Biography. Kobo Abe Photos of Kobo Abe
Abe Kobo (Kimifusa) Abe Cobo Career: Writer
Birth: Japan, 7.3.1924
The writer's successive novels, Woman in the Sands (1962), Alien Face (1964) and The Burnt Map (1967), brought him worldwide fame. After their appearance, people started talking about Abe as one of those who decides the destinies of not only Japanese, but also world literature. These Abe novels occupy central place in his work.
Abe spent his childhood and youth in Manchuria, where his father worked at the medical faculty of Mukden University. In 1943, at the height of the war, at the insistence of his father, he goes to Tokyo and enters the medical faculty of Tokyo Imperial University, but a year later he returns to Mukden, where he witnesses the defeat of Japan. In 1946, Abe still went to Tokyo to continue his education, but he didn’t have enough money, and he didn’t really want to become a doctor. Nevertheless, in 1948, Abe completed his studies and received a diploma. Having not worked even a day as a doctor, he chooses the literary field. It dates back to this time early works, which embodied the impressions of his childhood from his stay in a country of other cultures, - Road sign at the end of the street (1948) and others.
Abe married while a student; his mistress, an artist and designer by profession, drew illustrations for many of his works.
In 1951, Abe Sten's story was published. The Crime of S. Karma, which brought the writer literary fame and was awarded the highest literary prize in Japan - the Akutagawa Prize. Subsequently, Abe Kobo expanded the story by adding two more parts: Badger with Tower of Babel and Red Cocoon. Unsettledness, loneliness of the individual - this is the leitmotif of the Wall. This story determined writer's destiny Abe.
Like every young uncle of his generation, he experienced a passion for politics; moreover, he was a member of the Japanese Communist Party, from which he left in protest against the introduction of Soviet troops to Hungary. Moving away from politics, Abe devoted himself entirely to literature and created works that brought him worldwide fame.
Publication of the Fourth Ice Age (1958), which combined the features science fiction, detective genre and the Western European intellectual novel, completely strengthened Abe's position in Japanese literature.
The writer's successive novels, Woman in the Sands (1962), Alien Face (1964) and The Burnt Map (1967), brought him worldwide fame. After their appearance, they started talking about Abe as one of those who decides the destinies of not only Japan, but also important literature. These novels by Abe occupy a central position in his work.
Both in terms of creation time and in content, they are adjacent to the novels Box Man (1973), Secret Date (1977), Entered the Ark (1984).
One of the most important moments What determined his literary, and indeed life, positions was an excellent knowledge of important literature, including Russian, and perhaps, primarily Russian. He wrote: Back in school years I was fascinated by the work of two giants of Russian literature - Gogol and Dostoevsky. I have read almost everything they wrote, and not the only time, and I consider myself one of their students. Gogol had a particularly great influence on me. The interweaving of fiction and reality, thanks to which reality appears extremely dazzling and impressive, appeared in my works thanks to Gogol, who taught me this.
Abe Kobo was not a simple writer; he was known as a man of diverse abilities and talents, excellently versed in classical music, linguist and photographer.
Abe is not only a prose writer, but also a playwright and screenwriter. His plays The Man Who Turned into a Stick (1957), Ghosts Among Us (1958) and others have been translated into many languages around the world. For eleven years - from 1969 to 1980 - Abe Kobo owned and operated his own studio. Over the years, as a director, he staged a sea of performances, such as, in particular, The Fake Fish, The Suitcase, Friends, etc. In addition to the fact that the troupe of actors under the direction of Abe performed triumphantly in Japan, it toured the USA and Europe, and since incredible success. Many of Abe's novels have been filmed.
Biographers have invariably had difficulty describing the life of Kobo Abe. In fact, his life story was devoid of any significant events. He led a secluded lifestyle, did not allow strangers near him, did not favor journalists, and lived as a real recluse in a secluded cottage near the mountain resort of Hakone. And the writer didn’t really have any friends. He himself admitted: I don’t like people. I'm the only one. And my superiority is that, unlike many, I understand this quite well." In 1992, the writer was one of the candidates for Nobel Prize on literature. And only the sudden death on January 12, 1993 deprived him of this award.
Today in Japan, Kobo Abe has a reputation as an elitist rather than a popular writer.
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All problems have one beginning - a woman was sitting, bored...
Well, okay, with us women it’s clear what to hide, we’re a shady people. But if a man sits and is bored, you won’t get away with problems alone. Here, so to speak, you can find real adventures to your liking!
So what do we have? A man is one thing. The creature is quite vague. Although, no. Height, weight, age, special features - everything is known. It is even stated that he is a school teacher and a big fan of entomology (chasing beetles, flies and other flying and crawling reptiles). Well, how can we not remember Nabokov with his extraordinary heroes! Moreover, a certain tendency of entomologists towards various kinds of perversions is mentioned by the hero himself.
What else do we have? Woman. And also one thing. Yes, yes, the one mentioned in the title. A woman who sits in the sand and, in fact, sees nothing but this very sand. As a place of events in our history there is a certain remote village, listed in the same places. The village, let me tell you, is quite strange. For some unknown reason (most likely due to climatic conditions), the village is constantly covered in sand. And residents, instead of moving to somewhere better, regularly struggle with this very sand, digging out their fragile homes from under it day and night. The work is difficult and endless. Therefore, there are not enough workers. So enterprising villagers grab the unlucky travelers and put them in holes to dig up sand. So our hero chased after an unknown sand fly in order to hide it behind the glass, but he got caught himself. Only in the pit. They gave him a shovel and said: “Do you want to eat, drink, live? Dig!
As you probably already guessed, he lived in the pit not alone, but with a local lady. Hardworking and silent. The little guy showed off to begin with. Well, how come he was thrown into a hole for such a good thing, deprived of freedom and the right to choose? And then nothing, I got used to it, got used to it, and the lady liked me... What a simple story! Not a story, just a beauty.
No, of course, I understand perfectly well that the author wanted to convey to the reader some deep meaning. For example, this one. There is a man and a woman. And there is a hole in which they sit - this is their marriage. Here was a man who lived and did not grieve. And then you have to constantly work and live according to someone else’s orders. And there’s no escape... You can look at it from a slightly different angle. Human life is woven from continuous contradictions: either we admire the sand, enjoying its unique structure, or we hate it when we move mountains made of the same sand. And we drive ourselves into pits in order to drag out a joyless existence, day after day doing all the same monotonous, backbreaking and meaningless work...
There is a lot of pleasant things in this story. The same language of narration: enchanting, bewitching... There seems to be philosophy and some worldly wisdom. The allegory used by the author gives the plot some fabulousness and paves the way to areas more suitable magical realism. But, unfortunately or fortunately, I am a fairly straightforward person and all these omissions and meaningful phrases rarely find their way to my heart.
Curious? Yes. Intriguing? A little. Healthy? May be. Inspiring? Alas and ah - absolutely bypassed. But maybe I just don’t know how to find my way in the sand...
Childhood future writer spent in Manchuria, where in 1940 he graduated from high school. After returning to Japan, having completed his secondary education at Seijo School, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at Tokyo Imperial University in 1943. While still a student, in 1947 he married the artist Machi Abe, who would later play an important role, in particular in the design Abe's books and scenery for his theatrical productions. In 1948, Abe graduated from the university, but having unsatisfactorily passed the state qualifying medical exam, he actually deliberately lost the opportunity to become a practicing doctor.
In 1947, based on personal experience While living in Manchuria, Abe wrote a collection of poetry, Anonymous Poems, which he published himself, mimeographing the entire 62-page book. In poems where it was obvious strong influence on the author of poetry Rilke and philosophy Heidegger, young Abe, along with expressing the despair of post-war youth, appealed to readers with a call to protest against reality.
The same year, 1947, dates back to Abe’s writing of his first large-scale work, called “Clay Walls.” The first person in the literary world to become acquainted with this work and highly appreciate it was the critic and Germanic philologist Rokuro Abe, who taught Abe German, when he was still studying at Sejo High School during the war years. The narrative in “Clay Walls” is structured in the form three volumes notes of a young Japanese who, having decisively severed all ties with his hometown, goes to wander, but as a result is captured by one of the Manchurian gangs. Deeply impressed by this work, Rokuro Abe sent a text to Yutaka Haniya, who recently created the then little-known magazine “ Modern literature" The first volume of notes from “Clay Walls” in February next year was published in the magazine "Individuality". Having thus gained some fame, Abe received an invitation to join the Night association, led by Yutaka Haniya, Kiyoteru Hanada and Taro Okamoto. In October 1948, renamed The Sign at the End of the Road, Clay Walls, with the support of Haniya and Hanada, was published as a separate book by Shinzenbisha. Later, in his review of The Wall, Haniya, who highly appreciated Abe's work, wrote that Abe, who in some sense can be considered a follower of Haniya, surpassed him, his predecessor.
In 1950, Abe, together with Hiroshi Teshigahara and Shinichi Segi, created creative association"Century".
In 1951, the story “The Wall. Crime of S. Karma.” This extraordinary work was partly inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, thematically inspired by Abe's memories of life on the Manchurian steppe, and also demonstrated the author's influence on his friend, literary critic and writer Kiyoteru Hanada. The story “The Wall. The Crime of S. Karma" in the first half of 1951 was awarded the Akutagawa Prize, sharing the championship with the one published in " Literary world» “Spring Grass” by Toshimitsu Ishikawa. During the jury's discussion of the entries, Abe's story was severely criticized by Koji Uno, but the enthusiastic support of Abe's candidacy by the other jury members, Yasunari Kawabata and Kosaku Takiya, played a decisive role in choosing the winner. In May of the same year, “The Wall. The Crime of S. Karma", renamed "The Crime of S. Karma" and supplemented by the stories "The Badger of the Tower of Babel" and "The Red Cocoon", was published as a separate edition under the title "The Wall" with a foreword written by Jun Ishikawa.
In the 1950s, standing in the position of the literary avant-garde, Abe, together with Hiroshi Noma, joined the “People's Literature” association, as a result of which, after the merger, “ Folk literature" with "New Japanese Literature" in "Society of New Japanese literature" He joined Communist Party Japan. However, in 1961, after the 8th Congress of the CPJ and the new course of the party determined at it, having received it with skepticism, Abe publicly criticized it, which was followed by his expulsion from the CPJ.
In 1973, Abe created and headed his own theater, Abe Kobo Studio, which marked the beginning of a period of his fruitful dramatic work. At the time of its opening, the Abe Theater had 12 members: Katsutoshi Atarashi, Hisashi Igawa, Kunie Tanaka, Tatsuya Nakadai, Karin Yamaguchi, Tatsuo Ito, Yuhei Ito, Kayoko Onishi, Fumiko Kuma, Masayuki Sato, Zenshi Maruyama and Joji Miyazawa. Thanks to the support of Seiji Tsutsumi, Abe's troupe was able to settle in Shibuya at the Seibu Theater, now called PARCO). In addition, the performances of the experimental group have been demonstrated abroad more than once, where they have received high praise. Thus, in 1979, the play “The Baby Elephant Died” was successfully performed in the USA. Despite the fact that Abe’s non-trivial innovative approach caused great resonance in theater world In each of the countries where Abe Kobo Studio toured, while remaining ignored by critics in Japan itself, the Abe Theater gradually ceased to exist in the 1980s.
Around 1981, Abe's attention was drawn to the work of the German thinker Elias Canetti, coinciding with his award of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Around the same time, on the recommendation of his Japanese friend Donald Keene, Abe became acquainted with the works of the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. The work of Canetti and Marquez shocked Abe so much that in his subsequent writings and television appearances, Abe became very enthusiastic about promoting their work, helping to significantly increase the readership of these authors in Japan.
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Late at night on December 25, 1992, Abe was hospitalized after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. Despite the fact that after returning from the hospital the course of treatment was continued at home, starting on January 20, 1993, his health began to deteriorate sharply, as a result of which, early in the morning of January 22, the writer died suddenly of cardiac arrest at the age of 68.
Kenzaburo Oe, putting Abe on a par with Kafka and Faulkner and considering him one of the greatest writers in the entire history of literature, said that if Abe had lived longer, he, and not Oe himself, who was awarded it in 1994, would certainly have received the Nobel Prize in literature.
Various facts from life
Abe was the first Japanese writer to compose his works by typing them in a hardware word processor (beginning in 1984). Abe used NEC products, models “NWP-10N” and “Bungo”.
Abe's musical interests were varied. Being a big fan of the group " Pink Floyd“Of academic music, he most appreciated the music of Bela Bartok. In addition, Abe purchased the synthesizer long before it became widespread in Japan (at that time, besides Abe, the synthesizer could only be found in the “Studio electronic music» NHK and the composer Isao Tomita, and if we exclude those who used the synthesizer for professional purposes, then Abe was the only owner of this instrument in the country). Abe used the synthesizer in the following way: he recorded interview programs broadcast on NHK and independently processed them to create sound effects that served as accompaniment in theatrical productions"Abe Kobo Studios"
Abe is also known for his interest in photography, which went far beyond mere hobby and bordered on mania. Photography, revealing itself through themes of surveillance and voyeurism, is ubiquitous in artistic works Abe. Abe's photographic works used in the design of the published “Sintyosya” full meeting Abe's writings: they can be seen at back side each volume of the collection. Abe the photographer preferred Contax cameras, and garbage dumps were among his favorite photographic subjects.
Abe holds a patent for a simple and convenient snow chain (“Chainiziee”) that can be placed on car tires without the use of a jack. The invention was demonstrated by him on the 10th international exhibition inventors, where Abe was awarded a silver medal.
1924 – 1993
Japanese prose writer, playwright, poet, screenwriter, director.
03/07/1924. The future writer was born in Tokyo in the family of a doctor. He spent his childhood and youth in Mukden (Manchuria), where his father worked at the medical faculty of Mukden University.
1943. In the midst of the war, at the insistence of his father, Kobo Abe travels to Tokyo and enters the medical faculty of the university there.
1944: Kobo Abe leaves university and returns to Mukden. Here he is caught by the news of Japan's defeat in the war. The father, the breadwinner of the family, dies.
1946. Back in Tokyo. Kobo Abe is recovering at the university.
1947. Kobo Abe begins creative path like a poet.
1948. Kobo Abe graduates from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, but does not work as a doctor.
1950: Kobo Abe's short story "The Red Cocoon" is published and received critical acclaim.
1951. Kobo Abe receives the highest literary prize Japan named after Akutagawa for the story “The Wall. The crime of Mr. S. Karum.” A passion for politics begins. Kobo Abe becomes a member of the Japanese Communist Party, from which he later leaves in protest against the entry of Soviet troops into Hungary. The writer joins literary group"sengo-ha" ("post-war group").
1963: Kobo Abe's first novel, The Woman in the Sand, is published.
1972-1973. One of the most famous works Kobo Abe "Box Man".
1984. The dystopian novel “Those Who Entered the Ark” is published. 01/22/1993. Kobo Abe dies at the age of sixty-eight.
To understand Kobo Abe, it is not enough just to get acquainted with the writer’s books, with the films based on his works (for example, director Teshigahara “Woman in the Sands,” 1964, “Alien Face,” 1966) - you need to turn to the earth and nature , to the culture and landscape in which the world he created grew and took visible shape, to comprehend the meaning and daily routine of its existence. Kobo Abe belongs to his country - old and new Japan, a country of the most ancient traditions, at the same time actively borrowing from Western culture. His work is born at the junction, in the interweaving of the most diverse trends of modern and past, Eastern and Western, in the comparison of questions and answers, capable of giving rise to new and new questions.
The Japanese model of the world is called graphic - hieroglyphic, reflecting “hieroglyphic thinking”, the “Hieroglyphic Universe” (V.M. Alekseev). These are the concepts the best way characterize, symbolize art world Kobo Abe: this world is also a hieroglyph - mysterious and promising, inexhaustible and intricate, confusing, but still complete in its own way. “The city is a closed infinity. A labyrinth in which you will never get lost. This is a map just for you, all areas on it have the same numbers. Therefore, even if you go astray, you won’t be able to get lost” (epigraph to the novel “The Burnt Map.”).
The hieroglyphic model of the world is based on the conjugation, complementarity and interpenetration of figurativeness and symbolism. Unlike Western philosophy, where the basis of the worldview is the concepts of opposites, their struggle and unity, in Eastern philosophy the basis is the idea of mutual transition, “flowing” of one into another, “yang” into “yin”.
Same with Kobo Abe fictional world is not opposed to the real, but complements it, existing somewhere nearby, in a parallel dimension. Science fiction here does not contradict what actually happened in this world, but complements it according to the principle of recognition of probability. The plot of Kobo Abe's prose is determined by a detective plot: the disappearance of a person. Nicky Dumpey (“The Woman in the Sands”), Nemuro (“The Burnt Map”), the heroes of “Alien Face” and “Box Man,” and a young soldier (the story “The Ghost of a Soldier”) disappear. They are looking for these heroes - and, above all, they are looking for themselves and themselves (in a number of the writer’s novels). These searches for “others” or “ourselves” end in a certain ending. What is this ending like? Gain or loss? Finding yourself or losing humanity?
In any case, exactly what happens to a person, his moral world, his state of mind, his physical existence in the reality that transforms human destinies, and becomes creative laboratory writer, a unique hieroglyph of the artistic world of Kobo Abe.
Works by Kobo Abe:
"Wall. The crime of Mr. S. Karum.” Tale. 1951.
"Slave Hunt" Play. 1955.
"Ghosts Among Us" Play. 1958.
"A Tale of Giants. 1960
"Fortress". Play. 1962.
"Woman in the Sands" Novel. 1963. “Alien Face.” Novel. 1964
"Burnt Map" Novel. 1967.
"A man turned into a club." Play. 1969.
"Box Man" Novel. 1973. “Secret Date.” Novel. 1977.
"Those who entered the ark." Novel. 1984.
Based on materials from an article by G.E. Adamovich (abbr.)
in the book “Great Writers of the 20th Century”
A country: Japan
Was born: 1924-03-07
Died: 1993-01-22
Real name:
Abe Kimifusa
The future writer Kobo Abe spent his childhood in Manchuria, where he graduated from high school in 1940. After returning to Japan, having completed his secondary education at Seijo School, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at Tokyo Imperial University in 1943. While still a student, in 1947 he married the artist Machi Abe, who would later play an important role, in particular, in the design of Abe’s books and the scenery for his theatrical productions. In 1948, Abe graduated from the university, but having unsatisfactorily passed the state qualifying medical exam, he actually deliberately lost the opportunity to become a practicing doctor.
In 1947, based on his personal experiences in Manchuria, Abe wrote a poetry collection, Anonymous Poems, which he published himself, mimeographing the entire 62-page book. In the poems, where the author was clearly strongly influenced by the poetry of Rilke and the philosophy of Heidegger, the young Abe, along with expressing the despair of post-war youth, appealed to readers with a call to protest against reality.
The same year, 1947, dates back to Abe’s writing of his first large-scale work, called “Clay Walls.” The first person in the literary world to become acquainted with this work and highly appreciate it was the critic and German philologist Rokuro Abe, who taught Abe German when he was still studying at Sejo High School during the war years. The narrative in "Clay Walls" is based on the form of three volumes of notes of a young Japanese who, having decisively severed all ties with his hometown, goes to wander, but as a result is captured by one of the Manchurian gangs. Deeply impressed by this work, Rokuro Abe sent the text to Yutaka Haniya, who recently created the then little-known magazine “Modern Literature”. The first volume of notes from “Clay Walls” was published in the journal “Individuality” in February of the following year. Having thus gained some fame, Abe received an invitation to join the Night association, led by Yutaka Haniya, Kiyoteru Hanada and Taro Okamoto. In October 1948, renamed “Signpost at the End of the Road,” “Clay Walls,” with the support of Haniya and Hanada, was published as a separate book by Shinzenbisha Publishing House. Later, in his review of “The Wall,” Haniya, who highly appreciated Abe’s work, wrote that Abe, who in some sense can be considered a follower of Haniya, surpassed him, his predecessor.
In 1950, Abe, together with Hiroshi Teshigahara and Shinichi Segi, created the creative association “Century”.
In 1951, the story “The Wall. Crime of S. Karma.” This extraordinary work was inspired in part by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, drew thematically from Abe's memories of life on the Manchurian steppe, and demonstrated the influence of his friend, the literary critic and writer Kiyoteru Hanada. The story “The Wall. The Crime of S. Karma” was awarded the Akutagawa Prize in the first half of 1951, sharing the championship with Toshimitsu Ishikawa’s “Spring Grass” published in the Literary World. During the jury's discussion of the entries, Abe's story was severely criticized by Koji Uno, but the enthusiastic support of Abe's candidacy by the other jury members, Yasunari Kawabata and Kosaku Takiya, played a decisive role in choosing the winner. In May of the same year, “The Wall. The Crime of S. Karma", renamed "The Crime of S. Karma" and supplemented by the stories "The Badger of the Tower of Babel" and "The Red Cocoon", was published as a separate edition under the title "The Wall" with a foreword written by Jun Ishikawa.
In the 1950s, standing in the position of the literary avant-garde, Abe, together with Hiroshi Noma, joined the “People's Literature” association, as a result of which, after the merger of “People’s Literature” with “New Japanese Literature” into the “Society of New Japanese Literature”, he joined Communist Party of Japan. However, in 1961, after the 8th Congress of the CPJ and the new course of the party determined at it, having received it with skepticism, Abe publicly criticized it, which was followed by his expulsion from the CPJ.
In 1973, Abe created and headed his own theater, Abe Kobo Studio, which marked the beginning of a period of his fruitful dramatic work. At the time of opening, the Abe Theater employed 12 people. Thanks to the support of Seiji Tsutsumi, Abe's troupe was able to settle in Shibuya at the Seibu Theater, now called PARCO. In addition, the performances of the experimental group have been demonstrated abroad more than once, where they have received high praise. Thus, in 1979, the play “The Baby Elephant Died” was successfully performed in the USA. Despite the fact that Abe's non-trivial innovative approach caused a great resonance in the theater world of each of the countries where Abe Kobo Studio toured, while remaining ignored by critics in Japan itself, Abe's theater gradually ceased to exist in the 1980s.
Around 1981, Abe's attention was drawn to the work of the German thinker Elias Canetti, coinciding with his award of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Around the same time, on the recommendation of his Japanese friend Donald Keene, Abe became acquainted with the works of the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. The work of Canetti and Márquez shocked Abe so much that in his subsequent writings and television appearances, Abe enthusiastically began to popularize their work, helping to significantly increase the readership of these authors in Japan.
Late at night on December 25, 1992, Abe was hospitalized after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. Despite the fact that after returning from the hospital, the course of treatment was continued at home, starting on January 20, 1993, his health began to deteriorate sharply, as a result of which, early in the morning of January 22, the writer died suddenly of cardiac arrest at the age of 68.
Kenzaburo Oe, putting Abe on a par with Kafka and Faulkner and considering him one of the greatest writers in the entire history of literature, stated that, had Abe lived longer, he, and not Oe himself, who was awarded it in 1994, would certainly have received the Nobel Prize in literature.
Interesting Facts:
Abe was the first Japanese writer to compose his works by typing them into a word processor (beginning in 1984). Abe used NEC NWP-10N and Bungo programs.
Abe's musical interests were varied. Being a big fan of the Pink Floyd group, among academic music he most appreciated the music of Bela Bartok. In addition, Abe purchased a synthesizer long before it became widespread in Japan (at that time, except for Abe, the synthesizer could only be found in the NHK Electronic Music Studio and from composer Isao Tomita, and if we exclude those who used a synthesizer for professional purposes, Abe was the only owner of this instrument in the country). Abe used the synthesizer in the following way: he recorded and independently processed interview programs broadcast on NHK to create sound effects that served as accompaniment in theatrical productions of the Abe Kobo Studio.
Abe is also known for his interest in photography, which went far beyond mere hobby and bordered on mania. Photography, revealing itself through themes of surveillance and voyeurism, is also ubiquitous in Abe's artistic work. Abe's photographic works were used in the design of the complete collected works of Abe, published by Shinchosha: they can be seen on the reverse side of each volume of the collection. Abe the photographer preferred Contax cameras, and garbage dumps were among his favorite photographic subjects.
Abe holds a patent for a simple and convenient snow chain (“Chainiziee”) that can be placed on car tires without the use of a jack. The invention was demonstrated by him at the 10th International Exhibition of Inventors, where Abe was awarded a silver medal.
Fantasy in the works of Kobo Abe.
The July 1958 issue of Sekai magazine began publishing fantasy novel Kobo Abe "The Fourth Ice Age". Many NF historians consider this publication to be the beginning new era Japanese fantastic literature. And for Japanese science fiction writers themselves, this event is significant. The venerable writer and brilliant stylist’s turn to this genre took science fiction to new frontiers. The form of “The Fourth Ice Age” is a classic SF novel: on the eve of a great flood, scientists are trying to deduce new breed amphibian people. Essentially it's deep philosophical parable about the tragedy talented person suffocating within the narrow confines of his own philistine worldview.
Kobo Abe expanded the psychological (and literary) boundaries of Japanese SF. The writer subsequently turned to science fiction more than once. Behind the "Fourth ice age”, the only “purely SF” work of Kobo Abe, followed by such masterpieces as “Alien Face” (1964), “Kafkaesque” “Box Man” (1973), “post-nuclear” “Sakura Ark” (1984 .) And whole line stories.
