The Box Man: A Novel
by Kobo Abe
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of The Box Man: A Novel.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
This book is not in any lists. Go add it to a list.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 323)
Read in May, 2008
I will admit I'm perplexed by this book. There's a lot going on at the same time as there's very little action, and a dense cloud of unarticulated identities. The questions of identity and perception, originating from and reflecting back upon the self as well as piercing one from an outside source, are the central concerns of the story, and in problematizing common conceptions of these ideas, the narrative itself becomes problematic, approaching meta-narrative and introducing other tangential el...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
So this book is weird, and I have to confess that I wasn't always exactly sure what was going on...
Mainly the story reads like a journal of a "Box Man" or basically someone who has decided to drop out of society in favor of wearing a cardboard box at all times. However, you can also tell that Abe has a background in science (medicine), because we are given detailed directions at the beginning regarding the construction of the box and specific details about survival methods, as thou...more
Mainly the story reads like a journal of a "Box Man" or basically someone who has decided to drop out of society in favor of wearing a cardboard box at all times. However, you can also tell that Abe has a background in science (medicine), because we are given detailed directions at the beginning regarding the construction of the box and specific details about survival methods, as thou...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Well, I'm definitely not sure that I could say I completely understood all of The Box Man, but it was a fun read, really original and interesting.
Backgrounded by a modern society emphasizing shame and modesty, Abe develops a relationship of voyeur/exhibitionist, typified by the relationship between the characters of the Box Man (and the "fake Box Man") and the former nude model nurse. I read into this relationship a certain metaphor to authoring and reading. The Box Man is a sort o...more
Backgrounded by a modern society emphasizing shame and modesty, Abe develops a relationship of voyeur/exhibitionist, typified by the relationship between the characters of the Box Man (and the "fake Box Man") and the former nude model nurse. I read into this relationship a certain metaphor to authoring and reading. The Box Man is a sort o...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
as many japanese art forms, this book needs patience to be fully read, let alone understood. it starts with some quiet alluring chapters, up until chapter 3 but for those who aren’t familiar with japanese literature, it would lead to a never ending absurdity + non-sense right afterwards. my advice would be please bear with those craps… entertain yourself by staring at sum obscure photographs with a similar caption which cums up every now + then while you’re at it, and suddenly you’ll get...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2004
recommended to heel by:
Christian Mattsonrecommends it for: The young men protecting <i>my</i> freedoms overseas.
Kobo Abe made really high quality, surreal fiction. "Japan's Kafka" or whatever,
(IMHO, any critic who resorts to any version or variation of
that fucking meaningless trick ought to be fired for
laziness, then blacklisted for disrespect.)
so if you are into writing serious surreal prose, I'd check him out.
Oh, and I like The Box Man better than Woman In The Dunes; so if...more
(IMHO, any critic who resorts to any version or variation of
that fucking meaningless trick ought to be fired for
laziness, then blacklisted for disrespect.)
so if you are into writing serious surreal prose, I'd check him out.
Oh, and I like The Box Man better than Woman In The Dunes; so if...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
“The Box Man” is a seductive adventure. You get lost in the narrative, figuratively and literally. You become a box. Identity is lost, made-up, dreamt. The idea of pure voyeurism is expounded upon: a photographer’s pornography, an author’s pornography. As is pure exhibitionism: baring ones soul, everything. It’s sexy and gritty, like you would imagine life in a box. Once you climb in you won't take it off. “Actually a box, in appearance, is purely and simply a right-angled parallelep...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This novel messes with your head. Really.
As far as Kobo goes, I prefered Woman in the Dunes for pure entertainment, but the Box Man goes into uncharted territory (whereas Woman in the Dunes grasps at fairly traditional existentialism, albeit from a unique perspective)
Who is the Box Man? Is he one? Two? Three? Everyone? You could read this book a thousand times and still not unravel the mystery. I, of course, have my own opinion, but the beauty of this book is that you just can't stop ...more
As far as Kobo goes, I prefered Woman in the Dunes for pure entertainment, but the Box Man goes into uncharted territory (whereas Woman in the Dunes grasps at fairly traditional existentialism, albeit from a unique perspective)
Who is the Box Man? Is he one? Two? Three? Everyone? You could read this book a thousand times and still not unravel the mystery. I, of course, have my own opinion, but the beauty of this book is that you just can't stop ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in September, 2007
for me this isn't a book that lends itself to a coherent description of what happened, as a night spent awake outside and cold, maybe slightly drunk, hungry, locked out or with nowhere to go, thinking in short bursts and fragments, finally getting to sleep when the sun is up the next morning and waking up sometime later and remembering only parts of the night before, not even the most interesting parts, doesn't.
i guess i would compare this to some of kafka's stories; i think i've read other ...more
i guess i would compare this to some of kafka's stories; i think i've read other ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
I have read this book multiple times [3 times, I think]. It was recommended to me from a thesis advisor in Art school.
I love its nonlinear feel.. and its unique vision. It isn't for the "normal" reader", i believe. It is very strange twisty tale. I find the building up of this subculture of people who escape in boxes the most enjoyable aspects of the story.
I love its nonlinear feel.. and its unique vision. It isn't for the "normal" reader", i believe. It is very strange twisty tale. I find the building up of this subculture of people who escape in boxes the most enjoyable aspects of the story.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone with a love of complex plots
I would have to put this book down after every few chapters or so, just to sit and mull over everything that I had just read. It had pictures in it, which I love, and a very complex plot. Excellent work. :)
Like this review?
yes
2 comments
Read in January, 2007
One of the strangest books I have read, with its non linear time line and convoluted narrative,yet there is a dark tenderness underlining its rather wet cardboard melancholy
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Interesting but uneven story of a man who gives up everything to wander the streets inside a cardboard box. Or does he?
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
this book has been seeping into my mind for a while. it got me really excited to read everything this guy wrote!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
if [ellison's] the invisible man and a rollercoaster were to somehow mate, this book would eat their baby.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
very good experience from 'the box'. (sorry no time to review but highly recommend it.)
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2006
first thought that comes to mind: conceptual rollercoaster
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
interesting so far. . .
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
