Books by Kobo Abe
“The unhinged premise, the abrupt narrative shifts, the intensely cerebral prose — all these elements are held in such a delicate balance that, when I read it as a student, it brought me a strange sort of comfort. It was the comfort of knowing that, in the realm of fiction least, even our most deranged thoughts are permitted.” Read more...
The Best 20th Century Japanese Novels
Rie Qudan, Novelist
Interviews where books by Kobo Abe were recommended
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1
Seven Japanese Tales
by Junichiro Tanizaki & translated by Howard Hibbett -
2
No Longer Human
by Osamu Dazai & translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter -
3
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Yukio Mishima, translated by Ivan Morris -
4
The Box Man
by Kobo Abe & translated by E. Dale Saunders -
5
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
by Haruki Murakami & translated by Jay Rubin
The Best 20th Century Japanese Novels, recommended by Rie Qudan
The Best 20th Century Japanese Novels, recommended by Rie Qudan
We asked Rie Qudan, author of the award-winning novel Sympathy Tower Tokyo, to recommend her favourite Japanese novels. She selected five 20th century classics that highlight different aspects of Japanese sensibility — from the aesthetics and obsessive devotion of a 1933 novella by Tanizaki, to the desire and alienation of a 1994 Murakami novel.
