Quicksand - by Henning Mankell (Paperback)

About the Book

"Originally published in Sweden as Kvicksand by Leopard feorlag, Stockholm, in 2014"--Title page verso.

Book Synopsis

A stunning and poignant autobiographical look at the myriad experiences that shape a meaningful life, by the bestselling author of the Kurt Wallander mysteries.

"Surely one of the most moving and intriguing farewell notes ever written.... Intensely beautiful in its spirit." --Alexander McCall Smith, New Statesman

In January 2014, Henning Mankell received a diagnosis of lung cancer. Quicksand is a response to this shattering news--but it is not a memoir of destruction. Instead, it is a testament to a life fully lived, a tribute to the extraordinary but fleeting human journey that delivers both boundless opportunity and crucial responsibility. In a series of intimate vignettes, Mankell ranges over rich and varied reflections: of growing up in a small Swedish town, where he experiences a startling revelation on a winter morning as a young boy; of living hand-to-mouth during a summer in Paris as an ambitious young writer; of his work at a theater in Mozambique, where Lysistrata is staged in the midst of civil war; of chance encounters with men and women who changed his understanding of the world. Along the way, Mankell ponders the meaning of a good life, and the critically important ways we can shape the future of humanity if we are fortunate enough to have the choice. Vivid, clear-eyed, and breathtakingly beautiful, Quicksand is an invaluable parting gift from a great man.

Review Quotes

"Surely one of the most moving and intriguing farewell notes ever written.... Intensely beautiful in its spirit." --Alexander McCall Smith, New Statesman

"An extraordinary book.... Profoundly moving." --The Guardian

"Quicksand defines life not by its ending but by the creative and humanitarian content that filled--and fulfilled--Mankell's life.... The essays sharpen with resounding poignancy." --Financial Times

"An extremely moving swansong.... The reader realizes that Mankell has never really been driven by anger but by the tiny, fragile hope that his words and deeds will help in the fight for a fairer world." --The Independent (London)

"[An] absorbing addition to the work of Sweden's most internationally famous writer since August Strindberg.... Quicksand, a hybrid of essay and memoir, reflects knowledgeably on art, religion, childhood, and the 'final insensibility' that is our dying. Rarely has a writer contemplated the mystery of the end of life with such a wide-ranging curiosity." --London Evening Standard

"Uplifting and, as a memoir, as unusual a creation as [Mankell's] Nordic detective, Kurt Wallander." --GQ (London)

"Elegant, unflinching." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author

HENNING MANKELL's novels have been translated into forty-five languages and have sold more than forty million copies worldwide. He was the first winner of the Ripper Award and also received the Glass Key and the Crime Writers' Association Golden Dagger, among other awards. His Kurt Wallander mysteries have been adapted into a PBS television series starring Kenneth Branagh. During his life, Mankell divided his time between Sweden and Mozambique, where he was artistic director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. He died in 2015.