The Woman in the Dunes

By: Kobo Abe

Narrated by: Julian Cihi

The Woman in the Dunes, by celebrated writer and thinker Kobo Abe, combines the essence of myth, suspense and the existential novel.

After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers that the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village. His only companion is an odd young woman. Together their fates become intertwined as they work side by side at this Sisyphean task.

Critic reviews

“Devious, addictive. . . . Never less than compulsive. . . . Abe is an accomplished stylist.”
—David Mitchell

“Abe follows with meticulous precision his hero's constantly shifting physical, emotional and psychological states.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“As is true of Poe and Kafka . . . Abe creates on the page an unexpected impulsion. One continues reading, on and on.”
—The New Yorker

I really wanted to like it

I have probably been corrupted by tik tok and instagram but despite my efforts to keep an open mind I found this novel to be dreadfully boring and repetitive. It was asphyxiating by boredom not so much by the story. In addition at times it felt as if the translation was wrong, using words and expressions that were not of literary levels. I hated the performance, sounded very fake. :(

Strange book

I haven’t encountered another novel like this. I’ve read/listened to a lot of bleak books, but this one has an unsettling quality beyond any I remember.

If Kafka was Japanese

Parallels a lot of themes Kafka tackles in the general sense of story and structure - I.E. reflective characters, ideological commentary, etc.

I enjoyed it.

pretty good!

i thought it was a really good story! there were parts that lost me, but over all it was good, not too complicated, not too stale! good story!

Not science fiction as we know it in the West

The usage of scientific terminology to present metaphores for the individual's role in society was very interesting.