[Part – 2]
Kobo Abe | The
Box Man
Ah well, the
covid-confinement has given us all enough scope for creativity, ain’t it? ;-)
Some of us have
resolved to try out new recipes by the dozen each passing day, while some of
us have resolved to celebrate much our me-space, while yet some others have
resolved to up the ante on our ebby corona-quotient, by having a keen eye and a
keen ear for any covid-related news and memes as well!
In like manner, some
pavapetta litterateurs like we,
indulge ourselves on good reads that have a connect with the corona at least in
some remote ways, ain’t-o-ain’t we?
To live the
moment in sync with the times, in tune with the tide, in harmony with the
milieu, in the bestest and most-est possible ways we really could!
A host of Richard
Preston reads, Dean Koontz delights, David Quammen’s detective enchants, included!
Well, in this, our present
lives confined to our homes, I’m quite reminded of a lovely book that we’d discussed much-o-much, back, down the years, on a lovely readers’ group!
The book is again
quite metaphoric in its intent!
Reminds us of Italo Calvino! [On a related
vein, I was quite surprised and so thrilled to find Calvino delights by the
number stacked up so neat and cute, at Dr. Abdul’s beautiful book collection at
his home in Trichy!]
So yup! the
Calvino craze is here to stay! More power to you, Dr. Abdul!
The Box Man, a 1973 book by
versatile Japanese writer Kobo Abe is one such insightful rumination on
meta-living!
This meta-living, for
purposes of this post, could also be called, alternate living on an alternate
reality!
Much akin to
Calvino’s The Baron in the Trees!
And well, the particularly
interesting singularity about Kobo’s read is that, while Calvino’s baron - the young
Italian nobleman by name Cosimo - resolves to be perched there amongst the trees for the rest of his entire life, Kobo’s nameless protagonist resolves to reside in
a box!
Well, for the
keen eye, I guess you could see such an amazing connect between the box and the
tree, thanks to F. T. Wood, David Crystal, A. C. Baugh et al! [If you’ve got
the connect, do ping me fast!]
While we today,
in the covid-crises that’s enveloped us, have been forcibly confined within our
houses, ;-), or think so, the protagonist of Kobo’s The Box Man resolves to renounce forthwith on the trappings of his
routine, mundane life, to live his life from thence on, voluntarily, all by himself, in a cardboard box.
The book has
resonances and reverberations on a host of related books that have sprouted up
these past decades! However the Kobo touch is so unique in that, as I said just
now, it’s so unique!! ;-)
The protagonist who’s
been all along living the dreary-drudgy, ordinary life of any middle-class
person of his society, one fine day realizes that this life has got him real trapped
into what he does not really love doing! And the next moment, he shakes off the
clutter, throws off this, his mundane existence, and resolves from then on, to
live his everyday existence within the confines of a cardboard box! And this
cardboard box, is fully loaded to nourish him with food enough for his needs!
And now the
protagonist who doubles up as the narrator says that, he is at last free from
the confines and the constraints of a demanding society, and starts living his
own utopian living – which, as Scupin Richard has pointed earlier in the post, is
his meta-living!
The book has been
raved as a ‘spell-binder from beginning to end’!
The narrative
begins on an intriguing note, with the narrator presenting his case!
Speaks the box
man –
This is the
record of a box man. I am beginning this account in a box. A cardboard box that
reaches just to my hips when I put it on over my head. That is to say, at this
juncture the box man is me. A box man, in his box, is recording the chronicle
of a box man.
And then he gives
out his intense instructions for making a Box, which are so descriptive and
DIY!
I’m sure you’ve
not yet heard of a box man. Though there can’t be any statistics, there is
evidence that a rather large number of them are living in concealment
throughout the country. But I’ve never heard that box men are being talked about
anywhere. Evidently the world intends to keep its mouth tightly shut about
them.
While this
blogger strives to leave no stone unturned in presenting quite a teaser to the book, he also
takes much care and concern ;-) to make sure for himself that he doesn’t by any
means, give away the story!
So yes! No
spoilers for y’all!
It’s a kutty
little read much akin to JoLiSea on
the pagecount!
Do grab for
yourself a copy as soon as possible!
For my part, to
stimulate the reader in you, lemme give y’all just a few paragraphs from The Box Man –
Here goes The Box Man –
Why, I wonder,
would anyone deliberately want to be a box man?
Perhaps you think
it strange, but there are many amazing cases that explain why-trifling
motivations that at first glance are not motivations at all.
A is a case in
point.
One day a box man
took up residence directly below the window of A’s apartment. Though A tried
his best not to look, he did.
No matter how he struggled
to ignore the box man, he was very much aware of his presence.
The first
feelings that assailed A were anger and abhorrence toward a foreign body that
has imposed itself, irritation and perplexity at having his territory
encroached on illegally. But he decided to try and wait things out in silence
for the time being.
Anyway, he
thought the neighborhood busybody, nagging about the garbage disposal or who
knows what, would take action. But there was no sign that anybody was about to
handle the matter.
Unable to put up with the situation any longer, he
complained to the janitor of the apartment building; but in vain. The box man
was only visible from A’s window, and anyone who could manage not to be seen would
not deliberately move. As frequently as possible everybody pretended not to sec
him.
Finally A went to
the police box himself. When the bored officer told him to fill out a damage
report, A said that for the first time he experienced something similar to
fear.
“Look here”, the
officer had snapped. “I suppose you made it clear he was to get out”.
There was nothing
for A to do but take action himself. On the way home from the police box he
stopped at a friend’s house and borrowed an air rifle.
Once back in his room,
he had a cigarette and calmed down; then he looked directly out the window, and
as he did so the box man turned the observation slit of the box straight toward
him. There were scarcely three or four yards between them. As if perceiving A’s
inner confusion, the box tilted, and the semi opaque vinyl curtain over the
window divided vertically in two.
From within, an indistinct whitish eye was
firmly fixed on him. A felt a rush of blood go to his head. He flung open the
window, and loading the gun, took aim.
And I guess I’ve
upped the ante on your curiosity quotient, at the most appropriate
cliffhanger-ish point right at the opening pages!
To be continued…
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