Firstly, what can be more mundane than a man taking a trip to sand dunes to collect some insect samples? What possibly can go wrong? And yet, something is not quite right. There is not much “action” in the novel, and, rather, the focus is on the unusual situation in which the main character finds himself in, on his reaction to it and on his relationship with another occupant of his new sandy dwelling – a very eccentric woman. It is best to start reading The Woman in the Dunes without knowing too much of its plot or even without reading the synopsis. The Woman in the Dunes is Kobo Abe’s existentialist masterpiece. The reader will suspend disbelief when the main character meets a woman and a community he never imagined existed, which prompts him to meditate on the meaning of life, relationships and the human nature. The plot may be straightforward, but the merit of this novel still lies in the subtleties and (horrific) realisations – in the consequences which are revealed slowly to the reader (as well as to the character), enhancing the suspense and the final impact. But, he will only be there for one night right? or will he be? The man soon discovers that his innocent trip to the outskirts of one village is about to take a very absurd and horrific turn. Jumpei is an entomologist and a school-teacher, a man of science and reason, but nothing could prepare for him for what he is about to experience in his new strange dwelling (which has more complex arrangements that he has ever imagined). The man, Niki Jumpei, misses his last bus home upon finishing his one day trip to the dunes, and some local villagers do him a favour and put him up for one night at one woman’s eccentric dwelling at the bottom of a sand pit (the only exit is by a long rope to reach the surface). In this deceptively simple tale, Kobo Abe paints a quietly disturbing picture of one man who finds himself in an unusual situation when he ventures to look for insects in sand dunes.
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