Quicksand by Henning MankellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
In January 2014 Henning Mankell was informed that he had cancer. However, Quicksand is not a book about death and destruction but about what it means to be human. Despite the depressing background this is a beautiful and moving document, related over 67 short chapters. Mankell was “a good man” endorsed by the University of St. Andrews in 2008 when they gave him an honorary doctorate of letters. In Quicksand, published in English less than four months after his death, the Swedish novelist gives us an insight into how he reacted to his diagnosis of cancer and reflected on his mortality. The result is an extraordinarily moving book that tells us a great deal about Mankell’s life and, incidentally, a lot about our lives, too.
Mankell is best known for his crime novels. The Wallander series stands high in the pantheon of “Nordic noir”, that flowering of fiction that has dominated the recent detective novel. Mankell was also a political activist whose position on issues such as the Palestinian question was widely reported. In sub-Saharan Africa, with which he had a long and profound association, he put his money to good use. Not only did he endow an orphanage but he gave considerable sums to support drama and literature in countries where funding of the arts is not a high priority. He established and managed an important theatre in Mozambique. He helped people in numerous ways. So it was an engaged life that received notice of impending termination when that diagnosis of cancer was made. How did he react? What happened in his case is that he was prompted to compose what is surely one of the most moving and intriguing farewell notes ever written. Mankell does not deny that death is approaching. He writes in detail about his treatment but his main concern is not so much himself as the world he has seen and engaged with in a remarkably full life.
A theme that runs through the book is an environmental one, in particular the disposal of radioactive waste. Mankell’s approach is very personal and tied to concrete examples of human unconcern over what present stupidity and selfishness will do to people who are yet to be born. “Our legacy is nuclear waste. Our most important task is to try to send a warning to people who might succeed us after future ice ages have passed”. “Do we still have time to think sensible thoughts? Or is nuclear waste another step along the road leading deeper down into the abyss?” For all that and throughout Quicksand, there are scenes of joy and triumph in the midst of suffering and loss. This grave book, intensely beautiful in its spirit, takes us to these places in the thoughtful company of a great soul.
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