What do You think about The Ruined Map (2001)?
I hadn't read a novel by Kobo Abe before, but was intrigued by the cover of the Vintage International Edition of The Ruined Map. And when I read the back it piqued my interest: "In Ruined Map, Kobo Abe fashioned a literary crime novel that combines the narrative suspense of Chandler with the surreal imagery of Kafka and the psychological acuity of Dostoevsky."I'm finding that I have trouble appreciating surrealism these days (see my bafflement with Buenel films). I found it interesting, but inexplicable at times. Just when it got interesting it would get abstract and difficult to follow. I guess I was expecting more of a straightforward hard-boiled detective novel, but coming from a writer influenced by Beckett I should have known better. Some of the characters are well drawn, like the wife of the missing man and her brother. As the novel progresses the seedier it gets, but then again it sort of veers into a study of human psychology and lost identity. The ending is particularly unsatisfying. But it isn't about solving the mystery so much as mapping the human psyche and people's connections with others. Challenging and interesting, but I think I need to read something more digestible next.
—Patrick McCoy
I’ll admit it. I was a little distracted while reading the ending of this book. I read the last 20-30 pages on a plane while a baby was screaming bloody murder. Yes, I had my head phones on and yes, I had trouble following the book. Under normal circumstances, a quiet room with a cup of tea, I don’t think I would have understood the book either. It moves in and out of focus for me. There was a lot in it about sexuality and the blurring of female/male relationships and aesthetic. In fact, that was a large part of the book. I liked that about the book, but I am left wondering what part that played in the overall loss of identity. Beyond the obvious link to identity it was a bit hazy. I like the blurring of realities, but I felt a little too confused at certain points. There was so much description revolving around action (people fighting/rioting outside of the bus). I also wonder how much I missed by not understanding the history of Japan in the 1960’s. I felt like I had taken some kind of drug myself and I couldn’t really find the thread that linked events and people to the end of the story. Maybe this was intentional on Abe’s part.The idea of the ruined map as a concept really struck me, but I didn’t feel like it was fleshed out enough. I didn’t want everything spelled out for me, but I felt I needed a little more characterization/back story of the detective in the story. It wouldn’t have hurt to give us more information about the wife who hired the detective either. In fact, I wanted to know if my assumption that she had hired the detective in order to turn him into her husband was partially true or what. Or was he the husband all along and was she trying to help him remember who he was etc. See? Confusing. If there had been a bit more in the way of parallels between the detective and the missing husband this could have been clarified. I always wonder how much is lost in translation. This is no exception.Sometimes writing about my experience after reading a book makes me feel better about the book. In this case, it brought more clarity into the overall, broad picture and the subject matter. It strikes me as odd that the few reviews that I’ve read (mostly just on goodreads) said nothing about the aspect of sexuality in the book. Most just talk about the “existential detective” and losing one’s identity. Maybe I am pinpointing a more specific means to an end, but there was more going on (I think)than just losing one’s identity through one thing or another. I think I’ll reread that last 20-30 pages.P.S. My favorite Kobo Abe is Woman in the Dunes.
—Christi
On the surface, this is a story about a private investigator who is hired to track down a husband who went missing several months prior. In many ways, it reminded me of a noir novel. It was a gritty tale that took the unnamed investigator to seedy sites as he tried to track down the missing husband. He came across many Illicit activities and underworld criminals, causing him to imagine a variety of possible scenarios. However, the story took on surreal, psychological twists and challenged the reader as the story progressed. For that reason, this book didn't quite fit into a classic crime genre. Instead, the reader was taken on a journey in which reality and fantasy became one and the reader was left wondering how the transformation they'd just witnessed occurred. I ended up reading a few reviews of this book and the author's wider body of work after I finished reading this book, which helped clarify some of the plot points and let me know I was not alone in being mystified by others.
—Megan
