- Paperback: 333 pages
- Publisher: Vintage Books; 1st Vintage International Ed edition (Mar 1989)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679721614
- ISBN-13: 978-0679721611
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,137,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A classic from the renowned Japanese novelist about isolation and the threat of a nuclear holocaust, The Ark Sakura is as timely today as it was at its original publication.
In this Kafkaesque allegorical fantasy, Mole has converted a huge underground quarry into an “ark” capable of surviving the coming nuclear holocaust and is now in search of his crew. He falls victim, however, to the wiles of a con man-cum-insect dealer. In the surreal drama that ensues, the ark is invaded by a gang of youths and a sinister group of elderly people called the Broom Brigade, led by Mole's odious father, while Mole becomes trapped in the ark's central piece of equipment, a giant toilet powerful enough to flush almost anything, including chopped-up humans, out to sea. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
In this Kafkaesque allegorical fantasy, Mole has converted a huge underground quarry into an “ark” capable of surviving the coming nuclear holocaust and is now in search of his crew. He falls victim, however, to the wiles of a con man-cum-insect dealer. In the surreal drama that ensues, the ark is invaded by a gang of youths and a sinister group of elderly people called the Broom Brigade, led by Mole's odious father, while Mole becomes trapped in the ark's central piece of equipment, a giant toilet powerful enough to flush almost anything, including chopped-up humans, out to sea. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I cannot claim to fully understand this book, other than an apparent theme about reclusiveness and fragmentation of society generally consistent with other Abe work, but I did find it very enjoyable and it seemed a shame that nobody had so far reviewed it here. The story is told in the first person by a survivalist who has created this extremely well-equipped and vast nuclear shelter. Despite the narrator being an oddball, Abe manages to get the reader (me anyway) to sympathise with him. I won't give away any more plot. It is amusing, very easy to read and I would say seems to have been very well translated. One of the reviews on the back cover likens Abe's style to Edgar Allan Poe. I had no idea what this meant at first - so I read some Poe afterwards (especially the Pit and the Pendulum) and then saw the similarity in terms of Abe's commitment to description of strange detail and strange experience.
Format:Paperback
Abe's distopian novel, the Ark Sakura, is a hilarious misadventure of a bunch of half-mad and feckless characters secreted away in an underground system. The tragic lining is all the more poignant and apparent from today's perspective of global corruption and societies entering the fringe. Abe's style here is very intimate and informal which makes for easy reading and it is often the detail and humour of the characters which produce the most tongue-biting comedy. Mole, the protagonist, is an uncanny and creepy character who is obsessed with the girl he is confined with, and his relationship with her is all the more difficult because of the undefined relationship she and Mole have with another man, who is a shill, or a decoy shopper.
As is often the case in Japanese novels, it is the subtle and complex ingredients which constitute the relationship between people which is the essence and focus of the work; and Abe is no different. Apart from the main character, here, I felt the others were somewhat peripherally drawn. They were vague and remote, almost like dummies or androids, and I am sure Abe has done this on purpose, but lends the work a very odd feel, as if the main character is in fact totally alone and surrounded by hallucination because the other people are so ill-defined and vague that no face can be given to them. And although the main character does analyse them and find their faults and benefits, we come to the conclusion that above all he is baffled by them, and watching this happen as the reader is just hilarious. Abe has a real apt for making the absurd seem sensible and the worst of human characteristics endearing, so in one way this novel depicts its people very well, but on the other hand I feel that there is always an open-ended aspect to them which remains to be filled; and it is this mystery which produces the effect of the novel.
Abe's sense of humour is volcanic and I could not imagine a more morose novel than one set in a decaying, apocalyptic world where humans are essentially turned into animals in order to survive. Is this Abe's point? Is there a message to this work at all? I doubt it; it pokes fun and does not attempt to portray the meaning of life. Maybe that is the point: life as a mad, misadventure where characters shift and change; where priorities dictate behaviour of individuals. And as other reviewers have commented on, about 2/3rds of the way through, the plot really thickens, I mean, it turns to custard and we become embroiled in a macabre world of the imagination where layers of reality twist and characters seem to come and go like a dream. All the while, Mole is thinking of the woman's ass, despite his life being in danger. I think it is, in the end, a brilliant and dour comment on man's tragic situation in life. A very funny and sad work. It is also unique!
As is often the case in Japanese novels, it is the subtle and complex ingredients which constitute the relationship between people which is the essence and focus of the work; and Abe is no different. Apart from the main character, here, I felt the others were somewhat peripherally drawn. They were vague and remote, almost like dummies or androids, and I am sure Abe has done this on purpose, but lends the work a very odd feel, as if the main character is in fact totally alone and surrounded by hallucination because the other people are so ill-defined and vague that no face can be given to them. And although the main character does analyse them and find their faults and benefits, we come to the conclusion that above all he is baffled by them, and watching this happen as the reader is just hilarious. Abe has a real apt for making the absurd seem sensible and the worst of human characteristics endearing, so in one way this novel depicts its people very well, but on the other hand I feel that there is always an open-ended aspect to them which remains to be filled; and it is this mystery which produces the effect of the novel.
Abe's sense of humour is volcanic and I could not imagine a more morose novel than one set in a decaying, apocalyptic world where humans are essentially turned into animals in order to survive. Is this Abe's point? Is there a message to this work at all? I doubt it; it pokes fun and does not attempt to portray the meaning of life. Maybe that is the point: life as a mad, misadventure where characters shift and change; where priorities dictate behaviour of individuals. And as other reviewers have commented on, about 2/3rds of the way through, the plot really thickens, I mean, it turns to custard and we become embroiled in a macabre world of the imagination where layers of reality twist and characters seem to come and go like a dream. All the while, Mole is thinking of the woman's ass, despite his life being in danger. I think it is, in the end, a brilliant and dour comment on man's tragic situation in life. A very funny and sad work. It is also unique!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Kobo Abe, Japanese Beckett
2 Jan 2000
Format:Hardcover
A truly weird and amusing novel, Ark Sakura by Kobo Abe (The Woman in the Dunes) has the extraordinary ability to abolish your everyday reality in favor of its vivid, voyeuristic depiction of the bizarre consequences of an utterly unsupervised reality, a twisted kindergarten of mad adults, ungoverned and unpredictable. the Mole has retreated, along with his disturbing family background and unpleasant appearance, into a secret world beneath the crust of Japan, and in these dank, reverberating caverns of an abandoned underground quarry has been able to rejuvenate his despairing perspectives by creating a smaller living world from the refuse of another greater world, utterly self-sufficient, certainly more than capable of surviving and surviving well any imminent global apocalypse. setting off into the common life above ground, having decided it is time to consider populating his subterranean ark in preparation for the expected catastrophe, Mole encounters a peculiar group of human cast-offs, all becoming irrevocably enmeshed in a strange and surreal tale that is a beautiful open sore in the skin of the human condition. admirers of Beckett will be unable to resist Kobo Abe's magnificent ability to evoke situations and settings at the same time vast and apparently endless, yet isolating and confining; fantastic prisons of the exiled and forgotton.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Expert modern fable
15 Mar 2004
Format:Paperback
Thematically, this novel is similar to Abe's more famous book, 'The Woman in the Dunes;' it emphasizes a sense of community and connection with others. What I like about it (among other things) is that it's hardly a sledgehammer philosophical message; it allows for vaguery. The main character is a misanthrope whose personal philosophy seems to be the target of criticism, yet he is never overtly punished and is capable of questioning his views. The other characters are liars, criminals and dirty old men, but all are made sympathetic to some degree in the face of global holocaust. As far as the writing goes, it is very straightforward. I think Abe does an amazing job of both developing character and allowing the reader to visualize such an outlandish setting as the Ark.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
This ark has a few leaks....
25 Nov 2003
Format:Paperback
Pig, who prefers to be called Mole, has taken up residence in an abandoned stone quarry, slowly converting it into an ark to save humanity during the inevitable nuclear holocaust. He has room for a little over 300 people to become his crew, but must be selective in his choosing. Only those who he deems acceptable will be offered safe harbor in his huge ship.
During one of his few outings to buy provisions for the ark, he comes across Komono, an insect dealer, and after lunching with him, offers one of the keys to the ark. Komono asks if he can think on it and walks off to use the bathroom. In the meantime, two sakura, or shills, trick Mole into giving up two keys. They immediately make a run for the ark, followed by Komono and Mole in hot pursuit. When they reach the ark, they discover that they are not alone in the depths of the quarry.
The remainder of the book discusses a wide variety of topics from old age in the form of the Broom Brigade, environmentalism, survivalism, murder, loyalty, sex, humanity and nuclear devastation. More and more chaacters are added as the book progresses, each with a different story to tell, making it difficult to follow along and unenjoyable to read. I still am not sure exactly what point the author is trying to make with this novel, or even if there is a point to it. The characters themselves were not believable to me, especially Mole, a big, fat man who is obsessed with the end of the world and the female shill's behind, continually wanting to pat it even when his life is in danger.
The only saving grace for me is Abe's writing. He has a very fluid style that's descriptive and easy to read. But, with the piling on of characters and story lines, I can't say that I would add this to a must-read list.
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