Kōbō Abe’s Followers (2,048)

Kōbō Abe

Born

in Kita, Tokyo, Japan

March 07, 1924

Died

January 22, 1993

Genre

Fiction, Short Stories, Contemporary

Influences

Kafka, Bertolt Brecht, Arthur Miller, Albert Camus ...more

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Kōbō Abe (安部公房 Abe Kōbō), pseudonym of Kimifusa Abe, was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer, and inventor.

He was the son of a doctor and studied medicine at Tokyo University. He never practised however, giving it up to join a literary group that aimed to apply surrealist techniques to Marxist ideology.

Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities.

He was first published as a poet in 1947 with Mumei shishu ("Poems of an unknown poet") and as a novelist the following year with Owarishi michi no shirube ni ("The Road Sign at the End of the Street"), which established his reputation. Though he did muc ...more

Combine Editions
Kōbō Abe’s books

Average rating: 3.77 · 67,217 ratings · 6,824 reviews · 215 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe, Machi Abe (Illustrator), E. Dale Saunders (Translator) 3.88 avg rating — 38,742 ratings — published 1962 — 52 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Box Man by Kōbō Abe, E. Dale Saunders (Translator) 3.58 avg rating — 7,485 ratings — published 1973	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Face of Another by Kōbō Abe, E. Dale Saunders (Translator) 3.74 avg rating — 5,589 ratings — published 1964	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ruined Map by Kōbō Abe, E. Dale Saunders (Translator) 3.45 avg rating — 2,827 ratings — published 1967 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Secret Rendezvous by Kōbō Abe, Juliet Winters Carpenter (Translator) 3.46 avg rating — 2,159 ratings — published 1977 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ark Sakura by Kōbō Abe, Juliet Winters Carpenter (Translator) 3.50 avg rating — 2,007 ratings — published 1984 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kangaroo Notebook 3.46 avg rating — 2,012 ratings — published 1991 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Inter Ice Age 4 3.68 avg rating — 1,294 ratings — published 1959 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beyond the Curve by Kōbō Abe, Juliet Winters Carpenter (Translator) 3.65 avg rating — 788 ratings — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Woman in the Dunes / The Face of Another by Kōbō Abe, E. Dale Saunders (translator) 4.14 avg rating — 486 ratings — published 1964 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Kōbō Abe…

Series by Kōbō Abe

Four Stories (1 book)
by

Kōbō Abe

3.24 avg rating — 38 ratings

Quotes by Kōbō Abe (?)

“Loneliness was an unsatisfied thirst for illusion.”
― Kobo Abe, The Woman in the Dunes

188 likes

“When I look at small things, I think I shall go on living: drops of rain, leather gloves shrunk by being wet...When I look at something too big, I want to die: the Diet Building, or a map of the world...”
― Kobo Abe, The Box Man

152 likes

“Do you shovel to survive, or survive to shovel?”
― Kōbō Abe, The Woman in the Dunes

138 likes

See all Kōbō Abe's quotes »

Polls

What shall we read for November 2025?

Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura

6 votes 42.9%

Colorful by Eto Mori

2 votes 14.3%

Child of Fortune by Yūko Tsushima

2 votes 14.3%

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki

1 vote 7.1%

The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

1 vote 7.1%

Out by Natsuo Kirino

1 vote 7.1%

Wind, Light, and the Twenty-Year-Old Me by Ango Sakaguchi

1 vote 7.1%

Murder at the Black Cat Cafe by Seishi Yokomizo

0 votes 0.0%

The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe

0 votes 0.0%

The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi

0 votes 0.0%

Points and Lines/Tokyo Express by Seichō Matsumoto

0 votes 0.0%

Mistress Koharu by Noboru Tsujihara

0 votes 0.0%

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

0 votes 0.0%

Crossfire by Miyuki Miyabe

0 votes 0.0%

14 total votes

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Kōbō Abe’s Followers (2,048)

Kōbō Abe

Combine EditionsKōbō Abe’s books

Series by Kōbō Abe

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Kōbō Abe’s books