Secret Rendezvous

by Kobo Abe
Secret Rendezvous  
published 2002 by Vintage
binding Paperback
isbn 0375726543   (isbn13: 9780375726545)
pages 192
description From the acclaimed author of Woman in the Dunes comes Secret Rendezvous, the bizarrely erotic and comic adventures of a man searc...more
date added
12-14-06



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 138)



Alexis
Alexis rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/18/07

bookshelves: yum
Read in September, 2003
i read this because the theater company i was working with was adapting it for a show. i'd never heard of Kobo Abe, but we all read a number of his works in preperation for this piece and i'm really glad i was introduced to his work. i haven't read Woman in the Dunes which is his most famous, but i have to say i was really drawn into Secret Rendezvous. it's incredibly bizarre and i always wonder with the Weirdness of east asain art - and Japanese art and culture in specific - how much of my i...more
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Joseph
Joseph rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
08/20/07

bookshelves: fiction
Read in August, 2005
recommends it for: plumbers of creepy subconcious desires
Here the Hospital is the cite of Abe's existential mayhem--nary a chapter goes by where someone isn't watching someone else do it with themselves, an animal, or one or more other human beings. That this is a novel about sex and sexual deviancy and that takes place (increasingly hellishly) within the power structure of a hospital tremendously foregrounds the repercussions of treating desire as a strictly physical phenomena that must be treated systematically. Anyway, while one senses that a lot...more
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Pete
Pete rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
03/14/08

bookshelves: fiction
Read in March, 2008
It warrants all of the "Kafka-esque" descriptions it gets. Unlike Kafka's characters, who never grasp the machinations of their world, the nameless main character of this book, at times, gets hip to the absurdity. As he does, however, he becomes deeper entrenched in the labyrinth sex research hospital, until his initial goals of finding his wife and returning home to normalcy become completely lost. The ending is still confusing me. It's lucidly rendered and absolutely disturbing.
Like this review?   yes   (1 person liked it)
  3 comments

Laura
Laura rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
10/14/07

bookshelves: for-a-class-im-taking
abe's "secret rendezvous" takes place in a hospital that somehow resembles the imperialist nature of everything.

if sex is reduced to biological signals that can be calculated, will all intimacy suffer the same fate?

is it impossible to resist the lure of power when offered a position in the administration?

it's hard to think outside the box from within the box, definitely.
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Alexander
Alexander rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
05/30/08

Read in May, 2008
Pete's review of this was pretty dead-on; it was definitely akin to Burroughs, and in that regard: I still have no idea what it was about.
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  1 comments

John
John rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
04/25/07

bookshelves: fiction
Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in August, 2004
Fucking weird. For fans of Kafka and Beckett. I liked it much more than most people would, I'd wager.
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Frederick
Frederick rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
09/07/07

Read in June, 2005
I never finished this. I probably should.
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Elaine
Elaine rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/23/08

a disturbing, strange read.
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Dhei
Dhei marked it as to-read
11/04/07

bookshelves: to-read
 

Rhapsody
Rhapsody marked it as to-read
07/09/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Mako
Mako rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/17/08

 

justin
justin marked it as to-read
03/15/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Jacob
Jacob rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
05/28/08

 

Jeff
Jeff marked it as to-read
04/14/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Vincent
Vincent rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
09/05/07

 

Jeff
Jeff rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/03/08

 

Simon
Simon rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/10/08

 

Charlie
Charlie is currently reading it
06/23/08

bookshelves: currently-reading
 

Doctorm
Doctorm rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
09/09/07

 

Jackie
Jackie rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
04/26/08

 


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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.78 (101 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.80 (94 ratings)
number of reviews: 8






other editions

Secret Rendezvous (Hardcover)
Secret Rendezvous (Paperback)
Secret Rendesvous (Paperback)