The Ark Sakura by Kobo Abe

Another odd book from Kobo Abe, The Ark Sakura explores Abe's common themes of insect collection, marginalization, and living on the edge. Like The Woman in the Dunes, the Box Man, and The Face of Another, and Secret Rendezvous, Abe creates isolated protagonists who perceive the world in a manner unique from others. His characters become embroiled in Kafkaesque situations and reflect the sometimes absurd dilemnas of the modern world. The narrator lives in an underground cavern which he has slowly and surely converted into a giant ark. His intention is to stock the ark with crew members, seal it off from the rest of the world, and live in it in the event of a nuclear attack. Of course, waiting for the attack would be too late, so his mission is to offer a key and invitation card to special ones chosen for the honor of becoming a crew member and thereby saving his or her life.

This book opens with a scene of the narrator negotiating to buy a eupcaccia or clock bug from the insect selling man. The eupcaccia is a distinctive bug in that it has no legs and "goes around and around in the same place like the hour hand of a clock, feeding on its own excrement" (12). As an example of the oddness of the narrator, he states, "The eupcaccia promised to become a useful litmus test, I thought, one that gave me an objective standard for deciding among potential crewmen. Anyone who showed no curiosity about such an insect--the fulcrum of a compass with which to draw the circumference of the very earth--was simply too insensitive to merit serious consideration" (13). Abe returns to insects as a focus of interest in several of his books. The narrator entices a couple of people to return home with him and he introduces them to his "ark" and his plan for salvation from the inevitable nuclear holocaust. The plot proceeds. It bogs down when the narrator gets his foot and calf flushed down the giant toilet. He is forced to remain in this awkward position for about 1/2 the book. We, readers, are treated to a lengthy discourse about his discomfort and worries about the situation. Excrement and disposal of human refuse is another focal point in this book.

Actually, while the author is imaginative, he seems a little obsessive/compulsive. Maybe that's why I enjoy reading his books; Kobo Abe is unlike anyone else. Murakami comes close as does Kundera or Kafka. However, while both Kundera and Kafka examine the absurdity of the modern situation, they don't, always, get wierd. Abe does. On another note, the movie based on his book, The Woman in the Dunes, is a classic. Hiroshi Teshigahara's movie is weird, absurd, insect related, sweaty, sandy, and provocative, the movie is beautifully filmed and texturally sumptious. Eerie, terrifying, and never to be forgotten, it is one of my very favorite movies and not to be missed! (Taken from the novel by Kobo Abe, director/producer Hiroshi Teshigahara completed this visually stunning feature on a budget of only $100,000. Winning a Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1964, the poetic Woman in the Dunes would go on to be nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film (1964) and Best Director (1965). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide, New York Times)