/lit/ - Literature

25
Brazil
None. I just finished The Woman In The Dunes and it was shit.

Meh.
The movie adaptation is better.

>>21734924
The problem might be your own lack of imagination and/or intellectual empathy. The last book I read that truly scared me was The Woman in the Dunes.

>>20699271
The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe. The last guy I recommended it to in a horror thread was completely filtered by it though.

>>>/lit/thread/S19259208

>>20053084
The Woman in the Dunes.

>>19821888
Last Book: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima
Currently reading: The Woman in The Dunes by Kōbō Abe
Next read: Stoner by John Williams

I wanted to start with Japanese literature. Mishima seems like an interesting starting point so I bought one of his most well-known short stories. I loved it. It certainly will not be the last Mishima book that I'll read.
While I was looking around the bookstore, one of the employees noticed that I was holding one of Mishima's book and urged me to read Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes. It invokes strange and claustrophobic imagery. Enjoying it so far.
Stoner is my next read. It piqued my interestes while I was looking at lit charts. I hope it turns out to be good.

>>19736594
The Woman in the Dunes.

Just finished this. It was pretty great. I'd highly recommend.

People told me this was "horror" and that it gave them an existential crisis, but I found it quite pleasant. Sure there is drama but it is effectively an "enemies-to-lovers" romance story. I also like that it is short (256 pages). Abe is a great storysmith who is able to communicate a lot with a small scope.

>>19213047
Pic gave me a mild existential crisis for about a week. It isn't in the same vein as Western horror as far as theme goes and isn't for plotfags; but it does work with one of Japan's most common horror themes (i.e. social isolation/detachment) and if you're familiar with their tropes you'll recognize a few. It's thematically similar to/deals with similar subject matter as I'm Thinking of Ending Things (if you want to know what you're in for...but it's Japanese so instead of mental illness you have social pressures). Aside, the Charlie Kaufman film is a lot better so don't bother with the book unless the movie filters you.

If you want something that's more straightforward/less artsy--Ring by Koji Suzuki is pretty good. You could also check out Yoko Ogawa; I've only read Revenge (which I really enjoyed) so I can't directly recommend her other work (but if you're looking for horror I'd probably go with The Diving Pool).

Horror as a genre is fairly embedded within a given culture's identity when it comes to the types of themes and ideas that are expressed. If you're looking for something new I recommend going outside the Anglosphere and looking for thematic/conceptual patterns belonging to other cultures (if you're jaded and desensitized to the tropes of your own, examining how an alien culture conceptualizes/constitutes terror can renew the genre for you).

>>19188246
Kobo Abe: The Woman in the Dunes.

How did anons like this book? Did society trap you in it's sand hole with wives and meaningless tasks?

>>16644556

What does the woman represent?

So I'm going to read it now

Pretty good so far. It’s kind of like reading a weird dream journal.

Should I read it before watching the movie?