Kangaroo Notebook: A Novel (Vintage International)

Great seller. As for the book itself, I bought it after Kojima recommended the author. It is every bit as strange as I was hoping.

very dope

Kangaroo Notebook is the last book written by Kobo Abe; in many ways, it is a reflection on the approach of death, on being an outsider, and, perhaps, on outsider as a kind of death. "Perhaps" because this book is written in a very ambiguous style that allows, even encourages, readers to find different interrelationships between the parts.The narrator begins the story at his suggestion in his workplace being selected as the best - his suggestion, originally a joke, was a product, a kangaroo notebook. This leads to the proposition that marsupials are outcasts - the mammal version of each species being more viable than the marsupial counterpart. Within this context, the narrator notes that his shins are sprouting radishes.Seeking treatment at a dermatologist is the beginning of a series of occurrences - real, dream, illusion, post-anesthetia confusion? This are absolutely delightful, humorous events - a bed traveling in the city through the narrator's mental efforts, of a hell-based sulfur springs treatment, of child demons, of dead mothers in cabbage fields, of an American graduate student studying fatal accidents, of euthansia ...This astounding romp is a serious consideration of death, our beliefs regarding death (the limbo children) and of suicide/murder/euthansia/accident.

I’m not dumb, but this book was definitely over my head. I normally enjoy Abe’s books, but this one is the most surreal and seemingly random of all that I have read. I just didn’t understand the point of any of it. The scenes where the narrator pines sexually for a child also made me a little uncomfortable. I did not understand the literary merit of that.

Throughout the whole thing, it feels like reality is being covered by a layer of warped glass. The two exceptions are the clinic waiting room near the beginning, and the hospital near the end, which feel out of place amongst all the surreal imagery. Maybe there's some kind of underlying message in the fact that the two most normal scenes take place in institutions of wellness. But this trip is way too far out for me to figure out something like that. A compelling curiosity rather than serious literature.

This is a story where a man goes on a ridiculous journey to address vegetables growing where he normally expected his leg hair to be. He snacks on himself throughout, seasoned with his own salty sweat. Yes, really.From the back of the book:"Kobo Abe's unraveling protagonist finds himself hurtling in a hospital bed to the very shores of hell. He encounters an officious child demon, a hairy American martial arts expert, and a sexy nurse who is trying to collect enough blood to win the "Dracula's Daughter" medal."Yup.Reading this feels much like going through the dream journal of the author, but this is Kobo Abe afterall. It should be expected. I liked this book. It is more hilarious than his other ones, and it reminded me of his book "Secret Rendevous" -- in both books, the narrator goes to a hospital. Also in both, things travel into surreal weird town. Though, Kangaroo Notebook revs up that absurdity and hilarity to a much higher level -- higher than anything else by him I have read (such as "Woman in The Dunes" , "The Box Man", etc. which each have much more serious tones to them).The name of the novel comes from the first chapter, where he suggests a new product: Kangaroo Notebook. He does it as a joke, but his company takes it seriously with a certain level of excitement. There are only a few references to the invention later, as his condition becomes highly important.There isn't much I think I can spoil, as the journey is super weird and often completely unrelated events follow each other. But, in case one is truly worried:**SPOILER ALERT INCOMING? Maybe?**For example, the main character finds himself trying to prevent an explosion -- stronger than dynamite -- that he thinks will happen if two squids are to mate out of water as they emit strobing lights like beacons. Here he is fending off the female squid that is trying to mate with the male squid (the male has replaced his IV bag after a recent hospital visit, and is connected to his collarbone):"The female organs mounted their second attack. Using my urine bag as a shield, I somehow managed to prevent the pair from making contact. Urine that had leaked from pressure began to spread out in concentric circles on my briefs. On the end of the stainless-steel pole, the male organs squealed and blew bubbles. This is too much."If you want an absurd read, with an ending that could be a bit unsettling and dark, this is the book for you.

I was intrigued at first, but like practically all surreal books I've read, it slowly devolves into random weird things happening to a mostly nonplussed main character. And I just start to question what the point of all this weirdness is, or is it just being weird for weirdness sake. Anyway, my interest dwindled until I couldn't be bothered to read anymore

Awesome. Wicked storyline.