A review by hotboychef
The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe

3.75

City salaryman gets trapped in a hole by villagers. 

The woman there spends every night digging the sand around the hole to prevent it from caving in on her.

Which life is more pointless?

• he argues that human progression should mean that her work is unnecessary
  • She is like an animal, singularly focussed on survival (and sex)
  • No community or culture
• Whereas he bemoans how fake the trappings of ‘cultured’ life is, hiding the true meaningless of human lives

This book is too overtly meaningful… the metaphor is too on the nose, I think