You are browsing the forum as a guest. Please log in or register to access additional features.
Online reading group and book discussion forum
  FORUMS ABOUT BOOKS VIDEOS ADVERTISE LINKS BLOGS DONATE CHAT CONTACT  

     Log in   Register 


BookTalk.org News
• It's time to start suggesting books for our next fiction and non-fiction book discussions. You'll see the new suggestions threads in the appropriate forums. Tell us what you would like to read and discuss next.

• The live chat with Dr. Frans de Waal will be Thursday, July 30th at 9:00 pm Eastern. Mark your calendars! We'll be discussing book Primates and Philosophers!

If you enjoy business bestsellers and would like to expand your business knowledge check out the quality book summaries offered by the world's leading book summary company.

BookTalk.org Links
Community Information
Community Rules & Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
For Authors & Publishers
Advertise on BookTalk.org
Featured Book Suggestions
Live Author Chat Transcripts
Our old Ezboard/Yuku forum
Book Discussion Leader

Support BookTalk.org
Donate securely with PayPal
BookTalk.org Merchandise

Just for Fun
Games - 170 & growing!
Member Photo Album
Rationally Speaking articles


BookTalk.org Statistics
Forum & Member Statistics
Site Traffic Statistics
Amazon.com Sales Stats



"Brothers Kept Apart"

Christians and Muslims
needlessly kept apart
for the past 1,300 years


New comprehensive study reveals harmony between the essential teachings of the Bible and the Qur’an, without compromising the teachings or damaging the integrity of any verse in either book.


Brothers Kept Apart: Examining the Christian and Islamic religious barriers that have divided Christians and Muslims for over 1,300 years - by Walter Phillips

by Walter Phillips


"The Travelers"

JUST RELEASED!

Young Americans, French hippies, Canadian drug smugglers, home bound Muslim woman, travelers…intertwined lives in Casa Blanca, Morocco.


The Travelers by Delaney Henderson

by Delaney Henderson


Current Featured
Book Suggestions


Sacred Hearts: A Novel by Sarah Dunant

More Featured Book Suggestions


We need your support!

We need your support!
If you appreciate BookTalk.org please support us by making a donation today.

See who supports us


FACTS: Freethought - Atheism - Critical Thinking - Science

Member Blogs
BookTalk.org Member Blogs


View all member Blogs
See the latest Blog posts


Show us where you live!
BookTalk.org Member Map


Display Pagerank


the-woman-in-the-dunes-abe-kobo The Woman in the Dunes
by Abe Kobo
Book #33
November & December 2006

Join Discussion

Book Reviews

Amazon.com
This beautiful novel by one of Japan's most important writers is also one of the most strangely terrifying and memorable books you'll ever read. The Woman in the Dunes is the story of an amateur entomologist who wanders alone into a remote seaside village in pursuit of a rare beetle he wants to add to his collection. But the townspeople take him prisoner. They lower him into the sand-pit home of a young widow, a pariah in the poor community, who the villagers have condemned to a life of shoveling back the ever-encroaching dunes that threaten to bury the town. An amazing book.

The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Abe Kobo, published in Japanese as Suna no onna in 1962. This avant-garde allegory is esteemed as one of the finest Japanese novels of the postwar period; it was the first of Abe's novels to be translated into English. The protagonist of The Woman in the Dunes is Niki Jumpei, an amateur entomologist who, on a weekend trip from the city, discovers a bizarre village in the dunes where residents live in deep sand pits. Imprisoned with a widow in one of the pits, he must shovel the omnipresent sand that threatens to bury the community. The novel relates Niki's attempts to escape the pit, his relationship with the woman, and his gradual acceptance of a new identity. Showing more similarities to the works of Franz Kafka than to those of Japanese contemporaries, The Woman in the Dunes is noted for its unusual plot, its detailed descriptions of the sand, and its existential examination of the human condition.

Inside Flap Copy
One of the premier Japanese novels of the twentieth century, The Women in the Dunes combines the essence of myth, suspense, and the existential novel. In a remote seaside village, Niki Jumpei, a teacher and amateur entomologist, is held captive with a young woman at the bottom of a vast sand pit where, Sisyphus-like, they are pressed into shoveling off the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten the village.


Please consider joining our book discussion and reading group!



The Woman in the Dunes by Abe Kobo

Recent Topics
» An Atheist President?
by Robert Tulip on Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:59 pm

» American Gods Question 4: Adaptation of Old Gods
by Robert Tulip on Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:44 pm

» Part I: Morally Evolved (Pages 1 - 58)
by Interbane on Fri Jul 03, 2009 4:42 pm

» House of Leaves
by Kristin2477 on Fri Jul 03, 2009 4:02 pm

» What is critical thinking?
by Suzanne on Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:16 pm

» Vampire Novel..
by President Camacho on Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:06 pm

» "Life of Pi" or "Self" by Yann Martel
by President Camacho on Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:48 pm

» Tracking Ancient Griffin, Modern Monsters & “Extinct Pt
by teri on Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:42 pm

» Fiction Book Suggestions Wanted: Aug. & Sept. 2009
by Suzanne on Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:49 pm

» Liberty, or library?
by Frank 013 on Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:43 am


Recent Donations

Thanks for your support!
• The Real Macai - $10 in June
• Grim - $10 in May ($20 tot.)
• MaryLupin - $100 in April
• Penelope - $20 in April ($80 tot.)
• Thrillwriter - $100 in February

Shoutbox

BookTalk.org Chat Room
Enter the BookTalk.org Chat Room

Enter our Chat Room


Current Featured
Book Suggestions


Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue by Danielle Ofri

Beyond Success: Redefining the Meaning of Prosperity

The Other Kind of Smart: Simple Ways to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence for Greater Personal Effectiveness and Success by Harvey Deutschendorf

World Famous: How to Give Your Business a Kick-Ass Brand Identity by David Tyreman

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan by Doug Stanton

Hit List by Darcia Helle

More Featured Book Suggestions


Poll
Take the latest poll
Do you consider yourself an atheist?

Yes, I'm an atheist 
No, I'm not an atheist 

You must login to vote



BookTalk.org is a book discussion group, also known as a reading group or book club. We read and talk about non-fiction books, as a group. Live author chats where book group members can interact with and interview authors are common. We often give away free books to our members in book giveaway contests. Our booktalks are open to everybody who enjoys booktalk.  Booktalk is a free online reading group that features quality book reviews, resources for readers and book lovers. Discussing books is our passion. Non-fiction chat, book forum, literature forum, or reading forum. Register a free book club account today. Suggest nonfiction books. Authors and publishers are welcome to plug their books or ask for an author chat or interview.

MAIN NAVIGATION

FORUMSABOUTBOOKSTRANSCRIPTSVIDEOSOLD FORUMSADVERTISELINKSBLOGSFAQDONATECONTACT

BOOKS WE HAVE DISCUSSED
American Gods: A Novel by Neil GaimanPrimates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved by Frans de WaalThe Enormous Room by E.E. CummingsThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar WildeGod Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher HitchensThe Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama Paradise Lost by John Milton Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin PhillipsThe Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson BurnettGodless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists by Dan BarkerThe Things They Carried by Tim O'BrienThe Limits of Power: The End of American ExceptionalismLolitaOrlando by Virginia Woolf On Being Certain by Robert A. Burton50 reasons people give for believing in a god by Guy P. HarrisonWalden: Or, Life in the Woods by Henry David ThoreauExile and the Kingdom by Albert CamusOur Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are by Frans de WaalYour Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year-History of the Human Body by Neil ShubinNo Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthyThe Age of American Unreason by Susan JacobyTen Theories of Human Nature by Leslie Stevenson & David HabermanHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradThe Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature by Stephen PinkerA Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled HosseiniThe Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Philip ZimbardoResponsibility and Judgment by Hannah ArendtInterventions by Noam ChomskyGodless in America by George A. RickerReligious Expression and the American Constitution by Franklyn S. HaimanDeep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Phil McKibbenThe God Delusion by Richard DawkinsThe Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared DiamondThe Woman in the Dunes by Abe KoboEvolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction by Eugenie C. ScottThe Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael PollanI, Claudius : From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 by Robert GravesBreaking The Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. DennettA Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East Peace by David FromkinThe Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey NiffeneggerThe End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam HarrisEnder's Game by Orson Scott CardThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonValue and Virtue in a Godless Universe by Erik J. WielenbergThe March by E. L DoctorowThe Ethical Brain by Michael GazzanigaFreethinkers: A History of American Secularism by Susan JacobyCollapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared DiamondThe Battle for God by Karen ArmstrongThe Future of Life by Edward O. WilsonWhat is Good? The Search for the Best Way to Live by A. C. GraylingCivilization and Its Enemies: The Next Stage of History by Lee HarrisPale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl SaganHow We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God by Michael ShermerLooking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain by Antonio DamasioLies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al FrankenThe Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt RidleyThe Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Stephen PinkerUnweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder by Richard DawkinsAtheism: A Reader edited by S.T. JoshiGlobal Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From the Big Bang To the 21st Century by Howard BloomThe Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of Nature by Howard BloomGuns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared DiamondThe Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl SaganBury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee BrownFuture Shock by Alvin Toffler

OTHER PAGES
Baloney Detection KitBanned Book ListOur Amazon.com SalesMassimo Pigliucci Rationally SpeakingOnline Reading GroupTop 10 Atheism BooksFACTS Book SelectionsAdvertise on BookTalk.org

Copyright © BookTalk.org 2002-2009. All rights reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
Website developed by MidnightCoder.ca