The Ark Sakura
  • Published: 3 June 2021
  • ISBN: 9780141993188
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384
Categories:

The Ark Sakura

Formats & editions
Paperback
5 Dec 2023
Paperback
14 Sep 2021
EBook
3 Jun 2021
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A surreal work of science fiction from one of Japan's most brilliant novelists

In anticipation of a coming nuclear apocalypse, Mole has converted a huge underground quarry into an 'ark'. While searching for his crew, he falls for the tricks of a wily insect dealer and his friends. In the surreal drama that ensues, the ark is invaded by first a gang of youths and then a sinister group of elderly people, before Mole himself becomes trapped in the ark's central piece of equipment - a giant toilet powerful enough to flush almost anything out to sea . . .

A science-fiction classic from acclaimed Japanese novelist Kobe Abe, The Ark Sakura's Kafkaesque embrace of nuclear disaster and ecological catastrophe is at turns both hilarious and desperate.
  • Published: 3 June 2021
  • ISBN: 9780141993188
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384
Categories:

Also by Kobo Abe

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The Ruined Map
The Face of Another
The Box Man
The Woman in the Dunes
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Praise for The Ark Sakura

A large, ambitious work about the lives of outcasts in modern Japan and such troubling themes as ecological destruction, old age, violence and nuclear war

The New York Times Book Review

Abe's depiction of the deadly game of survival is hilarious but at the same time leaves us with a chilling sense of apprehension about the brave new world that awaits us

Los Angeles Times

As is true of Poe and Kafka - two writers whose influence does seem apparent - Abe creates on the page an unexpected impulsion. One continues reading, on and on

New Yorker