Rating: 
Summary: Sand sticks to everything
Review: "Woman in the Dunes" is on every short-list of "must reads" for Japanese literature. It is an incredibly powerful and intense story, with the ability to make you feel as suffocated and trapped as Jumpei in the sand pit. Of all the Japanese books I have read, I found "Woman in the Dunes" to be the most direct, the least subtle. The entire story happens out in the open, naked and vulnerable, raw and hurting. However, there is some metaphor here, but I think each person will find their own. What gripped me about the story was the sometimes hopelessness of life, of being trapped inside the endless task of working without gain, putting all of your sights and ambitions of some small purchase you might make with your efforts, perhaps a radio. Fighting against the walls of your prison at first, you eventually find that you have become comfortable with your slavery, and then there is no more need to lock the doors. Your comfort has become your chains. An emotionally challenging and sometimes uncomfortable book, but very rewarding. I won't be able to look at sand again in the same way. It doesn't seem quite so innocent anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Sand sticks to everything
Review: "Woman in the Dunes" is on every short-list of "must reads" for Japanese literature. It is an incredibly powerful and intense story, with the ability to make you feel as suffocated and trapped as Jumpei in the sand pit. Of all the Japanese books I have read, I found "Woman in the Dunes" to be the most direct, the least subtle. The entire story happens out in the open, naked and vulnerable, raw and hurting. However, there is some metaphor here, but I think each person will find their own. What gripped me about the story was the sometimes hopelessness of life, of being trapped inside the endless task of working without gain, putting all of your sights and ambitions of some small purchase you might make with your efforts, perhaps a radio. Fighting against the walls of your prison at first, you eventually find that you have become comfortable with your slavery, and then there is no more need to lock the doors. Your comfort has become your chains. An emotionally challenging and sometimes uncomfortable book, but very rewarding. I won't be able to look at sand again in the same way. It doesn't seem quite so innocent anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: clearly a unique novel, and more than a little strange...
Review: 'The Woman in the Dunes' is my first Kobo Abe novel, and it is allegedly one his most accessible (read: least weird) novels. While the book is well written (kudos to the translator) it certainly has an unusual if not bizarre story. I am somewhat surprised at the glowing praises of the amazon.com reviewers.
As for the story, it is about the enslavement of a young man by villagers residing literally in the dunes of a remote corner of Japan. He becomes the worker bee and companion of a widow whose house is literally enveloped by huge sand dunes. The young man develops a relationship of sorts with the woman, tries hard to escape from his imprisonment, and copes with the daily hardships of living in a sandpit. ... and that's about it. Yes, there are some interesting moments from a human interaction perspective. And Kobo Abe keeps the story compelling, although I'm not sure how. It certainly isn't a book I'll forget anytime soon.
Bottom line: clearly a surreal story worthy of being considered a classic. Big points on originality but the entire reading experience leaves a somewhat bad (sandy?) aftertaste.
Rating:
Summary: Book That Plays on a Keyboard of Your Soul (re-mi-sol-fa)
Review: Accordingly to my very high standards of judgement, I give this book a Very High Rating of Four Stars which is just slightly under Excellent, Marvellous, Superb, Wonderful rating because some ratings by other readers who gave it less than 4 stars made sense to me, though I agree with the majority who gave it a full blown 5 stars.
I love to read books (and watch movies) where individual's freedom is self-inflictingly limited though with a little help of the society and the people whom the individual is surrounded by as well, but not without the individual's own "guilt" for limiting his/her own freedom of movement so to speak of. This unconscious or semi-conscious masochistic limitation of one's freedom (of choice) mixed with realistic and at the same minimalistic happenings is fun to read all the way. Be it a state prison, a mandatory military service, self-exile in another country, even exile by self-guilt by committing something unacceptable by society one lives in, a creation of circumstance where one limits his amenities and pleasures or changes the values of life to a more simplistic and minimalist, but at the same time more soulful, - that all is so wonderful to discover in your own mind by reading, - to some (extent) - even experiencing it all yourself (in a physical world).
Strange or not, I liked the escape part of the book most, I could smell the escape and the air around it. Though the simplistic life of those two sand-slaves was dramatic enough to play on my invisible keyboard.
The hopelessness of the situation of living in a sand hole and seemingly-wasting (though enriching your soul by limiting the amenities of your life) your life towards "useless" removal of sand around you in order to save the village that's becoming hopelessly extinct (does it?) - makes this book a real stone-carving of the past millenium.
No matter what - this book has a SOUL! Have you world travellers ever noticed or felt that various countries and places, cities and localities have a different soul, a different feel in the air? That's a "soul of the place" be it the smell mixed with something untouchable or simply the
way your brain reacts to the place at the particular moment of your life. This book has a SOUL and you can't step on it!
Therefore this book is worth the 4 strong stars (and probably a half of another one).
Abe-san, taihen arigataku omotte imasu.
Rating:
Summary: Creeps in to your daily thoughts
Review: Among the most memorable pieces of literature I have read to date. I read this book during a particularly dreary Seattle winter and found I had to put it down sometimes lest the walls begin to close in and the roof appear lower and lower. Abe's beautifully written tale of futility and humanity really sneaks up on you, building to a crescendo that you never thought would come. Detail abounds and the perfect translation of human interaction alternately soothes and hurts the reader. By the story's dramatic apex, I felt like I was furiously digging too. I find myself pondering this book and bringing it up in conversation quite often and pulling more out of it each time. A worthwhile investment of time, emotions and thought.
Rating:
Summary: Great story, gender relations
Review: Great book. I loved the whole sand thing. Phiosophical and insightful, and a bit creepy also. Recommended reading.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking attention to detail and human existence
Review: I bought this book on a whim, with no knowledge of Abe or even of Japanese writing. It was a pleasant surprise to read such a consuming book. Like the sand that tumbles into his home each night, I was drawn into the story. The book can be confusing at first, because what he describes is a different reality than any of us have experienced. The situations and questions that surface in this book are challenging. I found myself struggling along with Nicki and wondering how I would react in his position. It's no fluff piece of literature and it demands a lot of you, but it was well worth it. I have read Abe's "Secret Rendezvous" which also is about an outsider that has an insurmountable situation to deal with, but it is no comparison to "Woman in the Dunes" which is definitely Abe's masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLY HUMAN
Review: I could not put this book down, though, boy I sure did want to! There were evenings I wanted to throw this book against the wall and go get lost in television...no one likes it when an artist confronts us with Reality. Abe will engage you like few authors will. This is excellent reading specifically because it WILL infuriate and trouble you. Mythology for our times.
Rating:
Summary: Must read it while in Oberlin or simliar setting.
Review: I feel compelled to write a view for this great book for two reasons. First, Woman in the Dunes is a great yet somewhat forgotten book. Two, it currently ranks as the most popular item at my alma mater, Oberlin College. Not surprising. I too found myself passing the days plotting ways to escape my prison. Greater effort was met with greater resistance.
Many readers apply a Kafka lens to this text. Yet, I find a Camus-Sartre context more useful and enjoyable. Kobo borrows the obvious similarities to Sisyphus' unending task and Sartre's man in the dessert, yet somehow makes it his own. His language is simple yet powerful, demonstrating that brevity is power. His simple style lends itself to an easy and coherent translation.
Follow the bug and read the book. For greater depth into the author and text, read about the death of Abe's son and how it affected his already personal writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: Prostituted Potential
Review: I picked up "Woman in the Dunes" with a rather high expectancy, I put it down feeling somewhat robbed. The weakness of this novel does not derive from the unique plot, but rather the way it prostitutes itself, allowing such bland descriptions. Kafka, one of my favorite authors and one cited as similiar to Abe, has been accused of a journalistic style. However, it is not his style - which is endlessly inventive and consuming - but rather his word choice that is so. Abe, on the other hand, is simply banal, monotonous (I couldn't count the many passsages speaking of spit and sand, come on no matter how diffrently you say it, its still spit and sand) and non-descriptive. Think diffrently, just look over the first chapter. Also, I found the erotic elements of the story to be pretensious, shallow, and that dreaded of all words, "cheesy." Perhaps it is not so bad, it is simply its potential that has driven it into the ground. Such a brilliant narrative deserves its due credit.
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