The Hole

The Hole is a short story by Hiroko Oyamada, translated by David Boyd. This story follows a woman called Asa as her life changes. Her husband is being transferred, and the couple decides to move next door to his family, in the countryside. Asa ended up quitting her job because the commute was too long. As she tries to adjust to her new rural life, she experiences some strange things. Asa then begins to question her role and her sanity. This book is a nice little gem that I found when I was just looking around the bookstore. I was attracted by its cover, which is just grass with a simple font for the title, and when I read the summary, I was interested right away. I’m glad that I picked it up; I truly enjoyed reading it. It was also a nice break from the longer books I’ve been reading. I give this book an overall rating of 3.5/5.

(Cover of The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada)

This story is very uncanny and strange. Honestly, when reading, I was very suspicious of how everyone was acting. A character would do something weird, and I would automatically think they were going to be the villain of the story, but it isn’t that kind of story. This whole book is covered with Alice in Wonderland vibes, and I loved it. The hole Asa falls into while chasing a strange creature, the grandpa is always smiling like the cat, and the brother-in-law acts as the white rabbit. I love how it gives the story a mysterious vibe that goes well with its uncanny vibe.

One of the topics that this book covers is how isolating it can be to be just a housewife. Asa goes from working full-time and always doing overtime, to just lying around the house. She has very few interactions outside her husband and mother-in-law, and even those interactions are disappointing. Her husband is at work all day, coming home past midnight, and when he is home, he can’t seem to put down his phone. Her mother-in-law is kinda controlling, and doesn’t really let Asa input her own opinion, but it’s unclear if she is doing this intentionally. When she meets someone new, they call her “the bride,” which suggests that she has no identity outside of her husband and her home. Her days very quickly start to blend; it's the same thing over and over again. Wake up, do housework, lie around until lunch, eat, lie around until dinner, eat, sleep. She feels guilty for not working; she feels like, without working, the money isn’t truly shared, that it’s something her husband provides and she uses. She does try to find a job, but without a car and with literally living in the middle of nowhere, there aren’t that many options for her. She is stuck in this hole that is really hard for her to get out of.

My favorite metaphor in this whole story is the hole. On her way to the store, Asa falls into this hole (literally) that seems to have been made just for her. The hole is so deep that only the top of her head can be seen, and she struggles to get out. The hole can be interpreted in so many ways. The hole can represent roles in society, our “slots” in the world, something we have to fit in. For Asa, that role brings the housewife, the bride. But as I mentioned before, it can represent the isolation she is facing in her life, and her climbing out of it could be a symbol of her trying to get back to a meaningful life. I also think that hole could represent the empty feeling she has in her new life. The hole that she falls into isn’t the only hole; there are holes everywhere. In the end, she does manage to get a job (a simple, not very stimulating job), and that's when all of the holes disappear. The holes disappearing, in a way, is a symbol of Asa escaping her isolation and once again finding meaning in working, even if it’s a simple job.

This was such an amazing short read, it’s only 92 pages! It’s filled with metaphors that aren’t too hard to understand but still hold so much meaning. It has such lovely writing with beautiful imagery. This book definitely needs more hype. It should be a crime that I’ve never heard of the book before. It felt like I discovered a secret.