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143 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
491 people are currently reading
16.5k people want to read
About the author
Kōbō Abe
213?books1,983?followersKōbō Abe (安部 公房 Abe Kōbō), pseudonym of Kimifusa Abe, was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer, and inventor.
He was the son of a doctor and studied medicine at Tokyo University. He never practised however, giving it up to join a literary group that aimed to apply surrealist techniques to Marxist ideology.
Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities.
He was first published as a poet in 1947 with Mumei shishu ("Poems of an unknown poet") and as a novelist the following year with Owarishi michi no shirube ni ("The Road Sign at the End of the Street"), which established his reputation. Though he did much work as an avant-garde novelist and playwright, it was not until the publication of The Woman in the Dunes in 1962 that he won widespread international acclaim.
In the 1960s, he collaborated with Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara in the film adaptations of The Pitfall, Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another and The Ruined Map. In 1973, he founded an acting studio in Tokyo, where he trained performers and directed plays. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977.
He was the son of a doctor and studied medicine at Tokyo University. He never practised however, giving it up to join a literary group that aimed to apply surrealist techniques to Marxist ideology.
Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities.
He was first published as a poet in 1947 with Mumei shishu ("Poems of an unknown poet") and as a novelist the following year with Owarishi michi no shirube ni ("The Road Sign at the End of the Street"), which established his reputation. Though he did much work as an avant-garde novelist and playwright, it was not until the publication of The Woman in the Dunes in 1962 that he won widespread international acclaim.
In the 1960s, he collaborated with Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara in the film adaptations of The Pitfall, Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another and The Ruined Map. In 1973, he founded an acting studio in Tokyo, where he trained performers and directed plays. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977.
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July 7, 2024
Are you up for some weird fiction? I mean REALLY weird fiction. Reading this Kōbō Abe novel, I had the feeling I was floating six feet off the ground - reader as artist of the floating world. If you are up for existentialism of the oddball variety, The Box Man may count among your all-time favorite novels.
The core of existentialism is the opposite of abstract theory; rather, artists and writers of the existential school tend to focus on a particular individual facing the very human dilemma of living in a world frequently absurd and alienating, a world where two men wait for Godot or a teacher walks the streets of a French town with a sense of nausea. So, keeping within the spirit of existentialism, I will refrain from generalizations and zero in on specific passages of Kōbō Abe's 1974 one-of-a-kind novel.
“This is the record of a box man. I am beginning this account in a box. A cardboard box that reaches just to my hips when I put it on over my head."
The narrator of the tale is a writer who sheds his past identity to become a box man. I agree completely with Jerome Charyn's statement from his 1974 New York Times review: "The action of the novel seems to take place inside the box, which has become a kind of labyrinth for the box man, a porous, breathing skin."
“The most important reason to use the standardized form is that it is hard to distinguish one box from another.”
Here the box man shares a key concept for others who might consider becoming box men: if you want to shed individual identity, go all the way; become a box man who cannot in any way be distinguished from other box man; become as indistinguishable as humanly possible. He goes on to provide advice on the ways one can deal with useful objects within one's box - thermos, flashlight, towel, pens, change of clothing.
“To construct your box there is no particular procedure to follow. . . . The greatest care must be taken when making the observation window. . . . Last of all, cut the remaining wire into one-, two-, four-, and six-inch lengths, bending back both ends, and prepare them as hooks for hanging things on the wall.”
Indeed, the most important aspect in being a box man is viewing the world through your slit in your box. Curiously, the box man sounds as if he has developed his own distinctively creative way to become a voyeur, so imaginative that he views himself viewing through his slit as much as the people and objects of his gaze. I recall Ernesto Sabato saying "hell is being looked at." So, for the box man, he can create hell for others via his own gaze while not becoming the subject of the gaze of others.
“As soon as anyone gets into this simple, unprepossessing paper cubicle and goes out into the streets, he turns into an apparition that is neither man nor box. A box man possesses some offensive poison about him.”
I can imagine the reaction of others in the city to the box man. Back in the 70s I recall a college student who wore a black cloak over his body down to his shoes and called himself "The Black Bag." He said after a few days the other students on campus got used to him. Actually, I thought this fellow was rather cool.
“He squeezed the trigger. The barrel of the gun, and then the box, made a noise like that of a wet trouser cuff snapped by an umbrella handle. . . . The lead bullet must have bored into the fellow’s body with great force. But neither the screams nor the jeers he had anticipated were forthcoming.”
Ah! The box man reports a number of case studies, including how one box man was attacked by a gunman. Not everybody in society will remain passive when confronted by a box man.
“The rebounding bullet flying about inside his cranium would doubtless set his brain functions askew. After observing the neighborhood for a while, he drew the curtains over the windows and gingerly crawled into the box. . . . The place seemed very homelike. . . . He wanted to stay like that forever, but in less than a minute he came to his senses and crawled out.”
So the gunman tries out the box for himself. Sorry, it might appear like an appealing way of life conceptually or for the first five minutes, but, as he soon discovers, not everyone is cut out to be a real, live box man.
“I want to spy on all sorts of places, and the box is a portable hole that occurred to me under the circumstances, it being impossible to punch holes throughout the world.”
Now that's worth chewing on. The "ordinary" way of moving around in the world, you are part of the outside thus nothing like looking through a slit in a box. No question - the only way to gain first-hand experience of the box man is to do it yourself.
“The reason men somehow go on living, enduring the gaze of others, is that they bargain on the hallucinations and inexactitude of human eyes.”
Very true. Could you take being seen as you truly are, with all your foibles and quirks? If it wasn't for others' misperceptions we might be running for our boxes. Or so thinks the box man.
“I personally feel that a box, far from being a dead end, is an entrance to another world. I don't know to where, but an entrance to somewhere, some other world.”
But one has the distinct impression the box man has not succeeded in his desire to be in the world without a particular identity. In his box, he actually goes about inventing his own past life and future dreams. But then again, perhaps the box man has a past he wants to hide.
“Clinging to one’s outward appearance interferes with living.”
How much weight do you put on your outward appearance? Would you gain or lose freedom if you chose to live in a box? I recall one of my roommates back in college said if he had a continuous supply of LSD, he'd be more than happy to live his entire life in a closet. How about that - a closet. At least with a box, you can move around.
Recall I said this novel is REALLY weird back there. I wasn't kidding.
Japanese author Kōbō Abe, 1924-1993
March 21, 2025
Christopher 'Alexander Supertramp' McCandless cut up all his cards, destroyed his passport, set fire to money, and went on an all American epic road trip in search of himself; in search of a great freedom. The box man likewise destroyed his own identity papers, but took to a cardboard box in search of losing himself; in search of naked ladies to spy on.
It was difficult not to read Abe's The Woman in the Dunes and not think of Kafka. Here, the Kafkaesque vibes are still evident, but this was more like a mash-up of Samuel Beckett and the Nouveau Roman master Alain Robbe-Grillet. Most of the time we are inside the box; inside the anonymity condition, with the narrative made up of hypothetical voices and events, where things for our box man may or may not have happened.
How can a simple cardboard box be also like living in a labyrinth?
Does the box man have a schizo of multiple identities?
Is he on a quest to have no identity at all?
Did a murder occur?
Emotionless as the novel was, with more questions than answers, I do like voyeuristic narratives, so a good chance I was always going to like this. Here though, it's not peeping from behind the blinds or spying through binoculars. It's...er...a box. With a nice little observation window, and even a vinyl curtain and a plastic shutter for when it rains. I almost wanted to experience the box man life myself. Put it this way, if the box man life is Tokyo's version of skid row, then I know where I'd rather be.
An absurd and creepy, eccentric and engaging, wholly original and clever piece of Japanese lit. For me, it's even better than The Woman in the Dunes.
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December 8, 2020Ka??nc? okuyu?um oldu Kutuadam'??
?ncelikle ''derin okuma neymi??'' onu anl?yorum. Kurdu?um ba?lant?lardan ?rdü?üm a?, delirmi? bir ?rümce?in ard?nda b?rakt??? izlere benziyor. Bu delilikten mamül a??n kar??s?na ge?ip, profes?r g?zlüklerimi takarak bilgi? bilgi? ??kar?mlar yap?yorum. Ama g?zlü?ümü takar takmaz ya?ad???m ilk ayd?nlanma, tam olarak o delili?in i?inde ya?ad???m? g?rmek oluyor. ?yleyse hangi g?zlük koruyabilir beni bu delili?in kar??konulamaz a??ndan? K?rle?me'yi dü?ünüyorum; Kien'i, Therese'nin kitap okurken kulland??? plastik eldivenlerini. Sahi ne oldu Therese'e. Belki ben de Kutuadam'? plastik eldivenler tak?p okumal?yd?m.
Beket'in Acaba Nas?l'?n? an?ms?yorum s?k s?k, ?amurun i?inde tekme-tokat-yumruklar tiyatrosu. S?rtta ta??nan, sadece a??rl?k olsun diye ta??nan, bir ?uval. Pim Pom'a yumruk atarken, arkadan Bam'dan tekme yemektedir ve Bam kafas?na yedi?i yumru?un ?fkesiyle bir tokat daha savururuken... Aynan?n kar??s?na gidip aynaya bak?yorum, yüzüm g?züm ?yle morarm?? ki bu oyun i?inde, üzerine bir de ben k?rm?z? bir ruj sürüyorum. ?aka ?aka diyorum, morluklar da boya; gülümsüyorum- bu hüzünle ne yap?caz? Bilmiyorum.
Yapt???m analizler her ne kadar ''nafile'', hayal ürünü de olsa ?u ya?ad???m?z dünyada kesinlikle bir kar??l??? olduklar?n? biliyorum. Neyin do?ru neyin yanl?? oldu?unu en iyi sen bilirsin, diyor Abe bana, bir de g?z k?rp?yor ama ?yle hafif bir g?z k?rpmas? ki; belki de ben uydurdum diyorum. Bedenimi sars?yorum, ??yle dik durmaya ?al??arak- g?zümden o ak?lll?k emaresi g?zlü?ü ??kar?p bi kenara koyuyor- ve soka?a at?yorum kendimi. Sokak, dans etmek i?in uygun bi yer gibi g?rünüyor Asl?'n?n g?züne. Ba?l?yorum ritmli yürüyü?üme. Acaba Kobo Abe beni g?rse, ne derdi diyorum. Kaybolmu? bir romantik; ak??kan bir beden; yoksa i?inde ya?ad??? kutunun duvarlar?n? ufka kadar geni?letmi? bir kent sakini; normal biri i?te can?m. Gombrowicz iyi anlar bu i?lerden ama ortal?kta g?rünmüyor ?imdilik. ??inde ya?ad???m evi seviyorum, baz? e?yalar?, kitaplar?m?... Hi?bir zaman ilk hedefim sahip olmak olmad?, korkular?m? bast?rmak konusunda cesur davrand?m, en az?ndan bunlarla yetinebilirim diyorum. G?zlerimle Abe'yi ar?yorum onay almak i?in, ?oktan gitmi?. Beckett 'bo?ver sen onu' der gibilerinden bir bak?? at?yor, 'Onun kimseyi sevdi?i g?rülmemi?tir zaten.' Huysuz herif! Can?m Beckett diyorum, bir sar?lmak arzusuyla uzan?yorum, o da gitmi?.
Hababam dans ediyorum ?ünkü yaratt???m pat?rt?n?n kutunun duvarlar?na a?t??? delikler gittik?e büyüyor, a??lan deliklerden daha ?nce g?rmedi?im ?eyler g?rüyorum arada bir. Bir de, deniz kokusu.... Yapma be Asl? diyorum, biliyosun deniz kokusu sadece yüzmeyi bilmedikleri i?in bo?ulan bal?klar? cezbeder. Sahi, ben zaten dereleri seviyorum.
----
?ok k?sa bir süre i?inde d?rdüncü okuyu?um ve her seferinde olanca dikkatimle, ?zet m?zet ??kararak okumama ra?men, hep ayn? tuzaklara dü?üyorum. Kobo Abe ?yle bir oyun kurmu? ki;her okuyu?umda kendimi mukavva kutudan yap?lma at?m?n üzerine binmi?, elimde bir p?rasa, yan?mda da pelu?tan timsah?mla, müthi? bir dedektife d?nü?mü? buluyorum. Sisifos ve Don Ki?ot kar???m? bi' ''ger?ek'' avc?s? oluveriyorum. Bana her seferinde ger?ek Kutuadam'?n kim oldu?u ?nemli de?il dese de, ben her seferinde ar?yorum o ''ger?ek'' Kutuadam'? ve sonunda da turnusol ka??d?yla patates tartmaya ?al??an bir marangozdan ?teye gidemedi?imi ke?fediyorum.
Her okuyu?umda mutlaka bir ?ey ke?fediyorum.
Her seferinde ayd?nland?m san?p, ?abucak s?nüyorum.
Bir de Kutuadam'?n paranoid ?izofren evreninde g?z, g?rmek, bak?? kavramlar? ?yle sivri i?leniyor ki, onunla yata kalka ya?ant?m? bile etkiledi. Bir süredir on kilometre mesafede insan olmayan bir orman?n i?inde ya??yorum ve ormana tuvalete her ??k???mda elinde dürbün beni izleyen biriyle kar??la?acakm???m gibi gerilim ya??yorum yok yere. B?ylece beni izleyen birileri var m? diye sapk?nca bir dürtüyle ormana, a?a?lara ve kendini g?stermeyi sevmeyen sincaplara bakarken ben de HOOPPP! bir dikizciye d?nü?üveriyorum. Sincaplar, ??nar yapraklar?, umars?z ?obanlar ve v?yorizm isimli bir ara?t?rmaya denk gelirseniz, bilin ki bendendir.
Kobo Abe beni eline ald? yo?urdu, ellerinden ve güzel g?zlerinden ?püyorum.
Elveda ve bütün tokatlar i?in te?ekkürler.
?ncelikle ''derin okuma neymi??'' onu anl?yorum. Kurdu?um ba?lant?lardan ?rdü?üm a?, delirmi? bir ?rümce?in ard?nda b?rakt??? izlere benziyor. Bu delilikten mamül a??n kar??s?na ge?ip, profes?r g?zlüklerimi takarak bilgi? bilgi? ??kar?mlar yap?yorum. Ama g?zlü?ümü takar takmaz ya?ad???m ilk ayd?nlanma, tam olarak o delili?in i?inde ya?ad???m? g?rmek oluyor. ?yleyse hangi g?zlük koruyabilir beni bu delili?in kar??konulamaz a??ndan? K?rle?me'yi dü?ünüyorum; Kien'i, Therese'nin kitap okurken kulland??? plastik eldivenlerini. Sahi ne oldu Therese'e. Belki ben de Kutuadam'? plastik eldivenler tak?p okumal?yd?m.
Beket'in Acaba Nas?l'?n? an?ms?yorum s?k s?k, ?amurun i?inde tekme-tokat-yumruklar tiyatrosu. S?rtta ta??nan, sadece a??rl?k olsun diye ta??nan, bir ?uval. Pim Pom'a yumruk atarken, arkadan Bam'dan tekme yemektedir ve Bam kafas?na yedi?i yumru?un ?fkesiyle bir tokat daha savururuken... Aynan?n kar??s?na gidip aynaya bak?yorum, yüzüm g?züm ?yle morarm?? ki bu oyun i?inde, üzerine bir de ben k?rm?z? bir ruj sürüyorum. ?aka ?aka diyorum, morluklar da boya; gülümsüyorum- bu hüzünle ne yap?caz? Bilmiyorum.
Yapt???m analizler her ne kadar ''nafile'', hayal ürünü de olsa ?u ya?ad???m?z dünyada kesinlikle bir kar??l??? olduklar?n? biliyorum. Neyin do?ru neyin yanl?? oldu?unu en iyi sen bilirsin, diyor Abe bana, bir de g?z k?rp?yor ama ?yle hafif bir g?z k?rpmas? ki; belki de ben uydurdum diyorum. Bedenimi sars?yorum, ??yle dik durmaya ?al??arak- g?zümden o ak?lll?k emaresi g?zlü?ü ??kar?p bi kenara koyuyor- ve soka?a at?yorum kendimi. Sokak, dans etmek i?in uygun bi yer gibi g?rünüyor Asl?'n?n g?züne. Ba?l?yorum ritmli yürüyü?üme. Acaba Kobo Abe beni g?rse, ne derdi diyorum. Kaybolmu? bir romantik; ak??kan bir beden; yoksa i?inde ya?ad??? kutunun duvarlar?n? ufka kadar geni?letmi? bir kent sakini; normal biri i?te can?m. Gombrowicz iyi anlar bu i?lerden ama ortal?kta g?rünmüyor ?imdilik. ??inde ya?ad???m evi seviyorum, baz? e?yalar?, kitaplar?m?... Hi?bir zaman ilk hedefim sahip olmak olmad?, korkular?m? bast?rmak konusunda cesur davrand?m, en az?ndan bunlarla yetinebilirim diyorum. G?zlerimle Abe'yi ar?yorum onay almak i?in, ?oktan gitmi?. Beckett 'bo?ver sen onu' der gibilerinden bir bak?? at?yor, 'Onun kimseyi sevdi?i g?rülmemi?tir zaten.' Huysuz herif! Can?m Beckett diyorum, bir sar?lmak arzusuyla uzan?yorum, o da gitmi?.
Hababam dans ediyorum ?ünkü yaratt???m pat?rt?n?n kutunun duvarlar?na a?t??? delikler gittik?e büyüyor, a??lan deliklerden daha ?nce g?rmedi?im ?eyler g?rüyorum arada bir. Bir de, deniz kokusu.... Yapma be Asl? diyorum, biliyosun deniz kokusu sadece yüzmeyi bilmedikleri i?in bo?ulan bal?klar? cezbeder. Sahi, ben zaten dereleri seviyorum.
----
?ok k?sa bir süre i?inde d?rdüncü okuyu?um ve her seferinde olanca dikkatimle, ?zet m?zet ??kararak okumama ra?men, hep ayn? tuzaklara dü?üyorum. Kobo Abe ?yle bir oyun kurmu? ki;her okuyu?umda kendimi mukavva kutudan yap?lma at?m?n üzerine binmi?, elimde bir p?rasa, yan?mda da pelu?tan timsah?mla, müthi? bir dedektife d?nü?mü? buluyorum. Sisifos ve Don Ki?ot kar???m? bi' ''ger?ek'' avc?s? oluveriyorum. Bana her seferinde ger?ek Kutuadam'?n kim oldu?u ?nemli de?il dese de, ben her seferinde ar?yorum o ''ger?ek'' Kutuadam'? ve sonunda da turnusol ka??d?yla patates tartmaya ?al??an bir marangozdan ?teye gidemedi?imi ke?fediyorum.
Her okuyu?umda mutlaka bir ?ey ke?fediyorum.
Her seferinde ayd?nland?m san?p, ?abucak s?nüyorum.
Bir de Kutuadam'?n paranoid ?izofren evreninde g?z, g?rmek, bak?? kavramlar? ?yle sivri i?leniyor ki, onunla yata kalka ya?ant?m? bile etkiledi. Bir süredir on kilometre mesafede insan olmayan bir orman?n i?inde ya??yorum ve ormana tuvalete her ??k???mda elinde dürbün beni izleyen biriyle kar??la?acakm???m gibi gerilim ya??yorum yok yere. B?ylece beni izleyen birileri var m? diye sapk?nca bir dürtüyle ormana, a?a?lara ve kendini g?stermeyi sevmeyen sincaplara bakarken ben de HOOPPP! bir dikizciye d?nü?üveriyorum. Sincaplar, ??nar yapraklar?, umars?z ?obanlar ve v?yorizm isimli bir ara?t?rmaya denk gelirseniz, bilin ki bendendir.
Kobo Abe beni eline ald? yo?urdu, ellerinden ve güzel g?zlerinden ?püyorum.
Elveda ve bütün tokatlar i?in te?ekkürler.
August 4, 2015
Me: "That book was very strange."
Roommate: "What was it about?"
Me: "It's about a man who lives in a box."
Roommate: "For the whole book?"
Me: "I have no idea."
Roommate: "What was it about?"
Me: "It's about a man who lives in a box."
Roommate: "For the whole book?"
Me: "I have no idea."
November 18, 2019
Y?llar ?nce Ahmet Gürcan ?evirisinden okudu?umda bir hayli zorlanm??t?m. ?ok sebep var. En ba?ta daha acemi bir okuyucu olmakla ilgili. Ancak ?imdi ?etin Güven ?evirisini okuyunca y?llar ?nce "ben bu kitab? m? okumu?tum" diye dü?ünmekten kendimi alamad?m.
Bir kere genel metin anlam? konusunda ?ok farkl?l?klar var. Bu ?eviriyi ?ok daha rahat okudum elbette. Benden kaynaklanan sebepler bir yana ?evirinin temizli?i ve ak?c?l??? ger?ekten dikkate de?er.
Metin zaten olduk?a karma??k, ger?ekle kurgunun birbirine girdi?i ?ok deneysel ve kolajl? bir metin. Metin par?alar?, f0to?raflar kurgu ile birle?ince bir sarmal i?inde buluyor insan kendini. Yazar?n klostrofobik atmosfer yarat?m? inan?lmaz. Kendimi yer yer nefes almakta zorlan?rken hissetti?imi s?ylersem abartm?? olmam.
Baz? kitaplar san?r?m b?yle; metin ne kadar karma??k, ne kadar zor gibi g?rünse de sizi i?ine ?ekip bir kutunun i?i kadar bir yer bile olsa orada ya?aman?za sebep oluyor ya i?te bunun keyfi san?r?m paha bi?ilemez. :))
?yi ki bir kez daha okudum. Te?ekkürler DQ ! :)
Bir kere genel metin anlam? konusunda ?ok farkl?l?klar var. Bu ?eviriyi ?ok daha rahat okudum elbette. Benden kaynaklanan sebepler bir yana ?evirinin temizli?i ve ak?c?l??? ger?ekten dikkate de?er.
Metin zaten olduk?a karma??k, ger?ekle kurgunun birbirine girdi?i ?ok deneysel ve kolajl? bir metin. Metin par?alar?, f0to?raflar kurgu ile birle?ince bir sarmal i?inde buluyor insan kendini. Yazar?n klostrofobik atmosfer yarat?m? inan?lmaz. Kendimi yer yer nefes almakta zorlan?rken hissetti?imi s?ylersem abartm?? olmam.
Baz? kitaplar san?r?m b?yle; metin ne kadar karma??k, ne kadar zor gibi g?rünse de sizi i?ine ?ekip bir kutunun i?i kadar bir yer bile olsa orada ya?aman?za sebep oluyor ya i?te bunun keyfi san?r?m paha bi?ilemez. :))
?yi ki bir kez daha okudum. Te?ekkürler DQ ! :)
January 1, 2020
There is no denying the allure of the cardboard box as a protective carapace. Children know this inherently. It's why they are always building forts out of boxes. When I was a kid, my dad repurposed the same cardboard box several years in a row to make Halloween costumes for me and my siblings. I was a robot one year and a turtle the next. Before that my sister had been a dog. All using the same box! The box fit snug over my body, hanging down to my hips, much like that of the box man in this book. It felt safe and comfortable in the box, despite the severe reduction in peripheral vision it caused.
This novel is a mystery of sorts. Part of the mystery is how many box men there really are. Or rather, how many authentic box men. For there is at least one false box man. He wears a box that is identical to the real box man, and it's set up in a nearly identical manner. But why pose as a box man, particularly when box men are considered to be the detritus of society. Perhaps to win over the affection of a certain nurse. And yet the nurse wants the real box man to ditch his box, and is even willing to pay him to do it. So her attitude towards boxes as coverings for men remains in question.
Another part of the mystery is how does one identify a true box man. What constitutes authenticity in this case. At times the real box man interprets the false box man as simply another version of himself. Both the false box man (coincidentally or not, also a false doctor) and the nurse may not truly exist. The box man is recording his story—the book is a collection of personal notes on his life as a box man. He appears to suffer from an identity crisis, perhaps brought on by his life inside the box. He is reluctant to leave the box, though at one time he lived a 'normal' unboxed life, working as a photographer. This is significant, his being a former photographer, for the best photographer is invisible. The box man is obsessed with appearances and with looking. He does not want to be looked at, but he wants to be able to look at others. Hence the box.
Later in the book we find out more about the false doctor (and false box man) through his written affidavit, which also sheds light on certain previously related events. We are also presented, through case reports, with further insights into what may have made the box man who he is today, e.g., what ultimately drove him into the box. But none of this coheres into a stable narrative.
The book includes photographs of at best peripheral relevance, accompanied by cryptic captions, which enhance the mysterious nature of the text. For despite the attempts at organization in the form of case reports and affidavits, what the text engenders most effectively is perpetual disruptions in perception through disorientation. As we draw near to an understanding, the ground shifts and again we are stumbling in confusion. Much like it feels to wander around, as I once did so many Halloweens ago, with a box covering the upper part of one's body.
This novel is a mystery of sorts. Part of the mystery is how many box men there really are. Or rather, how many authentic box men. For there is at least one false box man. He wears a box that is identical to the real box man, and it's set up in a nearly identical manner. But why pose as a box man, particularly when box men are considered to be the detritus of society. Perhaps to win over the affection of a certain nurse. And yet the nurse wants the real box man to ditch his box, and is even willing to pay him to do it. So her attitude towards boxes as coverings for men remains in question.
Another part of the mystery is how does one identify a true box man. What constitutes authenticity in this case. At times the real box man interprets the false box man as simply another version of himself. Both the false box man (coincidentally or not, also a false doctor) and the nurse may not truly exist. The box man is recording his story—the book is a collection of personal notes on his life as a box man. He appears to suffer from an identity crisis, perhaps brought on by his life inside the box. He is reluctant to leave the box, though at one time he lived a 'normal' unboxed life, working as a photographer. This is significant, his being a former photographer, for the best photographer is invisible. The box man is obsessed with appearances and with looking. He does not want to be looked at, but he wants to be able to look at others. Hence the box.
Later in the book we find out more about the false doctor (and false box man) through his written affidavit, which also sheds light on certain previously related events. We are also presented, through case reports, with further insights into what may have made the box man who he is today, e.g., what ultimately drove him into the box. But none of this coheres into a stable narrative.
The book includes photographs of at best peripheral relevance, accompanied by cryptic captions, which enhance the mysterious nature of the text. For despite the attempts at organization in the form of case reports and affidavits, what the text engenders most effectively is perpetual disruptions in perception through disorientation. As we draw near to an understanding, the ground shifts and again we are stumbling in confusion. Much like it feels to wander around, as I once did so many Halloweens ago, with a box covering the upper part of one's body.
From the human chrysalis that is the box man,
Even I know not
What kind of living being will issue forth.
February 3, 2025
???? ????? ??? ??? ?? ?? ???? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ????????? ???? ????? ?????? ??????????? ? ???? ??? ???! ???? ??? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??! ??????? ?? ????????? ?????? ????? ????????. ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ????????. ????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ?????. ?????? ? ???????? ???? ?? ?????? ??????! ????? ??? ?????????????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ????????? ????.
???? ?? ???????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????????????? -?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ? ????? ?? ??? ????? ????- ????? ????? ?? ?????? ? ???? ? ???? ? ????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ? ???? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?????. ?????? ??????? (?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????) ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ???????. ????? ????? ?????????????? ???? ? ?? ???????? ???? ?????. ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ????????? ???? ? ??? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ????????? ?????? ???? ?????. ??? ?????????? ? ???????? ???? ? ???? ? ??? ? ????? ????? ???????? ??????? ??? ?????? ?? ??????? ????? ??????? ????? ? ????????? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ??? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ??????.
?????? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ? ?????? ???????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ?????. ????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ????? ? ?? ????? ????????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??????.
????? ??????? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ????????? ?????? ? ????????? ???????? ?? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ?? ???.
???????? ?????? ????????? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ???? ???????? ? ?????? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ? ?? ????? ??????????? ???? ?? ????????????? ?? ?? ??? ???? (woman in the dune 1964) ? ?????? ????? (the face of another 1966) ????? ????? ?? ?????? ??????????? ?? ???? ?????. (??? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? ??????????!!)
?.?: ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??????????? ? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?? ??????? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ? ????? ?? ???? ????? ?????.
?.? ?: ?? ???????? ??? ??????? ???? ?????. ??? ??????! ????? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ?????! ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ???????! ????? ?? ??????? ???? ???? ?????! ?? ??? ????? ????????? ????? ??.
???? ?? ???????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????????????? -?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ? ????? ?? ??? ????? ????- ????? ????? ?? ?????? ? ???? ? ???? ? ????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ? ???? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?????. ?????? ??????? (?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????) ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ???????. ????? ????? ?????????????? ???? ? ?? ???????? ???? ?????. ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ????????? ???? ? ??? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ????????? ?????? ???? ?????. ??? ?????????? ? ???????? ???? ? ???? ? ??? ? ????? ????? ???????? ??????? ??? ?????? ?? ??????? ????? ??????? ????? ? ????????? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ??? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ??????.
?????? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ? ?????? ???????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ?????. ????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ????? ? ?? ????? ????????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??????.
????? ??????? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ????????? ?????? ? ????????? ???????? ?? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ?? ???.
???????? ?????? ????????? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ???? ???????? ? ?????? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ? ?? ????? ??????????? ???? ?? ????????????? ?? ?? ??? ???? (woman in the dune 1964) ? ?????? ????? (the face of another 1966) ????? ????? ?? ?????? ??????????? ?? ???? ?????. (??? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? ??????????!!)
?.?: ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??????????? ? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?? ??????? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ? ????? ?? ???? ????? ?????.
?.? ?: ?? ???????? ??? ??????? ???? ?????. ??? ??????! ????? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ?????! ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ???????! ????? ?? ??????? ???? ???? ?????! ?? ??? ????? ????????? ????? ??.
July 12, 2009
A mystery-filled riff on the nature of identity, the significance of the gaze, the nature of looking and being looked upon and how this defines who we are.
The story is told primarily in the first person but we never know exactly who is doing the telling. Is it the box man (a man who, no surprise, lives in a box he has strapped on over his body so he cannot be seen), the fake box man (a doctor who tries on a box for himself and is a wannabe box man) or someone else - perhaps Kobo Abe who is obsessively scribbling this story on the inside of his own box?
There is a murder, or a suicide or an assisted suicide but we're never sure who the victim is or exactly what goes down.
There is a menage à trois between the box man, the fake box man and a seductive nurse who allows these men to gaze upon her in various states of undress.
There are questions about what it means to be looked upon. How does it define who we are? If you're hidden in a box and nobody looks at you, what are you? Like the proverbial falling tree in the forest, if you're not seen, do you exist? Or does the box become a kind of coffin?
In seeing there is love, in being seen there is abhorrence. One grins, trying to bear the pain of being seen. But not just anyone can be someone who only looks. If the one who is looked at looks back, then the person who was looking becomes the one who is looked at.
The story is told primarily in the first person but we never know exactly who is doing the telling. Is it the box man (a man who, no surprise, lives in a box he has strapped on over his body so he cannot be seen), the fake box man (a doctor who tries on a box for himself and is a wannabe box man) or someone else - perhaps Kobo Abe who is obsessively scribbling this story on the inside of his own box?
There is a murder, or a suicide or an assisted suicide but we're never sure who the victim is or exactly what goes down.
There is a menage à trois between the box man, the fake box man and a seductive nurse who allows these men to gaze upon her in various states of undress.
There are questions about what it means to be looked upon. How does it define who we are? If you're hidden in a box and nobody looks at you, what are you? Like the proverbial falling tree in the forest, if you're not seen, do you exist? Or does the box become a kind of coffin?
In seeing there is love, in being seen there is abhorrence. One grins, trying to bear the pain of being seen. But not just anyone can be someone who only looks. If the one who is looked at looks back, then the person who was looking becomes the one who is looked at.
November 21, 2019
Bu karanl?k ve absürd kukla dans?, iplerin k?rdü?ümünü ??zmek i?in mi izlenir? Hi? sanm?yorum. Dans? izliyorum ben. Radiohead'in ünsüz b-side par?as? up on the ladder gibi kendi evren bilgisi, kedi gibi gizlisi sakl?s? olan, herkes i?in olmayan, ke?fedenini ?düllendiren bir ba?yap?t.
Ben ve ?teki, ben ve ?teki-ben; bakmak - bak??tan saklanmak; dikizcilik ve te?hircilik; delilik ve kar??-delilik; intihar ve cinayet ve yamyaml?k ve üstü - kutu gibi - kapal? irili ufakl? kavramlar üzerine enfes bir e?retileme. Abe'nin kitaba ?zenle a?t??? deliklerden g?steriyi izleyin - dikizleyin.
8,5 / 10
Ben ve ?teki, ben ve ?teki-ben; bakmak - bak??tan saklanmak; dikizcilik ve te?hircilik; delilik ve kar??-delilik; intihar ve cinayet ve yamyaml?k ve üstü - kutu gibi - kapal? irili ufakl? kavramlar üzerine enfes bir e?retileme. Abe'nin kitaba ?zenle a?t??? deliklerden g?steriyi izleyin - dikizleyin.
8,5 / 10
July 17, 2022
??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ? ????? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???! ??? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ????
???? ????? ??? ???????? ???? ????
??? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ???. ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??????? ????????… (???? ?? ????)?
??? ?? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ? ???? ????? ??? ? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ? ?????? ?? ????. ?? ??? ????? ????? ?? ?? ?? ????? ? ??? ? ?????? ????? ????
???? ????? ??? ???????? ???? ????
??? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ???. ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??????? ????????… (???? ?? ????)?
??? ?? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ? ???? ????? ??? ? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ? ?????? ?? ????. ?? ??? ????? ????? ?? ?? ?? ????? ? ??? ? ?????? ????? ????
November 22, 2019
"Benim ben olamamam gibi bir ihtimal varken, bu denli ?aba sarf edip beni ya?atmaya ?al??man?n ne gere?i var ki?"
Ba?tan sona kadar kutuadam?n varl???n? sorgulatt??? gibi kendimizin de kim oldu?unu sorgulatt? durdu sa? olsun Kobo Abe. ?ok uzunca bir süre buna benzer ba?ka bir metinle kar??la?mayaca??mdan emin olduracak kadar ?ahs?na münhas?r bir metin.
Evet yo?un ve zordu kimi zaman. Kimi zaman tam buldu?umu sand???m izle?imi kaybettirip kaybettirip tekrar buldurdu. Bazen vazge?tim alt metni bulmaya ?al??maktan ?ok ak?ll?l?ktan delirmi? bir adam?n bana anlatt?klar?n? dinlemeye ?al???r gibi okudum. Yine de en sonunda müthi? bir finalle, kendi kutumun i?ine hapsolarak bitirdim Kutu Adam'?.
Tüm kutuadamlara selam olsun :)
Keyifli okumalar.
Ba?tan sona kadar kutuadam?n varl???n? sorgulatt??? gibi kendimizin de kim oldu?unu sorgulatt? durdu sa? olsun Kobo Abe. ?ok uzunca bir süre buna benzer ba?ka bir metinle kar??la?mayaca??mdan emin olduracak kadar ?ahs?na münhas?r bir metin.
Evet yo?un ve zordu kimi zaman. Kimi zaman tam buldu?umu sand???m izle?imi kaybettirip kaybettirip tekrar buldurdu. Bazen vazge?tim alt metni bulmaya ?al??maktan ?ok ak?ll?l?ktan delirmi? bir adam?n bana anlatt?klar?n? dinlemeye ?al???r gibi okudum. Yine de en sonunda müthi? bir finalle, kendi kutumun i?ine hapsolarak bitirdim Kutu Adam'?.
Tüm kutuadamlara selam olsun :)
Keyifli okumalar.
May 7, 2019
"S?z konusu olan bir kutu-adam?n günlü?üdür: Kafamda ta??d???m, her iki yandan kal?alar?ma kadar inen kartondan bir kutunun i?indeyim. ??te o anda, kutu-adam benim."
"E?er insanlar ba?kalar?n?n bak??lar?ndan ka?arak ya?amaya devam ederlerse, bunun nedeni insan g?zünün yanl??l?klar ve sanr?lar yaratt???na emin olmalar?d?r."
Nas?l a??klayaca??m? bilemedim, Abe'nin ?ok farkl? bir kafas? var...
?
"E?er insanlar ba?kalar?n?n bak??lar?ndan ka?arak ya?amaya devam ederlerse, bunun nedeni insan g?zünün yanl??l?klar ve sanr?lar yaratt???na emin olmalar?d?r."
Nas?l a??klayaca??m? bilemedim, Abe'nin ?ok farkl? bir kafas? var...
?
November 19, 2019
Seneler sonra tekrar dü?tüm yolum 'Kutu Adam'a. ?lkinin ?evirisi ne kadar korkun?mu?, ?imdi bunu okuyunca anl?yor insan. Devrim ?etin Güven Hoca en güzel Japon edebiyat? ?evirilerinden bir tanesine imza atm??. Nefes ald?rd?.
Tabii metin nefes ald?rm?yor, aksine nefessiz b?rak?yor. Kutu Adam, hakk?nda isabetli yorum yapman?n ancak ?ok kere okuduktan, ya da kitap hakk?nda hayli uzun süre dü?ündükten sonra mümkün oldu?u kitaplardan. Hakk?nda bir yaz? yazaca??m zaten ?nümüzdeki günlerde, o zamana kadar demlenmeye b?rak?yorum.
'Kumlar?n Kad?n?' ile ba?lamal?, sonra 'Ba?kas?n?n Yüzü' ile devam etmeli bana kal?rsa. 'Kutu Adam' bu ikisinin arkas?na gelmeli. Henüz Abe'yi okumam?? olanlar i?in bunu da buraya not dü?eyim.
?yi okumalar.
Tabii metin nefes ald?rm?yor, aksine nefessiz b?rak?yor. Kutu Adam, hakk?nda isabetli yorum yapman?n ancak ?ok kere okuduktan, ya da kitap hakk?nda hayli uzun süre dü?ündükten sonra mümkün oldu?u kitaplardan. Hakk?nda bir yaz? yazaca??m zaten ?nümüzdeki günlerde, o zamana kadar demlenmeye b?rak?yorum.
'Kumlar?n Kad?n?' ile ba?lamal?, sonra 'Ba?kas?n?n Yüzü' ile devam etmeli bana kal?rsa. 'Kutu Adam' bu ikisinin arkas?na gelmeli. Henüz Abe'yi okumam?? olanlar i?in bunu da buraya not dü?eyim.
?yi okumalar.
January 23, 2020
Az bir demlensin elbet bir ?eyler diyece?im üzerine. B?yle bir ?eviri harikas? sus pus bitirilemez.
May 26, 2007
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 trying to figure things out. I definitely recommend a read. I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it, but I can guarantee that you'll be either completely befuddled or completely obsessed. And befuddled.
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 trying to figure things out. I definitely recommend a read. I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it, but I can guarantee that you'll be either completely befuddled or completely obsessed. And befuddled.
Read
February 5, 2024> What, Exactly, Makes a Novel Memorable?
"Memorable" and "unforgettable" are ubiquitous, often meaningless clichés of reviewing.
But they are also interesting criteria of value. Here at least, "memorable" means prone to uncontrolled, uncategorizable narrative misbehavior.
"Box men" are homeless men who walk around inside cardboard boxes. The boxes are fitted out with viewing portholes, little shelves, hooks, and supplies.
The descriptions of the box are vivid, so precise and unexpected, so that it seems they could only be the result of actually building such a box and living in it. Abe is extremely precise about what goes into the box—what the box man carries around with him—and how such a box is constructed. I would expect that from any realist or surrealist novel; but the details are inserted into unexpected places in the narrative, where they would only occur to someone who has actually spent time in such a box. The stains on the inside of the box, the uses of a small shelf under the observation window, the purposes of a plastic tablet—they outdo Nabokov in their myopic realism, and they produce, for me, a creeping sense that Abe did more than just imagine his subject. I haven't looked into this, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were such things as "box men" in 1970s Japan, and if Abe wasn't one himself. And since "box men" are sociopaths and voyeurs, that's a kind of narrative unreliability that goes well beyond what a reader might infer about the author of Lolita.
(In 2022, a student in a seminar reconstructed a box according to Abe's instructions. We took turns walking around the city in it. I no longer have any doubt Abe did the same. The box was simultaneously empowering, because you can't see the person inside, and embarrassing, because it was about as long as a miniskirt. I used it to stop traffic in downtown Chicago, and I tried walking into a bank lobby.)
The story turns around a "box man," another person who may want to become a "box man," and a nurse they both like. The other man is explicitly a Doppelgaenger and projection of the narrator, so in terms of men's roles, the book is about the nakedness of walking around in public without a box, the temptations of the box's security, and the odd feeling of slipping out of society and living in, and as, a box. In terms of women's roles, the book is substantially more bleak. The nurse only exists in the story to take off her clothes and pose. She is watched by the "box man," once from outside a window, and later from inside a hospital room. The narrator fantasizes about cutting her up and eating her, but that's just a passing thought. Mostly he is stricken with embarrassment about his own body, and the sum total of his idea of relations with women is watching them undress. It's an openly childish, masturbatory fantasy. Over the course of the book, the effect of that relentless, unreflective, supposedly natural way of representing relations is increasingly unpleasant. When he wrote this book, Abe's imaginative universe was so shriveled and poisoned that he could only imagine women as things that are peered at from inside cardboard boxes. I have no problem with violent, misanthropic, deranged or psychotic narratives or narrators, but this one is also unreflective.
The narrative is quirky to the point of opacity, often uncontrolled, wandering, and shapeless. At one point the narrator admits he has made up the other "box man" entirely; several pages are devoted to a fantasy of turning into a fish and drowning; the story is interrupted by notes about the color of the writer's ink or the nature of the paper he is writing on. I take all those shapeless experiments as strategies to keep writing, to get the bizarre story, whatever it is, down on paper. I take the whole novel as a purge: Abe had lived this way, or tried it for a while, or wanted to, and wanted to get past it by writing the book.
What makes all this so memorable? It's the book's refusal to behave. Like Watt or Naked Lunch, two parallels in this regard, it strongly refuses continuity of purpose and imagination. Abe's combination of polymorphic perversions, sociopathic encounters, dry descriptions, inexplicable asides, obsessions with squalor and excretions, grainy street photography, detailed how-to instructions for living in carboard boxes, a plot that veers so often out of the author's control, and small, badly reproduced, disconnected photographs makes it one of the most memorable books in all postwar fiction.
(I have a longer essay on the images in the book, with information about the very rare catalog of Abe's own street photography, here: .)
"Memorable" and "unforgettable" are ubiquitous, often meaningless clichés of reviewing.
But they are also interesting criteria of value. Here at least, "memorable" means prone to uncontrolled, uncategorizable narrative misbehavior.
"Box men" are homeless men who walk around inside cardboard boxes. The boxes are fitted out with viewing portholes, little shelves, hooks, and supplies.
The descriptions of the box are vivid, so precise and unexpected, so that it seems they could only be the result of actually building such a box and living in it. Abe is extremely precise about what goes into the box—what the box man carries around with him—and how such a box is constructed. I would expect that from any realist or surrealist novel; but the details are inserted into unexpected places in the narrative, where they would only occur to someone who has actually spent time in such a box. The stains on the inside of the box, the uses of a small shelf under the observation window, the purposes of a plastic tablet—they outdo Nabokov in their myopic realism, and they produce, for me, a creeping sense that Abe did more than just imagine his subject. I haven't looked into this, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were such things as "box men" in 1970s Japan, and if Abe wasn't one himself. And since "box men" are sociopaths and voyeurs, that's a kind of narrative unreliability that goes well beyond what a reader might infer about the author of Lolita.
(In 2022, a student in a seminar reconstructed a box according to Abe's instructions. We took turns walking around the city in it. I no longer have any doubt Abe did the same. The box was simultaneously empowering, because you can't see the person inside, and embarrassing, because it was about as long as a miniskirt. I used it to stop traffic in downtown Chicago, and I tried walking into a bank lobby.)
The story turns around a "box man," another person who may want to become a "box man," and a nurse they both like. The other man is explicitly a Doppelgaenger and projection of the narrator, so in terms of men's roles, the book is about the nakedness of walking around in public without a box, the temptations of the box's security, and the odd feeling of slipping out of society and living in, and as, a box. In terms of women's roles, the book is substantially more bleak. The nurse only exists in the story to take off her clothes and pose. She is watched by the "box man," once from outside a window, and later from inside a hospital room. The narrator fantasizes about cutting her up and eating her, but that's just a passing thought. Mostly he is stricken with embarrassment about his own body, and the sum total of his idea of relations with women is watching them undress. It's an openly childish, masturbatory fantasy. Over the course of the book, the effect of that relentless, unreflective, supposedly natural way of representing relations is increasingly unpleasant. When he wrote this book, Abe's imaginative universe was so shriveled and poisoned that he could only imagine women as things that are peered at from inside cardboard boxes. I have no problem with violent, misanthropic, deranged or psychotic narratives or narrators, but this one is also unreflective.
The narrative is quirky to the point of opacity, often uncontrolled, wandering, and shapeless. At one point the narrator admits he has made up the other "box man" entirely; several pages are devoted to a fantasy of turning into a fish and drowning; the story is interrupted by notes about the color of the writer's ink or the nature of the paper he is writing on. I take all those shapeless experiments as strategies to keep writing, to get the bizarre story, whatever it is, down on paper. I take the whole novel as a purge: Abe had lived this way, or tried it for a while, or wanted to, and wanted to get past it by writing the book.
What makes all this so memorable? It's the book's refusal to behave. Like Watt or Naked Lunch, two parallels in this regard, it strongly refuses continuity of purpose and imagination. Abe's combination of polymorphic perversions, sociopathic encounters, dry descriptions, inexplicable asides, obsessions with squalor and excretions, grainy street photography, detailed how-to instructions for living in carboard boxes, a plot that veers so often out of the author's control, and small, badly reproduced, disconnected photographs makes it one of the most memorable books in all postwar fiction.
(I have a longer essay on the images in the book, with information about the very rare catalog of Abe's own street photography, here: .)
July 25, 2014
This is possibly Abe's craziest book, which is really saying something. Not necessarily best, as book:Secret Rendezvous|10004] is crazy AND highly coherent, but the ways in which this is flirts with incoherency are extremely interesting. It's got the odd, broken time-frame diary format of Rendezvous but in actually a more ambiguous and complex manner, while the actual story has been stripped back to what first seems sheer bizarre simplicity, but then becomes an echo chamber of variations. There are a few cogent plot organizations, if you dig, but it's really more experiential than that. This isn't necessarily a book to be dissected for clues so much as traveled through, getting jerked back and forth by all the narrative switchbacks and rug-pulling maneuvers.
Any, what's it actually about. As I said, simple:
Put on a box, disappear.
(Also about gaze, looking, being looked at. There's some arguably problematic theory in this, but the structure is so-self-undermining that it's hard to hold Abe accountable, exactly. There's a lot going on, better to just soak it in, reflect, consider.)
In retrospect, perhaps all Abe's books are actually about disappearances. About the thin corrugated cardboard barrier that doesn't always prevent us from falling out of our lives entirely and into some other mode of unheretofore imagined existence. This seems to be Abe at a pivotal point, reflecting all that came before or after in a sanely insane box labyrinth.
Any, what's it actually about. As I said, simple:
Put on a box, disappear.
(Also about gaze, looking, being looked at. There's some arguably problematic theory in this, but the structure is so-self-undermining that it's hard to hold Abe accountable, exactly. There's a lot going on, better to just soak it in, reflect, consider.)
In retrospect, perhaps all Abe's books are actually about disappearances. About the thin corrugated cardboard barrier that doesn't always prevent us from falling out of our lives entirely and into some other mode of unheretofore imagined existence. This seems to be Abe at a pivotal point, reflecting all that came before or after in a sanely insane box labyrinth.
August 24, 2011
The Box Man was cancelled by the Atikokan Public Library after men began disappearing and reappearing with boxes over their heads (probably in the young adult section). One less person to read a newspaper on a stick in 1982 was no big thing but in 1987 two people checked out and then checked out. Cancelled is stamped on the title page. Cancelled again on the next, and the next page in case any wives of veterans were tempted to buy a box big enough for their Juice Newton hair-dos. In case any teenaged volunteers were lured by the forbidden cancelled is stamped again in more places inside the book. Someone got carried away with their stamper! (They must have been issued their own stamper that cancellation day.) How bad could the box man trend have been? (I started a broken bones trend when I was eight. Five kids in my elementary school just had to be like me and sport casts. It is dangerously painful to be trendy.) I have no idea where Atikokan is. It could be a place of box people. One day someone came along and packed all the boxes away, including the cancelled book.
Now it's mine. I wish I felt like I had won... The shut your eyes to another view out of your own window man.
Televisions are boxes. The first thing I ever learned to draw (properly) was a box (I skipped the all-too important step of stick figures. Drawing is like math. I'll be able to paint a mural on the ceiling of a cathedral before I'll ever draw a decent stick figure). Shoulder pads (from 1987! Aha!) were boxy. So what the hell is so free about living in a box? It's BOXED IN because you can't get out. Because The Box Man didn't make a case for invisibility inside a box. People are people (okay some are more like stick figures than others). You can be ignored by the person you are sitting next to! Even before cellphones and portable gaming machines people were ignored. Put on the same outfit and vacant expression that everyone else is wearing. Look like you should be there and you'll be more ignored than anyone wearing a cardboard box. It's not hard to go through a day without talking to a single person. Don't open your mouth. Don't smile at anyone. Does it feel like freedom to be ignored? It is freedom if you don't care. What is freedom worth to you if you don't care?
Boxes have been seen floating on their own. Like dust bowls... Is anyone carried away inside?
The Box Man reads like a how-to. I don't care how many times you say that putting on a box means that no one will notice you. I will notice! (I'm really worried about this homeless chick I used to see every day. She looked a lot like goodreads author KI Hope so I called her Homeless KI. She was probably murdered.) He cares in the same telling way of do this and do that on how to be a box man. He shouldn't have felt so "My stuff!" and "Get off my lawn!" But he did. The Box Man is the voyeur feeling of knowing that there are guys who go to peep show booths in triple x shops. I felt as close to him as I feel to those guys. The box should have had a hole for his dick and he could have sat in a movie theater because what he saw was not real. My stuff! Oh, my stuff!
Rupert Murdoch was found sleeping on piles of News of the World. Someone kicked him out of his own and he's going to take up shop in all of our boxes.
What was so contagious about box men? If you see one and there's a part of you that notices that there are box men you will have to become one? YOU DON'T NEED TO BE INSIDE A BOX TO NOTICE PEOPLE! This book was built on a cheap ass piece of cardboard. (Hiding is from self hate. It is not freedom. Any invisibility fantasy I ever had was not about voyeurism. I don't care what the stupid movies tell you about horny teen boys spying on their French teachers.) Kobo Abe, you really don't get it. People who don't notice box men are pretending not to notice them, just as your box man was pretending not to notice themselves. Too bad you didn't have the depth (my box is 3d) to see it.
Kids used to bump my head with my twins on the school bus. They'd ask me if I felt it when they abused her. There's a kind of feeling it too that's called empathy. If you're going to make a case for actual infection you are going to have to do better, Kobo Abe. Get under my big enough umbrella.
Maybe I'd get a disguise like Kobo Abe's thick black frames. Or one with a fake nose and mustache. Four eyes and extra powerful sense of smell! If I mimed a box I could open new invisible doors (this book really was bullshit).
In seeing there is love, in being seen there is abhorrence. One grins, trying to bear the pain of being seen. But not just anyone can be someone who only looks. If the one who is looked at looks back, then the person who was looking becomes the one who is looked at...
Hogwash. You have to look at yourself and MAYBE you'll understand a little bit of what anyone else is about because you bothered to step out of a tiny box to live in. Now why would anyone want to hide. I know why I would.
P.s. I realized that because my uncle is homeless (by choice) I can thank Jamie Foxx (or Will Smith. That's almost as good) for portraying homeless people on the big screen with such compassion.
Now it's mine. I wish I felt like I had won... The shut your eyes to another view out of your own window man.
Televisions are boxes. The first thing I ever learned to draw (properly) was a box (I skipped the all-too important step of stick figures. Drawing is like math. I'll be able to paint a mural on the ceiling of a cathedral before I'll ever draw a decent stick figure). Shoulder pads (from 1987! Aha!) were boxy. So what the hell is so free about living in a box? It's BOXED IN because you can't get out. Because The Box Man didn't make a case for invisibility inside a box. People are people (okay some are more like stick figures than others). You can be ignored by the person you are sitting next to! Even before cellphones and portable gaming machines people were ignored. Put on the same outfit and vacant expression that everyone else is wearing. Look like you should be there and you'll be more ignored than anyone wearing a cardboard box. It's not hard to go through a day without talking to a single person. Don't open your mouth. Don't smile at anyone. Does it feel like freedom to be ignored? It is freedom if you don't care. What is freedom worth to you if you don't care?
Boxes have been seen floating on their own. Like dust bowls... Is anyone carried away inside?
The Box Man reads like a how-to. I don't care how many times you say that putting on a box means that no one will notice you. I will notice! (I'm really worried about this homeless chick I used to see every day. She looked a lot like goodreads author KI Hope so I called her Homeless KI. She was probably murdered.) He cares in the same telling way of do this and do that on how to be a box man. He shouldn't have felt so "My stuff!" and "Get off my lawn!" But he did. The Box Man is the voyeur feeling of knowing that there are guys who go to peep show booths in triple x shops. I felt as close to him as I feel to those guys. The box should have had a hole for his dick and he could have sat in a movie theater because what he saw was not real. My stuff! Oh, my stuff!
Rupert Murdoch was found sleeping on piles of News of the World. Someone kicked him out of his own and he's going to take up shop in all of our boxes.
What was so contagious about box men? If you see one and there's a part of you that notices that there are box men you will have to become one? YOU DON'T NEED TO BE INSIDE A BOX TO NOTICE PEOPLE! This book was built on a cheap ass piece of cardboard. (Hiding is from self hate. It is not freedom. Any invisibility fantasy I ever had was not about voyeurism. I don't care what the stupid movies tell you about horny teen boys spying on their French teachers.) Kobo Abe, you really don't get it. People who don't notice box men are pretending not to notice them, just as your box man was pretending not to notice themselves. Too bad you didn't have the depth (my box is 3d) to see it.
Kids used to bump my head with my twins on the school bus. They'd ask me if I felt it when they abused her. There's a kind of feeling it too that's called empathy. If you're going to make a case for actual infection you are going to have to do better, Kobo Abe. Get under my big enough umbrella.
Maybe I'd get a disguise like Kobo Abe's thick black frames. Or one with a fake nose and mustache. Four eyes and extra powerful sense of smell! If I mimed a box I could open new invisible doors (this book really was bullshit).
In seeing there is love, in being seen there is abhorrence. One grins, trying to bear the pain of being seen. But not just anyone can be someone who only looks. If the one who is looked at looks back, then the person who was looking becomes the one who is looked at...
Hogwash. You have to look at yourself and MAYBE you'll understand a little bit of what anyone else is about because you bothered to step out of a tiny box to live in. Now why would anyone want to hide. I know why I would.
P.s. I realized that because my uncle is homeless (by choice) I can thank Jamie Foxx (or Will Smith. That's almost as good) for portraying homeless people on the big screen with such compassion.
September 4, 2023
???? ???? ???? ???? ? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??? ????? ? ???? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ?? ????? ?? ???? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ?? ?? ??? ???? ??? ? ?????????? ????. ??? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???? ????? ? ???? ? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ???????? ?? ???? ????? ????? ???? ? ????? ?????? ? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ??????? ?? ?????????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??? ????? ????? ? ???? ????. ??????? ?????? ???? ???? ? ??? ???? ?? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ???? ??. ????? ?? ?? ?????? ?????? ? ???? ?????.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2025
????? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ????.. ?? ?? ????? ??????? ??? ??? ????? ????????
??? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ???????? ?"??????" ?? ???? ?????? ?????????? ????????? ????? ??? ???? "??????" ????? ????? ???? ????? ?? "?????"
???? ??? ????? ????????? ????? ????? ???..
??? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ???????? ?"??????" ?? ???? ?????? ?????????? ????????? ????? ??? ???? "??????" ????? ????? ???? ????? ?? "?????"
???? ??? ????? ????????? ????? ????? ???..
July 5, 2019
“Kutudan bakt???n müddet?e hi?bir manzaradan usanmazs?n.”
.
Birey olmay?,zaman ve mekandan ba??ms?z ?nce varl?klar?na sinmi? tutkular?yla anlat?yor Kobo Abe.
Bir kutunun i?inde ya?am?n asl?nda d?rt duvarda ya?amaktan ?ok da farkl? olmad???n?~
.
Alt?n? ?izdi?im cümlelerin ?oklu?u bir yana; beni sürekli sorgulamaya itti Kutu Adam.
*?zlemek ve izlenilmek
*su?un ne zaman su? say?laca??
*?effafl?k ve te?hir
*ki?iler aras?ndaki s?n?rlar ve kutupla?malar
*ve asl?nda ne istedi?imiz.. 'ger?ekten' ne istedi?imiz.
Kimliklerimizden, sorumluluklar?m?zdan, bizi biz yapt???n? sand???m?z ancak derinine indi?imizde asl?nda hi? de bize ait olmayan ?eylerden s?yr?l?p; bir kutuya s??mak münkün.
S?k??mak ve ??kamamak pahas?na.
Alabildi?ine geni? ?evremizde kulland???m?z alan asl?nda bedenlerimiz kaplad?klar? alan de?il mi?
Biz hacmimiz kadar var de?il miyiz?
Yoksa hepimiz birer kutu insanlar m?y?z?
.
Kobo Abe okunurken kendini a?mayan bir yazar. Sayfalar birikip; kapand?k?a geriye kalan a??rl???yla yer ediniyor akl?n?zda. ?o?unlukla bir sivrisinek gibi kan?n?z? emercesine~
?eviride Devrim ?etin Güven yer al?yor.Kendisinin ‘yenge? konserveleme gemisi’ndeki ?evirisini ?ok sevmi?tim! Ancak Abe’nin eserlerinde Bar?? Bay?ksel ve Ayd?n ?zbek ?evirilerini kendime daha yak?n hissetti?imi s?ylemeden ge?emeyece?im~
Kapak tasar?m? ise sade oldu?u kadar güzel! Asl? Sezer ?al??mas? ~
.
Birey olmay?,zaman ve mekandan ba??ms?z ?nce varl?klar?na sinmi? tutkular?yla anlat?yor Kobo Abe.
Bir kutunun i?inde ya?am?n asl?nda d?rt duvarda ya?amaktan ?ok da farkl? olmad???n?~
.
Alt?n? ?izdi?im cümlelerin ?oklu?u bir yana; beni sürekli sorgulamaya itti Kutu Adam.
*?zlemek ve izlenilmek
*su?un ne zaman su? say?laca??
*?effafl?k ve te?hir
*ki?iler aras?ndaki s?n?rlar ve kutupla?malar
*ve asl?nda ne istedi?imiz.. 'ger?ekten' ne istedi?imiz.
Kimliklerimizden, sorumluluklar?m?zdan, bizi biz yapt???n? sand???m?z ancak derinine indi?imizde asl?nda hi? de bize ait olmayan ?eylerden s?yr?l?p; bir kutuya s??mak münkün.
S?k??mak ve ??kamamak pahas?na.
Alabildi?ine geni? ?evremizde kulland???m?z alan asl?nda bedenlerimiz kaplad?klar? alan de?il mi?
Biz hacmimiz kadar var de?il miyiz?
Yoksa hepimiz birer kutu insanlar m?y?z?
.
Kobo Abe okunurken kendini a?mayan bir yazar. Sayfalar birikip; kapand?k?a geriye kalan a??rl???yla yer ediniyor akl?n?zda. ?o?unlukla bir sivrisinek gibi kan?n?z? emercesine~
?eviride Devrim ?etin Güven yer al?yor.Kendisinin ‘yenge? konserveleme gemisi’ndeki ?evirisini ?ok sevmi?tim! Ancak Abe’nin eserlerinde Bar?? Bay?ksel ve Ayd?n ?zbek ?evirilerini kendime daha yak?n hissetti?imi s?ylemeden ge?emeyece?im~
Kapak tasar?m? ise sade oldu?u kadar güzel! Asl? Sezer ?al??mas? ~
April 19, 2025
?? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?????.
??? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ????.
??? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ????.
January 4, 2020
Kitab?n üslubu, bi?imi ve olaylar hakk?nda sitenin gediklileri zaten yeterince ?ey yazm??. Ben Kobo Abe'nin okudu?um di?er kitab? Kumlar?n Kad?n? ile Kutu Adam'?n bende uyand?rd??? ortak duyguya de?inmek istiyorum: Ka??n?lmaz sondan ka?maya ?al??mak.
Her iki kitapta da karakterin yapmak istedi?i bir i? var. Bunlar bir yerden ka?mak, kendisine dayat?lan ?artlardan kurtulmak veya ba?ka faydalar i?in kendi kimli?inden s?yr?lmaya ?al??mak -kutudan ??kmak- gibi ?eyler. Karakter sürekli kendi kendine ?ok yak?nda istedi?i ?eyi yapaca??n? telkin ediyor. Bunun i?in hamlelerde bulunuyor. Gerekli imkanlar? bir araya getirmeye u?ra??yor ama hep bir mani ??k?yor. Elbiseler kurumuyor, ka??? i?in bulunan ?areler i?e yaram?yor...
Bir debdebe sürerken asl?nda farkediyoruz ki kendine bile itiraf etmese de asl?nda karakterimiz yapmak istedi?i ?eyi hep erteleyerek bir ?ekilde asl?nda i?inde bulundu?u durumdan gizlice -ve su?lu hissederek keyif al?yor. Ka?mak istemiyor, Kutuadaml??? seviyor.
Romanlar farkl? bitsede ben bu rahats?z gibi g?rünen ama su?luca sevilen durumdan kurtulmay? i?ten i?e ertelemek hissini ?ok yo?un hissediyorum okurken. Dü?ününce de kendi hayat?mda bol bol ?rne?ini buluyorum. Finallere ?al??mak gerekirken etraf? temizlemek. Yürümeyen ili?kiyi bitirmek gerekti?ini bilirken hep bir bahane aray???. Spora yeniden ba?lanacak olan gelecek haftan?n hi? gelmemesi...
Her iki kitapta da karakterin yapmak istedi?i bir i? var. Bunlar bir yerden ka?mak, kendisine dayat?lan ?artlardan kurtulmak veya ba?ka faydalar i?in kendi kimli?inden s?yr?lmaya ?al??mak -kutudan ??kmak- gibi ?eyler. Karakter sürekli kendi kendine ?ok yak?nda istedi?i ?eyi yapaca??n? telkin ediyor. Bunun i?in hamlelerde bulunuyor. Gerekli imkanlar? bir araya getirmeye u?ra??yor ama hep bir mani ??k?yor. Elbiseler kurumuyor, ka??? i?in bulunan ?areler i?e yaram?yor...
Bir debdebe sürerken asl?nda farkediyoruz ki kendine bile itiraf etmese de asl?nda karakterimiz yapmak istedi?i ?eyi hep erteleyerek bir ?ekilde asl?nda i?inde bulundu?u durumdan gizlice -ve su?lu hissederek keyif al?yor. Ka?mak istemiyor, Kutuadaml??? seviyor.
Romanlar farkl? bitsede ben bu rahats?z gibi g?rünen ama su?luca sevilen durumdan kurtulmay? i?ten i?e ertelemek hissini ?ok yo?un hissediyorum okurken. Dü?ününce de kendi hayat?mda bol bol ?rne?ini buluyorum. Finallere ?al??mak gerekirken etraf? temizlemek. Yürümeyen ili?kiyi bitirmek gerekti?ini bilirken hep bir bahane aray???. Spora yeniden ba?lanacak olan gelecek haftan?n hi? gelmemesi...
May 26, 2023
Zosta?a mi polecona w ksi?garni, kiedy powiedzia?am, ?e chce co? mrocznego i dziwnego…i w?a?nie to dosta?am!
April 9, 2025
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.
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_ ?? ??????? ?????? ????? ?? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ??? ????? ??? .
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???? ?? ????? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ??????????? ??????? ?? ??????? ??????????
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??? ??? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????? ?? ???? ???
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_ ?????? ?? ????? ????? … ?? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??? .
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_ ?? ??????? ?????? ????? ?? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ??? ????? ??? .
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?? ?? ??? “????????” ?????? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??????? ??????? ?????? ?
?“?????????” ???? ????? ???? ???????? ????? ????? ?? ?????.
December 4, 2019
Yazar?n okudu?um ikinci kitab? Kutu Adam. Kutuda ya?ayan bir adam?n ba??ndan ge?enleri, günlü?ünü okuyoruz. ?stüne dü?ünülmesi gereken bir ?ok konudan bahsediyor g?rmek ve g?rülmek üzerine. Kurgusunda baz? anlarda karakterlerden hangisinin ger?ek oldu?u bile belirsiz hale geliyor. Hatta günlü?ü yazan ki?i mi anlat?yor okuyan m? o noktada bile ?üpheye dü?üyorsunuz. Ba?larda bu durum kopukluk olu?turuyor gibi geldi. Ama biraz ilerleyince konuyu destekleyen bir anlat?m oldu?unu farkettim. Sonras?nda kitap keyifli bir hale geldi. Bilin?li yap?lan bu tarz anlat?mlar? ?ok be?eniyorum. Bu kitab? da severek okudum.
June 22, 2017
Promising as its weirdness may have seemed to me, sadly I failed to connect. Having read and loved The Woman in the Dunes, I like to believe that there was a certain philosophical depth to The Box Man but it clearly evaded me. Other than a few spot-on existential gimmicks, it was mostly a drag for me, since I had lost interest rather early in the book, while the endless monologues following the narrator's non-linear thoughts didn't really help the situation. By no means trash. Just not what I expected.
April 4, 2021
?? ??? ????:
??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ????? ??? ????? ?? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??????
??? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ???????? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?????????? .?? ??? ????? ???? ? ????? ???? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ? ??? ??? ???????. ???? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ???? ???
??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ????? ??? ????? ?? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??????
??? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ???????? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?????????? .?? ??? ????? ???? ? ????? ???? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ? ??? ??? ???????. ???? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ???? ???
July 28, 2021
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March 12, 2023
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