Beyond the Curve (Modern Japanese Writers Series) [Paperback]

Kobo Abe (Author), Juliet Winters Carpenter (Author, Translator)

Book Description

Series: Modern Japanese Writers Series | Publication Date: February 1993

A collection of works including such stories as "An Irrelevant Death," "The Dream Soldier," "Dendrocalia," "The Special Envoy," and "The Crime of S. Karma".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this first collection of short fiction, Abe confirms his reputation as one of Japan's most significant modern writers. The tightly drawn, surrealistic tales proceed from the same premise: an ordinary individual is suddenly thrust into extraordinary, often nightmarish circumstances that lead him to question his identity. In "An Irrelevant Death," a man returns from work to confront a corpse in his apartment. Contemplating ways to get rid of the body, he finds himself increasingly implicated in the stranger's death. On a lighter note, "Dendrocacalia" describes the plight of a bewildered man named Common, who discovers he has turned into a rare plant, placed in a botanical garden. The almost lulling repetitiveness of "Record of a Transformation" underscores the senseless brutality of war as, at the height of battle, an executed soldier describes his horrifying experiences among the dead and the living. The beautifully conceived title story describes the actions of a man with amnesia trying to remember his past just "beyond the curve." Abe blends elements of suspense and science fiction to create a form singularly his own.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This collection of stories is a significant offering from the well-established author best known for The Woman in the Dunes (1964). The usual comparisons to Kafka are unavoidable. In one story, a man finds himself turning into a plant, and the themes of alienation and disorientation in the face of urban life and oppressive political and social systems are pervasive and relentless. More subtle systems of thought are sometimes hinted at rather than explicated, however, and the disorientation so skillfully induced in the reader is sometimes left unresolved. This might not be to everyone's taste, but for those interested in Abe's work or in the future of serious Japanese fiction, this is an entertaining and fascinating volume. Some stories have the feel of sketches that might be further developed in Abe's longer fiction, and the influence on a new generation of writers, such as Haruki Murakami, can be readily seen. Recommended.
- Mark Woodhouse, Gannett-Tripp Lib., Elmira Coll., N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha Amer Inc (February 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770016905
• ISBN-13: 978-4770016904
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 2.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Japan's greatest literary exports!, March 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond the Curve (Hardcover)

Beyond the Curve by Kobo Abe is one of the best compilations of short stories I've read. His style is like a blend of Rod Serling, Stephen King and Salvador Dali. Each tale is strange and unique and tests the limits of your imagination. As much as I like his other books, this one is my favorite because it runs the gamut of his storytelling style from novels like Woman in the Dunes to the outrageously surreal Kangaroo Notebook. If you haven't read any of Abe's work, Beyond the Curve is a great introduction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beyond realism, April 7, 2004

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond the Curve (Modern Japanese Writers Series) (Paperback)

This collection of short stories, translated from the Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter, is a surreal foray into the illogical and improbable. Kobo Abe is the kind of writer who reminds one of other writers. His Kafkaesque "An Irrelevant Death" places an unexplained corpse in the apartment of A- who must then decide how to dispose of it without suspicion. In another story that recalls Kafka, "Dendrocacalia," a man named Common experiences an unexpected metamorphosis into a rare and sought-after plant. But not all stories evoke Kafka. "The Life of a Poet" embraces the lyrical mythology of Latin American magic realism as a crone is accidentally made into thread and a deadly snow falls made of "crystalline dreams, souls, and desires." Lewis Carroll's convoluted logic surfaces in "The Bet" when an architect for a particular demanding advertising company discovers a world of small doors, head-shaking conversations, and stairs that lead not to an expected succession of floors but instead to places governed by a red light and adages. The bizarre building teaches the architect the logic of the illogical. When he designs "the path of the president's office as a mathematical function of the System," he resolves the story in an entirely fitting way.

Despite the derivative feel to these stories, they are distinctly Abe's. His Japanese sensibilities give them a different twist, for while Kafka chose to change his character into a cockroach, Abe chooses instead to transform his bewildered character into a scrubby plant that grows at high altitudes and which would be quite at home in a government funded hothouse. The author's confidence in the wildness of his imagination gives these stories an authority of voice, allowing for the needed suspension of disbelief. Abe's fictional realm is a difficult one to leave.

It took me a couple of stories to fully appreciate Abe's talents, but I'm glad I continued reading. Readers of Japanese and international fiction should most definitely take a look at Abe's work. Don't expect realism - or anything close to it - because Kobo Abe's fiction exists on another plane.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good, December 2, 2003

By 

helianthaster "paul" (sitka, AK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Curve (Modern Japanese Writers Series) (Paperback)

I really recommend this book, although I only gave it four stars because the stories might be too similar to each other for my taste. I'd like just a little more variety in the range of emotions and plot twists. It is easy to say that Abe is good, of course, because he is such a widely recognized writer. I'd like to say, though, that he is so good that he can actually make a reader angry (many of his stories create a feeling of boxed-in, controlled frustration I never encountered in any other writer).