Books by Kobo Abe read online

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 travels 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 again went to Tokyo to continue his education, but there was not enough money, and he did not 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 years from being in a country of another culture, - “ Road sign at the end of the street" (1948) and others.

Abe married while a student; his wife, an artist and designer by profession, drew illustrations for many of his works.

In 1951, Abe’s story “The Wall. Crime of S. Karma", which brought the writer literary fame and was awarded the highest award in Japan literary prize- 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 Abe's writing destiny.

Like every young man of his generation, he experienced a passion for politics, was even 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 world fame.

Publication of the Fourth ice age"(1958), which combines the features science fiction, detective genre and the Western European intellectual novel, finally strengthened Abe's position in Japanese literature.

The writer's successive novels, “The 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.

Both in terms of the time of creation and in content, they are adjacent to the novels “The Box Man” (1973), “The Secret Date” (1977), and “Those Who Entered the Ark” (1984).

One of the most important moments, which determined his literary, and indeed life, positions was an excellent knowledge of world 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, more than once, and 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 bright and impressive, appeared in my works thanks to Gogol, who taught me this.”

Abe Kobo was not just a man of letters; he was known as a man of diverse abilities and talents, well 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, he, as a director, staged many performances, such as “Fake Fish”, “Suitcase”, “Friends”, etc. In addition to the fact that the troupe of actors under the direction of Abe triumphantly performed in Japan, it toured USA and Europe, and also with incredible success. Many of Abe's novels have been filmed.

Biographers have always had difficulty writing about the life of Kobo Abe. In fact, his biography 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 am alone. And my advantage is that, unlike many, I understand this well." In 1992, the writer was one of the candidates for Nobel Prize on literature. But only sudden death On January 12, 1993, she deprived him of this award.

Today in Japan, Kobo Abe has a reputation as an elitist rather than a popular writer.

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 travels 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 again went to Tokyo to continue his education, but there was not enough money, and he did not 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. His early works date back to this time, which embodied the impressions of his childhood from being in a country of a different culture - “Road Sign at the End of the Street” (1948) and others.

Abe married while a student; his wife, an artist and designer by profession, drew illustrations for many of his works.

In 1951, Abe’s story “The Wall. 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: “The Badger from the Tower of Babel” and “The Red Cocoon.” Unsettledness, loneliness of the individual - this is the leitmotif of “The Wall”. This story determined Abe's writing destiny.

Like every young man of his generation, he experienced a passion for politics, and was even a member of the Japanese Communist Party, from which he left in protest against the entry of Soviet troops into Hungary. Moving away from politics, Abe devoted himself entirely to literature and created works that brought him worldwide fame.

The publication of The Fourth Ice Age (1958), which combined the features of science fiction, the detective genre and the Western European intellectual novel, finally strengthened Abe's position in Japanese literature.

Both in terms of the time of creation and in content, they are adjacent to the novels “The Box Man” (1973), “The Secret Date” (1977), and “Those Who Entered the Ark” (1984).

One of the most important points that determined his literary, and indeed life, positions was his excellent knowledge of world literature, including Russian, and perhaps primarily Russian. He wrote: “Even during my school years, I was fascinated by the work of two giants of Russian literature - Gogol and Dostoevsky. I have read almost everything they wrote, more than once, and 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 bright and impressive, appeared in my works thanks to Gogol, who taught me this.”

Abe Kobo was not just a man of letters; He was known as a man of diverse abilities and talents, well versed in classical music, a linguist and a 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, he, as a director, staged many performances, such as “Fake Fish”, “Suitcase”, “Friends”, etc. In addition to the fact that the troupe of actors under the direction of Abe triumphantly performed in Japan, it toured USA and Europe, also with incredible success. Many of Abe's novels have been filmed.

Biographers have always had difficulty writing about Kobo Abe's life. In fact, his biography 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 am alone. And my advantage is that, unlike many, I understand this well." In 1992, the writer was one of the candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature. And only his 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.

Abe Kobo

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 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 personal experience life in Manchuria, Abe wrote a poetry collection, Anonymous Poems, which he published himself, mimeographing the entire edition of the 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-form 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, which was 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 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 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 influence on the author of 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 publication 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" entered into the "Society of New Japanese Literature" 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 fruitful dramatic work for him. 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. So 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.

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.

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 “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 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 works 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, 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.

Interesting Facts:
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Abe was the first Japanese writer, who began to compose his works by typing them in a word processor (since 1984). Abe used NEC NWP-10N and Bungo programs.
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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 a 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"
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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 photographs were used in the design of the published "Shinchosha" 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.
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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.

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 breed a new breed of amphibious 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. “The Fourth Ice Age,” Kobo Abe’s only “purely SF” work, was followed by such masterpieces as “Alien Face” (1964), the “Kafkaesque” “Box Man” (1973), and the “post-nuclear” “Ark.” Sakura" (1984) and whole line stories.
Kobo Abe is also known as the author of grotesque and fantastic plays. Perhaps the most famous among them is “The Man Who Turned into a Stick” (1969).

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Collaboration with Hiroshi Teshigahara (director)

« Trap » (also "Collapse"; Japanese おとし穴) - Japanese black and white Feature Film 1962, the first feature film by Hiroshi Teshigahara, previously known as a documentarian. Kobo Abe wrote the script for the film. Combines elements social drama, telling about hard life miners and contradictions in miners' trade unions, with a mystical plot about a murder investigation. Kobo Abe wrote the script based on his own absurdist play. Subsequently, Teshigahara made three more films, based on the novels of Kobo Abe: “The Woman in the Sands” (1964), “Alien Face” (1966) and “The Burnt Map” (1968). The film was included in the Criterion Collection as part of a collection of three films by Teshigahara based on Kobo Abe (along with Woman in the Sand and Alien Face), several short films and documentary film about the collaboration between director and writer.

Kobo Abe(Kobo Abe (Japanese: 安部公房 Abe Ko: bo:?, real name - Abe Kimifusa).
Born March 7, 1924 in Tokyo. 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 travels 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 again went to Tokyo to continue his education, but there was not enough money, and he did not 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. His early works date back to this time, which embodied the impressions of his childhood from being in a country of a different culture - “Road Sign at the End of the Street” (1948) and others.

Abe married while a student; his wife, an artist and designer by profession, drew illustrations for many of his works.

Both in terms of the time of creation and in content, they are adjacent to the novels “The Box Man” (1973), “The Secret Date” (1977), and “Those Who Entered the Ark” (1984).

Abe Kobo was not just a man of letters; He was known as a man of diverse abilities and talents, well versed in classical music, a linguist and a 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, he, as a director, staged many performances, such as “Fake Fish”, “Suitcase”, “Friends”, etc. In addition to the fact that the troupe of actors under the direction of Abe triumphantly performed in Japan, it toured USA and Europe, also with incredible success. Many of Abe's novels have been filmed.