Penguin Science Fiction: The Ark Sakura

In anticipation of a coming nuclear apocalypse, Mole has converted a huge underground quarry into an ‘ark’ and is now in search of his crew. He falls victim, however, to the tricks of an insect dealer and his friends. In the surreal drama that ensues, the ark is invaded by a gang of youths and a sinister group of elderly people, led by Mole’s terrible father, while Mole himself becomes trapped in the ark’s central piece of equipment – a giant toilet powerful enough to flush almost anything out to sea.

A science fiction classic from acclaimed Japanese novelist Kobe Abe, The Ark Sakura’s Kafkaesque embrace of nuclear disaster and ecological catastrophe is at turns both hilarious and desperate.