Novelist and playwright, born in Tokyo, Japan. He trained as a doctor, but turned to literature after graduating. Recognition in Japan came with the award of the Akutagawa Prize for The Wall in 1951. His predominant theme of alienation was explored in a series of works, his novels including The Woman in the Dunes (1965), Inter Ice Age Four (1971), and Secret Rendezvous (1980).
Kobo Abe (安部公房 Abe Kōbō, pseudonym of Kimifusa Abe (Abe Kimifusa, March 7, 1924 - January 22, 1993)) was a Japanese writer.
His name is romanized as Kobo Abe in Vintage International's English-language editions of his book, while Columbia University Press offers Three Plays by Kōbō Abe.
Biography
Abe was born in Kita, Tokyo, grew up in Mukden (now Shen-yang) in Manchuria. He worked as an avant-garde novelist and playwright, but it was not until he published The Woman in the Dunes in 1962 that he won widespread international acclaim.
In the 1960s, he collaborated with Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara in adapting to film The Pitfall, Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another and The Ruined Map.
Summaries of selected works
The Ruined Map (1964)
In order to locate a timid woman's missing husband, a private investigator abandons his own identity.
The Ark Sakura (1984)
Fearing imminent nuclear holocaust, an obese survivalist named "Mole" builds a sprawling, technologically well-equipped shelter out of an abandoned quarry.
Kangaroo Notebook (1991)
After seeking treatment for a patch of radish sprouts discovered growing on his legs, an office supply worker is taken on a journey through various surreal locales by a hospital bed with a mind of its own.
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