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The Woman in the Dunes
- Narrated by: Julian Cihi
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
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Publisher's summary
The Woman in the Dunes, by celebrated writer and thinker Kobo Abe, combines the essence of myth, suspense, and the existential novel.
After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village.
His only companion is an odd young woman. Together, their fates become intertwined as they work side-by-side at this Sisyphean task.
Critic reviews
“Devious, addictive.... Never less than compulsive.... Abe is an accomplished stylist.” (David Mitchell)
“Abe follows with meticulous precision his hero's constantly shifting physical, emotional and psychological states.” (The New York Times Book Review)
“As is true of Poe and Kafka...Abe creates on the page an unexpected impulsion. One continues reading, on and on.” (The New Yorker)
Featured Article: 10 Famous Japanese Authors You Have to Hear
Thanks to the work of translators and publishers, Japanese literature is now more accessible than ever to English-speaking audiences. If you've ever wanted to learn more about Japanese culture and literature, you cannot go wrong with listening to audiobooks from Japan. We've compiled a list of the most famous Japanese authors who have helped define Japanese literature, and their notable works across genres and time periods.
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Una finísima sátira alegórica del autor Kobo Abe en la que disecciona nuestras obsesiones y el absurdo de la vida que nos rodea. El locutor de un programa de radio sobre Marte ve amenazado su modo de vida a raíz de una misión espacial que pretende llegar al planeta rojo. Poco después recibirá la visita de alguien que afirma ser marciano y que lo arrastrará a una delirante espiral de desconciertos. Una novela que pone una sonrisa en la cara del lector para después helársela.
By: Kobo Abe
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No Longer Human - Confessions of a Faulty Man
- By: Osamu Dazai
- Narrated by: Simon Jackson
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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No Longer Human (1948, Ningen Shikkaku / A Shameful Life / Confessions of a Faulty Man) was an attack on the traditions of Japan, capturing the postwar crisis of Japanese cultural identity. Framed by an epilogue and prologue, the story is told in the form three notebooks left by Ōba Yōzō, whose calm exterior hides his tormented soul. Osamu Dazai was a Japanese author who is considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th century Japan. A number of his most popular works, such as Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), are considered modern-day classics in Japan.
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good
- By fatima on 05-06-24
By: Osamu Dazai
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The Gate
- By: Natsume Soseki, Pico Iyer - introduction, William F. Sibley - translator
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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A humble clerk and his loving wife scrape out a quiet existence on the margins of Tokyo. Resigned, following years of exile and misfortune, to the bitter consequences of having married without their families' consent, and unable to have children of their own, Sosuke and Oyone find the delicate equilibrium of their household upset by a new obligation to meet the educational expenses of Sosuke's brash younger brother. While an unlikely new friendship appears to offer a way out of this bind, it also soon threatens to dredge up a past that could once again force them to flee the capital.
By: Natsume Soseki, and others
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Sun and Steel
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Matthew Taylor
- Length: 2 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In this fascinating document, one of Japan's best known - and controversial - writers created what might be termed a new literary form. It is new because it combines elements of many existing types of writing, yet in the end, fits into none of them. The road Mishima took to salvation is a highly personal one. Yet here, ultimately, one detects the unmistakable tones of a self transcending the particular and attaining to a poetic vision of the universal.
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SNOOZEFEST
- By Ivan Rueda on 04-17-21
By: Yukio Mishima
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I Am a Cat
- By: Soseki Natsume, Aiko Ito - translator, Graeme Wilson - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him. A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of Soseki's best-known novels. Considered by many as the greatest writer in modern Japanese history, Soseki's I Am a Cat is a classic novel sure to be enjoyed for years to come.
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Great performance!
- By mz on 04-03-20
By: Soseki Natsume, and others
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The Setting Sun
- New Directions Book
- By: Osamu Dazai
- Narrated by: June Angela
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the early postwar years, it probes the destructive effects of war and the transition from a feudal Japan to an industrial society. Ozamu Dazai died, a suicide, in 1948. But the influence of his book has made "people of the setting sun" a permanent part of the Japanese language, and his heroine, Kazuko, a young aristocrat who deliberately abandons her class, a symbol of the anomie which pervades so much of the modern world.
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MORE OSAMU DAZAI TRANSLATIONS PLEASE!!!!!
- By Lucky on 10-19-22
By: Osamu Dazai
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Immortality
- By: Milan Kundera
- Narrated by: Richmond Hoxie
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Milan Kundera's sixth novel springs from a casual gesture of a woman to her swimming instructor, a gesture that creates a character in the mind of a writer named Kundera. Like Flaubert's Emma or Tolstoy's Anna, Kundera's Agnes becomes an object of fascination, of indefinable longing. From that character springs a novel, a gesture of the imagination that both embodies and articulates Milan Kundera's supreme mastery of the novel and its purpose: to explore thoroughly the great themes of existence.
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Cerebral Crosswinds in Parisian fields
- By W Perry Hall on 01-13-14
By: Milan Kundera
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The Red and the Black
- By: Stendhal
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Young Julien Sorel, the son of a country timber merchant, carries a portrait of his hero Napoleon Bonaparte and dreams of military glory. A brilliant career in the Church leads him into Parisian high society, where, 'mounted upon the finest horse in Alsace', he gains high military office and wins the heart of the aristocratic Mlle Mathilde de la Mole. Julien's cunning and ambition lead him into all sorts of scrapes.
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Slow and wordy
- By Chrissie on 08-30-14
By: Stendhal
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The Memory Police
- A Novel
- By: Yoko Ogawa, Stephen Snyder - translator
- Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses - until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten. When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards.
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A Calm, Quiet Dystopian
- By Booky Nooky on 12-13-19
By: Yoko Ogawa, and others
What listeners say about The Woman in the Dunes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Daniushka
- 09-24-23
I really wanted to like it
I have probably been corrupted by tik tok and instagram but despite my efforts to keep an open mind I found this novel to be dreadfully boring and repetitive. It was asphyxiating by boredom not so much by the story. In addition at times it felt as if the translation was wrong, using words and expressions that were not of literary levels. I hated the performance, sounded very fake. :(
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- Mauricio Torres
- 02-23-20
pretty good!
i thought it was a really good story! there were parts that lost me, but over all it was good, not too complicated, not too stale! good story!
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- GR
- 08-13-23
If Kafka was Japanese
Parallels a lot of themes Kafka tackles in the general sense of story and structure - I.E. reflective characters, ideological commentary, etc.
I enjoyed it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-19-20
Woman in the Dunes- Review
interesting progression of plot
well read. Good character development. realistic yet surprising ending
good book.
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- BBWrighter
- 03-04-24
I surprisingly felt better about life after reading this book.
I like how this parable made me think about my own life. I’m a retired person whose husband left me after 38 years of marriage. By time I get the sand shoveled each day with the things that responsible adults should do, I often feel like the man. And not to be depressed. It actually made me realize I am not alone in my thoughts. Perhaps our daily grind is a human condition. I also like how he ounces his ideas off of his knowledge about insects.
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- Elisa
- 10-22-20
too much self analysis/reflection
I was forced to read this book read this book for class. I didn't enjoy it. Perhaps you might if you like a lot of self reflection. The narrator did a great job!
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3 people found this helpful
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- William Pauley III
- 01-12-22
Keep 'em coming!
Kobo Abe is my favorite author. I hope his other books (English translations) will be made available in audiobook format soon! Really enjoyed this performance.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ysidro Joan Vela
- 02-12-21
Wonder
A wonderful journey such a bitter sweet filled with fullest sense of acquired love.
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1 person found this helpful
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- AE Martin
- 11-23-23
A metaphore for those trapped
Through its use of metaphor and captivating storytelling, "Woman in the Dunes" brilliantly captures the struggles of being trapped in life's repetitive cycle. It serves as a powerful reminder to break free from these shackles and live life on our terms. After all, no one wants to end up like the entomologist, endlessly shoveling sand for eternity.
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- Mr. Sagan
- 07-20-19
Nihilistic horror
I struggled to finish this because of how insanely depressing it is. Only read this if you are prepared for that. I listened to it while working. Worst idea of my life.
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19 people found this helpful