I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: The Woman in the DunesAuthor: Kobo Abe, E. Dale Saunders (translator)
Published: 1962
Language: English (translated from Japanese)
Pages: 241
Rating: 2/5
Summary:
An amateur entomologist goes looking for bugs in the desert and ends up trapped by local villagers in a massive sand pit.
Review:
This is a book I've had on my shelves for a while and sort of kept putting off because I was so sure I was going to like it, but I decided to finally just read it already and it was... just kind of OK.
I like the concept of this story and what it represents, and I really like the visual of these people stuck at the bottom of a sand pit, forced to shuffle sand every single night so that it doesn't overcome them. The descriptions of the sand and how present it is really makes you feel the setting; it almost feels like you, the reader, is choking on sand.
Sadly, I found the main character to be kind of insufferable and the way he relates to the female character in this book really bothered me. I also didn't feel like the female character was at all painted as an actual person; she was just kind of there.
So overall, besides the atmosphere of the desert that this book creates, I didn't really enjoy this and I don't think I would recommend it. I usually like bizarre books, but this just doesn't cut it. I'm so disappointed! Ugh!
You can read more about it on Goodreads
