Wikipedia says: The Woman in the Dunes is a 1962 novel by Kōbō Abe, (often romanised Abe Kōbō) often classed as an existentialist work and one of the major Japanese novels of the twentieth century. It won the Yomiuri Prize for literature in 1962.​It follows a schoolteacher and amateur entomologist who becomes trapped in a remote coastal village and forced into an endless, Sisyphean labour shovelling sand alongside a mysterious woman. Translated by E. Dale Saunders; Penguin Modern Classics.​

• The Guardian says: The novel is frequently read as an existential allegory about confinement, labour, and the search for meaning within inescapable circumstances.​

• Goodreads says: The omnipresent sand functions as a metaphor for time, erosion, and the futility yet inevitability of human effort, constantly infiltrating bodies, house and tools.​

• Wikipedia says: Critics also read it as a commentary on post-war Japanese society, including conformity, alienation, and, in some readings, discrimination against marginalised communities such as the burakumin

• Penguin Books the publisher says: It is a strong choice if you are interested in mid‑20th‑century Japanese literature, existential fiction, or works that blur the line between psychological realism and parable.

• Joe Tibbetts (GRG) says. One of my favourite books. I read it once a decade and find a different experience every time.