The Ruined Map (novel)

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The Ruined Map (燃え尽きた地図 Moetsukita chizu) is a novel written by the Japanese writer Kobo Abe in 1967.

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 to find relevant clues to help him solve the mystery leads the main character to an existential crisis, which builds slowly from inside and finally puts him in the position of identifying himself with the man he was supposed to find.