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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dazai is a master at completely immersing the reader in the unique atmosphere that permeates his novels, and this is all too apparent in The Setting Sun. Amazing storytelling.
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
whew this one felt especially crushing.... i didn't like the main character and i found the others more interesting personally, but it's still a good read. dazai's depression is very, very clear in this work, it oozes out in droves, a meditation on the intersection of grief and mental illness and things ending
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Minor: Self harm, War
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Learning is another name for vanity. It is the effort of human beings not to be human beings.”
I preferred this to No Longer Human, though I found it was regularly alluded to throughout. The author pours out through all of his characters, seemingly regardless of plot or context, though I was more inclined toward Kazuko as a narrator, and how she employed prose to couch her worldview. “I want to believe implicitly: man was born for love, and revolution.”
Even though she oscillated wildly between agony, love, revulsion, and aspiration, she had moments that I thought were witty and profound at once. “I have no understanding of economics. Be that as it may, the subject holds not the slightest interest for me. A science which is postulated on the assumption that human beings are avaricious and will remain avaricious through all eternity is utterly devoid of point… to a person who is not avaricious.”
I also felt more genuine sympathy for all of the characters, including Naoji, despite being so regularly portrayed as an utter brute. His letter and journals humanized him in a way his actions never hinted at, nor surfaced beneath his sister’s gaze.In contrast to his death, describing the poignancy and gravity of her mother’s dying, Kazuko reflects, “I must go on living… I can't go on in simple compliance. From now on I must struggle with the world. I thought that Mother might well be the last of those who can end their lives beautifully and sadly, struggling with no one, neither hating nor betraying anyone. In the world to come there will be no room for such people. The dying are beautiful, but to live, to survive, those things somehow seem hideous and contaminated with blood.”
While there was still a lot of deeply held misogyny permeating through essentially every female character (except maybe Mother,) there were a couple moments that tried for more (“…and yet, even a middle-aged woman's life contains a woman's life, doesn't it?”). But Kazuko, despite her own initially narrow vision of her own capability, makes it out; she endures despite losing everything, and everyone, and wins her revolution over herself and her fate.
“To be alive. To be alive. An intolerably immense undertaking before which one can only gasp in apprehension.”
I preferred this to No Longer Human, though I found it was regularly alluded to throughout. The author pours out through all of his characters, seemingly regardless of plot or context, though I was more inclined toward Kazuko as a narrator, and how she employed prose to couch her worldview. “I want to believe implicitly: man was born for love, and revolution.”
Even though she oscillated wildly between agony, love, revulsion, and aspiration, she had moments that I thought were witty and profound at once. “I have no understanding of economics. Be that as it may, the subject holds not the slightest interest for me. A science which is postulated on the assumption that human beings are avaricious and will remain avaricious through all eternity is utterly devoid of point… to a person who is not avaricious.”
I also felt more genuine sympathy for all of the characters, including Naoji, despite being so regularly portrayed as an utter brute. His letter and journals humanized him in a way his actions never hinted at, nor surfaced beneath his sister’s gaze.
While there was still a lot of deeply held misogyny permeating through essentially every female character (except maybe Mother,) there were a couple moments that tried for more (“…and yet, even a middle-aged woman's life contains a woman's life, doesn't it?”). But Kazuko, despite her own initially narrow vision of her own capability, makes it out; she endures despite losing everything, and everyone, and wins her revolution over herself and her fate.
“To be alive. To be alive. An intolerably immense undertaking before which one can only gasp in apprehension.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I gave it 2 stars not becasue it is bad, but becasue it is really, really, really depressing and too emotional.
It made me feel smothered and want to cry. God, it is really depressing.
It made me feel smothered and want to cry. God, it is really depressing.