First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

A private detective is hired to find a missing person, but nothing is normal about this case. Why has the beautiful, alcoholic wife of a vanished salesman waited over half a year to search for him? Why are the only clues a photo and a matchbox? As the investigator’s ever-more puzzling hunt takes him into the labyrinthine depths of the urban underworld, he begins to wonder if it is in fact he who is lost. An intoxicating blend of noir thriller and surreal dream, The Ruined Map questions identity itself.

Happy Friday, everyone! Technically, it is already Sunday. How has your weekend been? I hope you got to spend it resting and rejuvenating your manna. I hope that the brief break allowed you time to recover from the tediousness of the previous work week. I attended my friend’s wedding. It made me reflect on how most of my friends have all settled down. A lot has happened in the past two decades that I have known my college friends. We have shared many memories, and it still surprises me every now and then that we are all adults, with some already parents; I am a godfather to most of their children. Anyway, I hope you were all able to spend the weekend with the people you love and care for. I hope you were able to complete your errands or perhaps pursue the things you are passionate about. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit.

Wow. Time is zooming past us. Time simply takes its natural course, flowing with no regard for anyone. Just like that, we are just a day away from greeting the seventh month of the year. How has your June been? Or more broadly, how has your year been? I hope the first half of 2025 treated everyone kindly. I hope that it brought you favors and guided you closer to your goals and aspirations. I hope the rest of the year will shower everyone with good tidings, kindness, and overall positive energy. If your year has been difficult, I hope a reversal of fortune in the coming months will bless you. The coming months beckon with hope. But if you’re still figuring things out, take your time. I hope you achieve your goals this year. May positive energy, blessings, and good news flow into your life in the months ahead.

Anyway, back to the purpose of this weekly reading update. First Impression Friday – even though I am almost always late – has certainly become a mainstay in my book blogging. Currently, I am wrapping up my foray into Asian literature, a reading journey that I started in January when I spent the entire first quarter of the year reading works of East Asian literature. It certainly was an interesting and memorable literary journey, even though I never planned to stay this long. I can’t expect anything less, especially with how diverse the continent is. To wrap up this six-month reading journey is a work from the East Asian region, particularly from Japanese literature. Japanese literature has emerged to be one of my, if not my favorite part of the literary world. Among the several writers who are staples of this region is Kōbō Abe.

I believe it was the must-read lists that first introduced me to Kōbō Abe. The Woman in the Dunes is a recurring presence in such lists. It was also his first work I read. It was, to say the least, an interesting read. I have to say the same for Kangaroo Notebook, although its grotesqueness can be quite discomfiting. Nevertheless, I am back with yet another book by Abe, born Kimifusa Abe. Like his first two works, The Ruined Map provides me with a different dimension of Abe’s oeuvre, or at least that is what it seems to me at the onset. Originally published in 1967 as 燃え尽きた地図 (Moetsukita chizu), it masquerades as a work of detective and mystery fiction. The story is narrated by an anonymous detective from the T______ Detective Agency, whose expertise was engaged by a beautiful but alcoholic woman. His mission was, on the surface, seemingly simple: to find clues related to the disappearance of her husband.

The missing person is Hiroshi Nemuro, a section head for a fuel wholesaler. However, it has been six months since he disappeared, raising questions about the intentions because why wait this long before they availed the assistance of a detective. The starting point provided by Nemuro’s wife was a map, the titular ruined map. Meanwhile, his brother-in-law described Nemuro as a skilled mechanic who bought cars in bad condition, repaired them, and sold them for a profit. It was better than nothing, I guess. Nevertheless, with the map as his guide, the detective started searching for hints that would lead him to the missing man. The map, he soon realizes, barely makes sense. Well, this is Abe’s world, where nothing seems to make sense. One has to wade through the hodgepodge.

One clue, I surmise, is the allusion to the city where the story is set. Development is sweeping it. Development forced it to expand its boundaries. Some sections have sprouted while some have disappeared. I can only hazard a guess. But from the novels of Abe I have read so far, they are mainly examinations of the individual. They are existentialist in nature. I believe this will be the same for The Ruined Map. The city is a projection, but the story will eventually turn to the unnamed detective. He has already begun questioning the events that transpired, the changes sweeping the city, and even himself, so I am in the right direction. I can’t wait to see how Abe will lay out the map. How about you, fellow reader? What book or books have you read over the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!