The Ark Sakura
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Kobo Abe
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Juliet Winters Carpenter (Translator)
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.
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Imprint: Penguin Classics
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Published: 03/06/2021
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ISBN: 9780241454589
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Length: 384 Pages
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RRP: £8.99
Reviews
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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
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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
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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
