The Hole
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.4
Hiroko Oyamada
Asa's husband is transferring jobs, and his new office is located near his family's home in the countryside. During an exceptionally hot summer, the young married couple move in, and Asa does her best to quickly adjust to their new rural lives, to their remoteness, to the constant presence of her in-laws and the incessant buzz of cicadas. While her husband is consumed with his job, Asa is left to explore her surroundings on her own: she makes trips to the supermarket, halfheartedly looks for work, and tries to find interesting ways of killing time. One day, while running an errand for her mother-in-law, she comes across a strange creature, follows it to the embankment of a river, and ends up falling into a hole--a hole that seems to have been made specifically for her. This is the first in a series of bizarre experiences that drive Asa deeper into the mysteries of this rural landscape filled with eccentric characters and unidentifiable creatures, leading her to question her role in this world, and eventually, her sanity.
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More Details:
Author
Hiroko Oyamada
Pages
92
Publisher
New Directions Publishing Corporation
Published Date
2020
ISBN
0811228878 9780811228879
Community ReviewsSee all
"My second book by Hiroko Oyamada was The Hole, which is about Asa and her husband. When Asa's husband is transferred, they move back to his hometown during an exceptionally hot summer. Asa does her best to quickly adjust to their new rural lives while her husband is consumed with his job. As Asa is left to explore her surroundings on her own, she comes across a strange creature, follows it, ending up falling into a hole—a hole that seems to have been made specifically for her.<br/><br/>Another short book with under 100 pages, I started this book not sure what I was excepting. After reading another book by Hiroko Oyamada, I knew this would have a "normal, daily life" feel to it, which made it hard for me to focus. With the exception of the strange creature and the last 2 chapters which make you question what happened, this book could be written about the life of a normal person. The last 2-3 chapters made this book interesting and made me want answers to my questions.<br/><br/>I rate this book 2.5"