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carly_jean's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cowgirlfrog's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
lief_'s review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
ireneat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
mirandatamsin's review
5.0
Feverish and grimly comforting.
Rather than discovering a new specimen of sand fly, the main character - an entomologist - himself becomes a kind of insect, pinned in place inside a giant sandpit, so that none of his captors (nor he himself) “need ever fear [he] will escape”. To be sure, by the end of the book, the main character chooses to climb back into the very pit he has escaped from; it seems he has gradually lost sight of his purported goal - an elusive "freedom" - by getting caught up in the small successes along the way. He is no longer physically pinned within the hole, but now held instead by the lure of family and by his navel-gazing pride in his new invention, which only his captors, of all the people in the world, could ever adequately appreciate. The possibility of escape is precisely what keeps him comfortable in his current entrapment.
And perhaps the main character never really minded his captivity so much after all, but rather more the humiliating idea of being a captive. Is it so different, when it comes down to it, to be tied to a life in a hole instead of a 9-5 at a dead-end school that keeps track of his every half hour? Life in the pit is a strange kind of slavery, with providential deliveries of cigarettes, saké, newspapers and comics. The main character regularly takes breaks for days and even weeks with few repercussions; his three day holiday slips easily into a ten day moping stint. For the reader, the main character’s gradual uneasy contentment with his prospects is not presented as a failure, but merely as a fact of being. Perhaps only in such a confined setting, free from societal norms and others to compare himself to, would his eventual sense of giddy achievement even be possible.
I'm going to end this review with a caveat that all my thoughts above are based on this book as a piece divorced from context. Tbh when I consider that the writer grew up in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, I can’t help but wonder how this context influenced him and this work. Imo this book feels like a very callous and unfortunate take on captivity as soon as the captivity is no longer taken as a pure metaphor - at least if I stick to my above interpretation that "limited horizons = not so bad, really". But I have no idea of how much the writer knew of or was influenced by the violent occupation that was happening at the time, and have therefore taken the novel as a metaphor in good faith. When I tried to look into this further, I found nothing much. It’s commonly said that Kobo Abe was inspired by Kafka, which makes a lot of sense when interpreting this book non-literally.
Rather than discovering a new specimen of sand fly, the main character - an entomologist - himself becomes a kind of insect, pinned in place inside a giant sandpit, so that none of his captors (nor he himself) “need ever fear [he] will escape”. To be sure, by the end of the book, the main character chooses to climb back into the very pit he has escaped from; it seems he has gradually lost sight of his purported goal - an elusive "freedom" - by getting caught up in the small successes along the way. He is no longer physically pinned within the hole, but now held instead by the lure of family and by his navel-gazing pride in his new invention, which only his captors, of all the people in the world, could ever adequately appreciate. The possibility of escape is precisely what keeps him comfortable in his current entrapment.
And perhaps the main character never really minded his captivity so much after all, but rather more the humiliating idea of being a captive. Is it so different, when it comes down to it, to be tied to a life in a hole instead of a 9-5 at a dead-end school that keeps track of his every half hour? Life in the pit is a strange kind of slavery, with providential deliveries of cigarettes, saké, newspapers and comics. The main character regularly takes breaks for days and even weeks with few repercussions; his three day holiday slips easily into a ten day moping stint. For the reader, the main character’s gradual uneasy contentment with his prospects is not presented as a failure, but merely as a fact of being. Perhaps only in such a confined setting, free from societal norms and others to compare himself to, would his eventual sense of giddy achievement even be possible.
I'm going to end this review with a caveat that all my thoughts above are based on this book as a piece divorced from context. Tbh when I consider that the writer grew up in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, I can’t help but wonder how this context influenced him and this work. Imo this book feels like a very callous and unfortunate take on captivity as soon as the captivity is no longer taken as a pure metaphor - at least if I stick to my above interpretation that "limited horizons = not so bad, really". But I have no idea of how much the writer knew of or was influenced by the violent occupation that was happening at the time, and have therefore taken the novel as a metaphor in good faith. When I tried to look into this further, I found nothing much. It’s commonly said that Kobo Abe was inspired by Kafka, which makes a lot of sense when interpreting this book non-literally.
undercoveru's review against another edition
4.0
Was very emerssed read this book with a sore and dry throat book did not help lol
sneebus's review against another edition
4.0
Deeply horrifying. Once I realized what was happening and that he was never going to leave that hole I just felt my stomach drop. I was hooked from beginning to end, feeling thirsty the whole time.