The Useless One – Einar’s book
A disappearance that was never solved – and a life that was never understood
From the August Prize-winning author of Korparna /The Ravens comes a haunting novel about disappearance, rural masculinity and the cost of being unseen.
When a solitary man disappears from a small village in southern Sweden, the community is left with rumours, fragments and unanswered questions. Years later, the niece returns to try to uncover what really happened to her insignificant uncle.
In Den Oduglige /The Useless One – Einar’s book, Tomas Bannerhed combines documentary testimony, village chronicle and intimate psychological realism. The novel unfolds like an archive of memories layered over the lived life of a man who never quite fit the world around him.
Through rural labour, maternal devotion and the silent language of forests and light, Bannerhed explores dignity, shame and the devastating consequences of being unseen.
A haunting novel about loneliness, class and the fragile boundary between endurance and surrender.
Pressvoices
“Besides being one of our most assured and distinctive stylists, he is also a skilled dramatist—he understands the value of plot, suspense, and something that can only be described as mystery… At heart, it is about human dignity, and how we regard those who, out of necessity or by choice, live outside the mainstream. It is a magnificent book.” Sydsvenskan
“I’m very fond of Tomas Bannerhed’s novel, of its loyalty to this rather unlikely antihero. The way he gives Einar a camera, and how they develop the world together. It is beautiful and dangerous, with a pull toward the earth and a longing for death, but also the rustle of maple leaves and the shimmer of inland lakes.” Sveriges Radio
“It is a clear, poetically rich text without grand gestures… The light is in Bannerhed’s language, as radiant and searching as the novel’s protagonist.” Tidningen Vi
“This is a beautiful book—skillfully and gracefully written, and utterly absorbing.” Expressen
“Once again, Bannerhed has written a novel that won’t let go.” Ystads Allehanda
“I’m deeply moved by his fate, and it is so beautifully realised. It is a work of realistic horror, yet it seems to bloom on every page… I’m very fond of this. There is something both biblical and deeply rooted in the earth about the novel.” SvT, Kulturnyheterna
Tomas Bannerhed made his literary debut in 2011 with The Ravens, a novel that received the August Prize, Sweden’s foremost literary award, and was subsequently translated into several languages. Since then, he has continued to develop a body of work marked by precision, restraint and emotional depth. Bannerhed’s writing is distinguished by its rare attentiveness…
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About the book
A disappearance that was never solved – and a life that was never understood
From the August Prize-winning author of Korparna /The Ravens comes a haunting novel about disappearance, rural masculinity and the cost of being unseen.
When a solitary man disappears from a small village in southern Sweden, the community is left with rumours, fragments and unanswered questions. Years later, the niece returns to try to uncover what really happened to her insignificant uncle.
In Den Oduglige /The Useless One – Einar’s book, Tomas Bannerhed combines documentary testimony, village chronicle and intimate psychological realism. The novel unfolds like an archive of memories layered over the lived life of a man who never quite fit the world around him.
Through rural labour, maternal devotion and the silent language of forests and light, Bannerhed explores dignity, shame and the devastating consequences of being unseen.
A haunting novel about loneliness, class and the fragile boundary between endurance and surrender.
Pressvoices
“Besides being one of our most assured and distinctive stylists, he is also a skilled dramatist—he understands the value of plot, suspense, and something that can only be described as mystery… At heart, it is about human dignity, and how we regard those who, out of necessity or by choice, live outside the mainstream. It is a magnificent book.” Sydsvenskan
“I’m very fond of Tomas Bannerhed’s novel, of its loyalty to this rather unlikely antihero. The way he gives Einar a camera, and how they develop the world together. It is beautiful and dangerous, with a pull toward the earth and a longing for death, but also the rustle of maple leaves and the shimmer of inland lakes.” Sveriges Radio
“It is a clear, poetically rich text without grand gestures… The light is in Bannerhed’s language, as radiant and searching as the novel’s protagonist.” Tidningen Vi
“This is a beautiful book—skillfully and gracefully written, and utterly absorbing.” Expressen
“Once again, Bannerhed has written a novel that won’t let go.” Ystads Allehanda
“I’m deeply moved by his fate, and it is so beautifully realised. It is a work of realistic horror, yet it seems to bloom on every page… I’m very fond of this. There is something both biblical and deeply rooted in the earth about the novel.” SvT, Kulturnyheterna