![]() Yet sometimes, the saddest, most tragic tales are the ones that most profoundly influence us. I am certainly not going to say this is an uplifting or inspiring novel. Also, the way he writes is magical (in my opinion). I was more attracted to the ideas behind Kobo's words than by anything else. Although I related to the thematic elements within the work-the relation between time and sand, for instance-I never really found myself caring enough about the characters on a emotional level to be affected by their situation. Let me make one thing clear: this is not the sort of book I feel a strong "interpersonal" connection to. ![]() However, there is something about the way Abe Kobo writes that beguiled me to such an extent that I was unaffected by the more negative aspects of the story. Prior to reading it, I had expected to find the work both depressing and claustrophobic. I respect your reaction to The Woman in the Dunes. Of the heart, but it was also true that the beating of the "One could not do without repetition in life, like the beating The Face of Another is next on the agenda. It was such a compelling book that I read it in one night. Has anyone else read Abe Kobo or seen the film adaptations based on his books? I encourage anyone not familiar with him to find a copy of The Woman in the Dunes. I haven't seen the film, "Woman of the Dunes" yet however, I have a copy I just picked up from the library, and I plan to watch it later in the week. Not only did it win the Special Jury Prize at Cannes-it was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. "Woman of the Dunes" is considered to be Teshigahara's most famous film. The director for this project was Heroshi Teshigahara, a master of the avant-garde who went on to film two more of Abe's novels, The Face of Another and The Man Without a Map. "It cannot be spurred on like a horse," Abe writes in one part, "But it is not quite a slow as a pushcart." Abe describes time as being "folded" in "endless, deep, bellows-like pleats." Just as the sand holds Junpei captive, we are the captives of time, which, like the sand, eventually causes everything it touches to disintegrate.Ībe adapted this spellbinding novel for film in 1964, under the same title as the book. There are several comparisons made between time and sand, in that, like the sand in this surrealistic village of sand dunes, time continues to flow. This is not an erotic book although it is hypnotic and beautifully rendered. ![]() Although they have sex (which is referred to as "a squalid act"), it is purely mechanical, utterly devoid of love. His relationship with the woman, a widow who claims her husband and child were killed in a sandstorm, is strangely turbulent. Often, we are incapable of escaping our fate, and ultimately Junpei realizes this. The sand represents nature, and Junpei's attempts to get out of the sand pit are representative of man's desire to exert his own authority over the world around him. Although the plot is relatively straightforward, and the story can be understood merely for itself, it is rich with deeper, more metaphysical meanings. The writing is stylistically somewhat akin to that of Kafka, who, perhaps not surprisingly, was one of Abe's foremost literary influences growing up. While there, he essentially becomes a prisoner when he ends up housing with a young woman (called "the woman") who lives inside a sand pit.Ībe is one of Japan's most highly recognized novelists, and, from this book-my first excursion into his literary world-it is not difficult to see why. The book, which has been described as "part suspense story" and "part existentialist novel" tells the story of Niki Junpei (otherwise generically referred to as "the man"), an amateur entomologist who takes a three-day trip to the ocean in hopes of finding a new specimen of beetle. I just finished reading The Woman in the Dunes by Abe Kobo.
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