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cleothebengal's review against another edition
4.0
A remote seaside town, honeycombed by holes with houses in the bottom. A wonderfully original idea that keeps you interested even if the protagonist is cruel and unlikable. Has the feel of Kafka.
fjcrow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
the_sunken_library's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the concept of this book but the male protagonist is such a prick that I skim read it after the half way mark.
I appreciated the existentialism of the novel. A man tricked into slavery ponders his worth and desire for freedom with an omnipotent watcher. Paired with a woman who has accepted her bonds and is hostile to the outside world, his repeated failed attempts to escape his prison wear him down, like the endless sand around him and the monotony of his new existence: live to shovel sand, shovel sand to live.
The village he is imprisoned within needs children - there must be a next generation in order for it to survive less it be swallowed by the encroaching sand. Our protagonist is flung to the woman in the dunes as an offering.
Understandably he is bitter but his treatment of her is vile. The fact the village accept this possibility and abandon her to a violent and cruel man is vile. The fact she is so desperate to play her part within this society that she accepts a bully and a rapist (let's be honest, he describes himself that way) is depressing.
It's typical that a book entitled "The Woman in the Dunes" tells us almost nothing about the woman, that shes there as a tool to progress her male counterpart. Eventually she "traps" him with pregnancy and even though he is given a chance at freedom, decides that life in this demented village is better than what he would return too. Perhaps he was always lonely and now isn't. Perhaps hes scared to go back. 7 years of imprisonment is a long time.
Either way, I just hated him and pitied her. You never even learn her name. Shes literally just known as "woman". 7 years and he doesn't ask her name?!?! Screw him.
I appreciated the existentialism of the novel. A man tricked into slavery ponders his worth and desire for freedom with an omnipotent watcher. Paired with a woman who has accepted her bonds and is hostile to the outside world, his repeated failed attempts to escape his prison wear him down, like the endless sand around him and the monotony of his new existence: live to shovel sand, shovel sand to live.
The village he is imprisoned within needs children - there must be a next generation in order for it to survive less it be swallowed by the encroaching sand. Our protagonist is flung to the woman in the dunes as an offering.
Understandably he is bitter but his treatment of her is vile. The fact the village accept this possibility and abandon her to a violent and cruel man is vile. The fact she is so desperate to play her part within this society that she accepts a bully and a rapist (let's be honest, he describes himself that way) is depressing.
It's typical that a book entitled "The Woman in the Dunes" tells us almost nothing about the woman, that shes there as a tool to progress her male counterpart. Eventually she "traps" him with pregnancy and even though he is given a chance at freedom, decides that life in this demented village is better than what he would return too. Perhaps he was always lonely and now isn't. Perhaps hes scared to go back. 7 years of imprisonment is a long time.
Either way, I just hated him and pitied her. You never even learn her name. Shes literally just known as "woman". 7 years and he doesn't ask her name?!?! Screw him.
biblio_creep's review against another edition
3.5
Book Review | THE WOMAN IN THE DUNES by KŌBŌ ABE
<< FULL REVIEW ON BIBLIOCREEP.COM >>
3.5/5 ⭐’s | PUB DATE: 8 June 1962
This is a classic of Japanese literature, written by one of Japan's most well-known authors. The story follows a man who goes out to do some amateur entomology, looking for insects to catalogue in the sand dunes along the coast. When he spends a little too much time there, and misses the last bus of the day, he encounters a small village and asks if he can stay the night. In the dark, a villager leads him to a rope ladder and tells him to climb down to stay with one of the women of the village for the night. The man realizes in the morning that he is now trapped in the dunes, at the bottom of a sand pit and at the mercy of the villagers above. The story then follows the man's anger, despair, and attempts at rebellion while he psychologically devolves to a calamitous ending.
The most obvious parallel to modern, American culture I can see is the existential dread of toiling away at a meaningless task, day after day, just to earn the basic essentials of life. The sand blows back in every day and the villagers must engage in back-breaking work to shovel it out to prevent their homes from being completely covered, day in and day out, with no respite. If they don't complete their work, the leaders of the town withhold their water ration. The MC desperately tries to escape, and goes through many stages of anger and grief about his situation, until he eventually resigns himself to it.
The writing in this novel has a dreamlike quality that is evocative and claustrophobic, with Abe making you feel the desperation and thirst of the two main characters. I really enjoyed the writing style and the smart critique of social issues in this book. Readers who enjoy work by Albert Camus or Franz Kafka, or more modern dystopian fiction, would probably find this book engrossing. However, avoid picking this up if you are not in the mood for darker themes.
CW: Confinement, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Child death, Pregnancy, Violence
nealagrace's review against another edition
2.0
I just did not like this book at all it made me anxious and feel very weird and why can’t one JUST ONE female character be written normally by a man
abhaykrishnanr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
fishface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Sand in your mouth is a terrible sensation I too get all existential whenever it happens he was on to something there
mx_eyebrows's review against another edition
3.5
Book Review | THE WOMAN IN THE DUNES by KŌBŌ ABE
4/5 ⭐’s | PUB DATE: 8 June 1962
Read if you're looking for:
- A surrealist classic of Japanese literature
- Translated from Japanese & written in the 1960's
- Existential dread
- Feelings of claustrophobia
- Themes that still hold up today & can be applied as a critique of capitalism
- A story that takes place in one location & with mainly two characters
This is a classic of Japanese literature, written by one of Japan's most well-known authors. The story follows a man who is taking time off from his teaching job to do some amateur entomology, looking for insects to catalogue in the sand dunes along the coast. When he spends a little too much time there, and misses the last bus of the day, he encounters a small village and asks if he can stay the night. In the dark, a villager leads him to a rope ladder and tells him to climb down to stay with one of the women of the village for the night. The man spends the night, judging the woman and her ramshackle hut, but realizes in the morning that he is now trapped in the dunes, at the bottom of a sand pit and at the mercy of the villagers above. The woman informs him that they had better start working to shift the sand, bucket by bucket, to prevent the village from being consumed. If they don't work, they won't be given water. The story then follows the man's anger, despair, and attempts at rebellion while he psychologically devolves to a calamitous ending.
I am not the best person to be analyzing this book, as I'm not familiar with the social issues of post-war Japan. But, I feel that this book's themes can still be more universally applied to capitalism today.
The most obvious parallel to modern, American culture I can see is the existential dread of toiling away at a meaningless task, day after day, just to earn the basic essentials of life. The sand blows back in every day and the villagers must engage in back-breaking work to shovel it out to prevent their homes from being completely covered, day in and day out, with no respite. If they don't complete their work, the leaders of the town withhold their water ration. As the days and months go on, the main character realized that most of the villagers are being held hostage in this way, with a few leaders controlling the water source. He desperately tries to escape, and goes through many stages of anger and grief about his situation, until he eventually resigns himself to it. He and the woman he is paired with are also expected to procreate to make more workers for the village.
Additionally, when the man first interacts with the woman in the dunes, and the other villagers, he is often thinking about how important he is in comparison to them. He is convinced that his co-workers on the outside will be concerned that he is missing and send out the police to look for him. As the days go on, he realizes that no one is coming to rescue him. He clearly sees himself as better than the villagers, and of a higher class, and is surprised at how quickly he is absorbed into their life in the village as if he had always been there, emphasizing a class divide and how poorer people are seen by others. More on the theme of class differences in post-war Japan can be read in this article from The Japan Society of the UK.
The writing in this novel has a dreamlike quality that is evocative and claustrophobic, with Abe making you feel the desperation and thirst of the two main characters, the male MC and the woman he is paired with. There are also a lot of parallels between sexual desire and thirst. I really enjoyed the writing style and the smart critique of social issues in this book, even though the content was fairly upsetting (which was the point). A warning here as well, for sexual assault, and one disturbing scene of rape near the end.
I can see why this book is considered a classic. It really delved into social issues and existentialism in really compelling way, and the writing was great. Readers who enjoy work by Albert Camus or Franz Kafka, or more modern dystopian fiction, would probably find this book engrossing. However, avoid picking this up if you are not in the mood for darker themes.
CW: Confinement, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child death, Pregnancy, Violence