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.