''The Ruined Map'' (燃え尽きた地図 ''Moetsukita chizu'', 1967) is a novel by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese writer

Kōbō Abe , pen name of , was a Japanese writer, playwright, musician, photographer, and inventor. He is best known for his 1962 novel '' The Woman in the Dunes'' that was made into an award-winning film by Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1964. Abe has often bee ...

, translated into English by E. Dale Saunders for

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

in 1969.

Plot

''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 of finding relevant clues to help him solve the mystery leads the main character to an

existential crisis In psychology and psychotherapy, existential crises are inner conflicts characterized by the impression that life lacks meaning. Some authors also emphasize confusion about one's personal identity in their definition. Existential crises are acc ...

, which builds slowly from the inside and finally puts him in the position of identifying himself with the man he was supposed to find. ''The Ruined Map'' is exemplary of the postmodern detective novel, exploring themes such as urbanization, alienation, semiotic confusion, and narrative fallibility through classic elements of the noir genre. In this way, it can be read as a precursor to works like

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), ''Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), ''The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The Broo ...

's ''

New York Trilogy ''The New York Trilogy'' is a series of novels by American writer Paul Auster. Originally published sequentially as ''City of Glass'' (1985), ''Ghosts'' (1986) and ''The Locked Room'' (1986), it has since been collected into a single volume. Th ...

'' or

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

's '' Wild Sheep Chase''. A film adaptation of the story, ''

The Man Without a Map is a 1968 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara and starring Shintaro Katsu. The screenplay was adapted by Kōbō Abe from his novel ''The Ruined Map''. This was the fifth and final film collaboration between Teshigahara and Abe.Berra, Joh ...

'', was made by

Hiroshi Teshigahara was a Japanese avant-garde filmmaker and artist from the Japanese New Wave era. He is best known for the 1964 film ''Woman in the Dunes''. He is also known for directing other titles such as ''The Face of Another'' (1966), ''Natsu No Heitai'' (''S ...

and released in 1968.

Reception

John Leonard, writing in ''The New York Times'', chose ''The Ruined Map'' as one of the six best novels of 1969.

References

External links

''The Ruined Map''
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

1967 novels Novels by Kobo Abe Japanese novels adapted into films {{japan-lit-stub