaman on a fictional island nation whose initial liberation by vaguely anarchist idealists and subsequent takeover by psychotic fascists (unsuccessfully resisted by communists) is outlined as background information by prosecuting officers. Elements of the Cuban, Russian, and other revolutions are stirred into the pastiche, although the island is never given any specificity.
Written by one of the authors of the Martin Beck series, you can see many of his tell-tale obsessions (including pubic hair). Not beautifully written; Maj Sjöwall must have been the one to contribute style to their Martin Beck. Still, very enjoyable and funny. The swinish fascist officers are the main source of comic relief ("what page was that [lurid depiction of anarchist poly arrangement] on?"); the most bonechilling character is a modern and seemingly humanistic anti-torture torturer.
Toward the end becomes a rather dry recitation of fictional military history. Struggles to maintain its own format, viz. a conversation with no description. You can't have 270 pp of straight transcript and thankfully our militiaman is given "treatments" that enable him to faultlessly recall events of the past in the form of traditional prose narrative. Well, whatever works. Reminiscent of A Tomb for Boris Davidovich; political views similarly all over the place. Kind of a left-pessimist Dr. Strangelove.
TW: there is a very weird 70s depiction of a rape.
Written by one of the authors of the Martin Beck series, you can see many of his tell-tale obsessions (including pubic hair). Not beautifully written; Maj Sjöwall must have been the one to contribute style to their Martin Beck. Still, very enjoyable and funny. The swinish fascist officers are the main source of comic relief ("what page was that [lurid depiction of anarchist poly arrangement] on?"); the most bonechilling character is a modern and seemingly humanistic anti-torture torturer.
Toward the end becomes a rather dry recitation of fictional military history. Struggles to maintain its own format, viz. a conversation with no description. You can't have 270 pp of straight transcript and thankfully our militiaman is given "treatments" that enable him to faultlessly recall events of the past in the form of traditional prose narrative. Well, whatever works. Reminiscent of A Tomb for Boris Davidovich; political views similarly all over the place. Kind of a left-pessimist Dr. Strangelove.
TW: there is a very weird 70s depiction of a rape.
May 2, 2020
Närmast farsartat svart nidbild av en fiktiv domstolsförhandling i en tiktiv militärdomstol i en fiktig militärdiktatur. Väcker det äckel den vill väcka. Avslutar Wahlöös triologi på temat militärdiktaturer. Militärdiktaturer dominerade större delen av 1900-talet, och inte minst nyhetsreporteringen på 1960-70-talen.
November 11, 2017
Van de eerste keer dat ik het las herinner ik me een zwaar en indrukwekkend verhaal; een fascistoïde dystopie die doet denken aan de dictaturen van Spanje en de regimes in Midden- en Zuid-Amerika. Maar ik kon er bij herlezing gewoon niet meer doorheen komen.
November 14, 2025
Would work better as a play or a short story. The points being made are evident early on, and each further day of the trial feels repetitious. There is a lot of dark humour and I could see it working well as a play.
April 2, 2019
hated it - first book in years I've just given up on
April 1, 2021
Would have been much better if the ending had come together.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews