“The barrenness of sand, as it is usually pictured, was not caused by simple dryness, but apparently was due to the ceaseless movement that made it inhospitable to all living things. What a difference compared with the dreary way human beings clung together year in year out.”

Part 1, Ch. 2
The Woman in the Dunes (1962)

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Kóbó Abe16

Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor 1924–1993

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“The barrenness of sand, as it is usually pictured, was not caused by simple dryness, but apparently was due to the ceaseless movement that made it inhospitable to all living things. What a difference compared with the dreary way human beings clung together year in year out.”

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Kóbó Abe16

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