The Woman in the Dunes

The Woman in the Dunes is one of the key novels of 20th-century Japanese literature: dry, tense, visceral, and almost physically palpable. It is often compared to the prose of Kafka and Camus, but the absurdity in Kōbō Abe is anything but abstract. It grates on your teeth, clings to your skin, and every day, the sand comes back to bury the world around you.

In this now-classic existential novel, Abe challenges our ideas about human freedom and purpose. The book touches on sensitive issues in Japanese society, including prejudice against the burakumin, a historically marginalised group, while also critiquing the postwar corporate culture that can lead to alienation and even suicide.

The Woman in the Dunes was awarded the Yomiuri Prize in 1962. Just two years later, in 1964, it was adapted for the screen by director Hiroshi Teshigahara.