The Box Man by Kōbō Abe. Short summary

5 seconds

A parable novel about a crate man, where he tells his story, the stories of other crate men, and how to choose and equip a crate to live comfortably in his world.

1 minute

The Box Man writes notes about the Box Man. He describes how to choose the right box, how to equip it properly.

One day the crate man is admitted to a clinic with a gunshot wound. There he meets a nurse girl who is affectionate with him. The girl tries to get the man out of the box and makes a pact with him. But the man cannot part with the box, afraid to go out into the world without his cocoon. He tries to give the nurse her money back, but sees that she is talking to another man-box.

The fake box man looks a lot like the hero. At one point it seems to the hero that the fake man-box is just a figment of his imagination. He can’t figure out which one is real. The fake man-box turns out to be the doctor who took the hero to the clinic.

The Box Man goes to the nurse again. She offers to take off the box and undresses herself. For two months, the naked woman and man live together. But once the girl gets dressed, the man feels uncomfortable and crawls back into his drawer.