Quicksand

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

“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 

“Throughout Quicksand, there are scenes [of] joy and triumph in the midst of suffering and loss. This grave book . . . takes us to these places in the thoughtful company of a great soul.” —New Statesman

“Uplifting and, as a memoir, as unusual a creation as [Mankell’s] Nordic detective, Kurt Wallander.” —GQ (London)