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arcyeus 's review for:
The Woman in the Dunes
by Kōbō Abe
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While the absurdist plays of Beckett veer towards boredom and mundanity, Kobo's version is thrilling and introspective in its sheer repetition of the same basic premise of a man who has to shovel sand out of a hole daily. It is the conscious revolt and subsequent failure against this mundanity with the long winded metaphors and undercurrent of sexual tension present in most post-WWII Japanese literature that makes this text so interesting. What's most terrifying is the fact that his struggle represents all our struggles, whether we realise it or not