The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

February 1, 2018

Those interested in Scandinavian living may be intrigued by this end-of-life guide. The popularity of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing also provides a ready audience. Magnusson, a visual artist who has moved many times within her native country of Sweden and abroad, speaks from ample experience. After explaining the concepts of Swedish death cleaning (dostagning) for family members, the author describes paring down from a large house to a modest apartment after her husband died. Striking a balance of gentle encouragement, philosophical musing, and pragmatism, her recommendations are wholly practical and warmly convey her hope for a positive outcome. VERDICT The title alone, with the juxtaposition of "gentle art" and "death," is eye-catching. Invoking the Swedish theme of lagom ("just the right amount"), this book should appeal to readers who have faced the challenge of sorting through their loved ones' or their own belongings at various life transitions.--Meagan Storey, Virginia Beach

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2017
As a Swedish woman between the ages of eighty and one hundred, Magnusson has some definite ideas about decluttering. She refers to it as death cleaning (i.e., getting rid of things when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet ). Why should your children have to make decisions that you didn't want to make? Why should they be left with a deluge of possessions? The author suggests breaking your possessions into categories and then attacking these categories one at a time. (She says clothing is the easiest, so start there.) Her methods are pretty basic: make one pile to keep and one pile to get rid of. Put notes on the discards showing where they should go. What makes this book worthwhile isn't the sorting tips. It's Magnusson's humorous common sense. She rightly reminds readers that it takes time to downsize and that putting it off won't make it go away. And that hanging around with young people can be fun. At least they don't talk about hearing aids and canes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)