A review by rouge_red
The Face of Another by Kōbō Abe

reflective slow-paced

3.5

I watched the movie adaptation a year or two ago and I really enjoyed it. The movie hits many of the same beats, but it involves the doctor (mentioned early on in the development in the mask) and his nurse assistant to a larger extent. I liked the last bit of the story where he tries to test out the efficacy of the mask by trying to seduce his wife as the "masked man", giving into his sexual urges. The discussion surrounding the narrator's idea that he is a different person when he dons the mask was pretty fascinating, as was his wife's and the yoyo girl's ability to clearly see through his disguise. Which then massively throws him off his game. Overall this was a good book; a little over serious for me, but it makes sense for the character. It sounds like Abe wrote other books with strange premises, so maybe we'll try something else.