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A review by wickedcestus
Kangaroo Notebook by Kōbō Abe
2.0
Like many books with inventive and funny openings, this one too fails to continue that momentum all the way through, even while being quite short. A man wakes up with radish sprouts growing from his legs. He tries to go to the doctor. The doctor puts him in a hospital bed, then rolls him out the door. The man realizes he can control the bed with his mind. He gets the bed stuck on a curb. Then, a construction worker rolls his bed into hell.
The rest of the book can easily be divided into three or four sections that don't seem to have much to do with each other, nor any point in themselves. It all just felt wacky for no purpose, and it wasn't even that funny by the end.
I liked some of the ideas in the book. I like the kangaroo notebook. I liked when a ceiling sprinkler turned into the main character's dad. I think this could have been developed into a more interesting story. As it is, it's just too short and not impactful.
The rest of the book can easily be divided into three or four sections that don't seem to have much to do with each other, nor any point in themselves. It all just felt wacky for no purpose, and it wasn't even that funny by the end.
I liked some of the ideas in the book. I like the kangaroo notebook. I liked when a ceiling sprinkler turned into the main character's dad. I think this could have been developed into a more interesting story. As it is, it's just too short and not impactful.