The Woman in the Dunes Essay & Criticism

The Woman in the Dunes Critical Overview

The Woman in the Dunes remains a classic novel of Japanese literature almost half a century after it was published. As Myrna Oliver, writing for the Los Angeles Times put it, this first novel of Abe's "was considered a contender for the Nobel Prize for literature, but was not nominated, partly because the very private Abe studiously avoided the literary spotlight." Oliver continues her article by quoting Hisaaki Yamanouchi, who states one reason for Abe's popularity with Western readers: "He [Abe] is probably the first Japanese writer whose works, having no distinctly Japanese qualities, are of interest to the Western audience because of their universal relevance."

The Woman in the Dunes has been a popular favorite all over the world, sometimes bringing readers to their first experience of Japanese literature in translation. Abe's works, in general, are more easily translated because of their lack of allusions to traditional Japanese...
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