readings 2007
Explore the best books read in 2007, featuring Osamu Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito, Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes, and The Wisdom of Insecurity—a curated list of compelling fiction, graphic novels, and philosophy.
Book
The Woman in the Dunes
by Kobo Abe
The Woman in the Dunes, by celebrated writer and thinker Kobo Abe, combines the essence of myth, suspense and the existential novel. After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers that the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village. His only companion is an odd young woman. Together their fates become intertwined as they work side by side at this Sisyphean task.
Book
Ode to Kirihito
by Osamu Tezuka
Monmow disease, a life-threatening condition that transforms a person into a dog-like beast, is not the only villain in this brilliant medical thriller by manga god Osamu Tezuka. Said to have been a personal favourite of the artist, who held a degree in medicine and who was surprisingly attentive to Christian imagery, Ode to Kirihito demolishes naive notions about human nature, health and likely preconceptions about the comics master himself. Incorporating elements of the often lurid and adult-oriented |gekiga|, this work marks the beginning of Tezuka's late period.