The Ruined Map (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Ruined Map is a novel written by the Japan
ese writer Kōbō Abe
in 1967.
The Ruined Map is the story of an unnamed detective, hired by a beautiful, alcoholic woman, to find clues related to the disappearance of her husband. In the process, the detective is given a map (a ruined one), supposedly to help him, but which turns out in the end to be more like a metaphor of the guidelines one should have in life. The impossibility to find relevant clues to help him solve the mystery leads the main character to an existential crisis
, which builds slowly from inside and finally puts him in the position of identifying himself with the man he was supposed to find.
A film adaptation of the story was made by Hiroshi Teshigahara and released in 1968.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese writer Kōbō Abe
Kobo Abe
, pseudonym of was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor. Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities....
in 1967.
The Ruined Map is the story of an unnamed detective, hired by a beautiful, alcoholic woman, to find clues related to the disappearance of her husband. In the process, the detective is given a map (a ruined one), supposedly to help him, but which turns out in the end to be more like a metaphor of the guidelines one should have in life. The impossibility to find relevant clues to help him solve the mystery leads the main character to an existential crisis
Existential crisis
An existential crisis is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of his or her life: whether his or her life has any meaning, purpose or value...
, which builds slowly from inside and finally puts him in the position of identifying himself with the man he was supposed to find.
A film adaptation of the story was made by Hiroshi Teshigahara and released in 1968.