100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Auckland Bookstore open weekends (8:30am - 5pm) for browsing and Pick Ups! πŸŽ‰

Quicksand

3.65 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 4,249 ratings, 574 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Quicksand by Junichiro Tanizaki explores the entangled relationships and psychological tensions within a love triangle involving a young woman, her husband, and her female lover. Set in 1920s Osaka, this tale delves into themes of obsession and deception, as the characters find themselves trapped in a web of emotional and social complications. The novel brilliantly captures the complexities of desire and the turbulent impacts of forbidden love.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2600
Elsewhere:
$2800
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're intrigued by stories of complex human relationships and the exploration of desire and deception in early 20th-century Japan. The narrative weaves an intricate web of love and betrayal, offering a psychological and cultural insight into its characters. This may appeal to you if you appreciate character-driven novels with rich, atmospheric storytelling.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A seductive psychological thriller about obsession, jealousy and deceit, and a Japanese classic

Sonoko Kakiuchi is a cultured Osaka lady in an uninspiring marriage. They begin a passionate affair and Sonoko soon finds herself infatuated by Mitsuko, and ensnared in a web of sex, humiliation and deceit.

A seductive psychological thriller about of obsession and jealousy, and a Japanese classic - now with an introduction by Kristen Roupenian, author of 'Cat Person'

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Quicksand is a seductive psychological thriller about obsession, jealousy, and deceit, and is considered a Japanese classic. Now featuring an introduction by Kristen Roupenian, author of 'Cat Person'.

Sonoko Kakiuchi is a cultured Osaka lady trapped in an uninspiring marriage. Seeking something more, she enrols in an art class in town where she encounters the extraordinary Mitsuko, a woman as beautiful and charismatic as she is cunning. They embark on a passionate affair, with Sonoko quickly becoming infatuated with Mitsuko, finding herself ensnared in a complex web of sex, humiliation, and deceit.

With an introduction by Kristen Roupenian, author of 'Cat Person'.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Quicksand is a riveting exploration of malevolent corruption set in 1920s Japan. It blends elements reminiscent of James Cain and Vladimir Nabokov, teasing readers with notions of forbidden pleasures. The narrative is described as a harrowing black comedy of love and death, beautifully and mysteriously contrived.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099485612

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 November 1994

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Kristen Roupenian

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 11.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 142g

Pages: 192

About the Author

Junichiro Tanizaki was one of Japan's greatest twentienth century novelists. Born in 1886 in Tokyo, his first published work - a one-act play - appeared in 1910 in a literary magazine he helped to found. Tanizaki lived in the cosmopolitan Tokyo area until the earthquake of 1923, when he moved to the Kyoto-Osaka region and became absorbed in Japan's past. All his most important works were written after 1923, among them Some Prefer Nettles (1929), The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi (1935), several modern versions of The Tale of Genji (1941, 1954 and 1965), The Makioka Sisters, The Key (1956) and Diary of a Mad Old Man (1961). He was awarded an Imperial Award for Cultural Merit in 1949 and in 1965 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the first Japanese writer to receive this honour. Tanizaki died later that same year.

Also by Junichiro Tanizaki

View all
  • The Makioka Sisters (Vintage Classics Japanese Series)
    The Makioka Sisters is part of the Vintage Japanese Classics series, which follows the success of Vintage Russian Classics and European Classics. These editions feature the best Japanese writers on the Vintage list. 'An exquisite novel about four sisters living through a turbulent decade...I'd put it in the 10 greatest books of the 20th century' β€” David Mitchell 'A near-perfect...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Diary of a Mad Old Man
    At once hilarious and sad, Tanizaki's last novelβ€”written during his final illnessβ€”echoes his own life. While recovering from a stroke, seventy-seven-year-old Utsugi turns to his diary to wryly record his struggle with his ageing body and his growing desire for his beautiful daughter-in-law Satsuko, a chic, Westernised dancer with a shady past. Shining with a self-effacing humour, Tanizaki's last novel...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Some Prefer Nettles
    Some Prefer Nettles is set in Tokyo in the 1920s, capturing a marriage on the brink of disintegration in Tanizaki's gripping novel from 1929. Kaname's marriage is falling apart. In the shifting societal landscape of 1920s Tokyo, he and his wife, Misako, find themselves in a caricature of a progressive Western marriage. Seeking solace, Kaname indulges in an affair, while...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Key
    A seductive portrait of marriage and sexual passion. A husband and wife each write in their diary, never knowing if it is being read by the other. Ikuko and her husband are deeply in love but have grown physically apart, each unsure of the other's desires. When Ikuko finds the key to her husband's diary, she ignores it, but she...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Cat, A Man, And Two Women
    Shinako has been ousted from her marriage by her husband Shozo and his younger lover Fukuko. She's lost her home, status, and respectability, but the only thing she longs for is Lily, the elegant tortoiseshell cat she shared with her husband. As Shinako pleads for Lily's return, Shozo's reluctance to part with the cat reveals his true affections, and the...
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Secret History of The Lord of Musashi
    These two novellas by the inimitable Tanizaki were among his favourites. The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi recounts the dark sexual obsessions of a sixteenth-century warlord, accidentally initiated in his youth into the morbid rites attendant upon battle. Based on invented documents that overlap with historical reality, the story unfolds a masterly balance of irony and melodrama, elegance...
    Paperback
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Makioka Sisters
    The outstanding Japanese novelist of the century... The Makioka Sisters is his greatest book β€” Edmund White, New York Times Book Review Tanizaki's masterpiece is the story of four sisters, and the declining fortunes of a traditional Japanese family. It is a loving and nostalgic recreation of the sumptuous, intricate upper-class life of Osaka immediately before World War Two. With...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $3200
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Longing and Other Stories
    Jun'ichirō Tanizaki is one of the most eminent Japanese writers of the twentieth century, renowned for his investigations of family dynamics, eroticism, and cultural identity. Most acclaimed for his postwar novels such as The Makioka Sisters and The Key, Tanizaki made his literary debut in 1910. Longing and Other Stories presents three powerful stories of family life from the first...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • In Praise of Shadows and Other Essays
    In Praise of Shadows and Other Essays belongs to that special order of slim, enormously powerful books that enchant the lay reader with an esoteric subject, leaving a lifelong imprint on the imagination. - Maria Popova Illustrated with artful images by renowned Kyoto-based photographer John Einarsen, this book is a "must-have" for all fans of Japanese literature and anyone interested...
    Hardback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Pre-order
    Big Little Truths
    Parenting teens is not for the faint of heart but Madeline, Jane and Celeste have been through worse. It's been a decade since the school trivia night that changed their lives forever and now they're living blissfully ordinary suburban lives. But when an anonymous grisly package arrives at the local high school, and a man in a green Volvo is...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 25 Aug 2026
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Crescent City Paperback Box Set
    A beautiful box set containing all three paperback instalments of the Crescent City series from #1 bestselling global phenomenon Sarah J. Maas. BOUND BY BLOOD. TEMPTED BY DESIRE. UNLEASHED BY DESTINY. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan - Time Think Game of Thrones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a drizzle of E.L. James – Telegraph Spiced...
    Set
    $5499
    Elsewhere:
    $7000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.