Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

31 reviews

eib_21's review

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Chronic illness

Minor: Sexual violence

squidknees's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Rape, War, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Misogyny, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Drug use, and Death of parent

g0rrust's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Rape, and Suicide attempt

louminus's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Addiction, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, and Sexism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

starcrossed_fiction's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

sedumglitter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Definitely take your time reading this as there is triggering content in this book, I may reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Suicide, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

books_onthe_ground's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was drawn to this boo on my search for literature that was horror related, disturbing or simply unpleasant to read but not in a ‘this book is shit’ way and yeah this book definitely fits that criteria. More so, I finally picked this up after it being on my list for a while after a youtuber I really admire published a video on this book titled “The most disturbing book I’ve ever read”. Safe to say, I finally bit the bullet and bought it soon after that video was published. 

This book isn’t an enjoyable read and it’s so good at making you simply unhappy without wanting to put the book down. It is depression on paper. This thing is, is that it’s also beautifully written. There are some truly beautiful lines and the impact they create is masterful. The subject matter is painful and deeply upsetting but the wording makes it impossible to put down. There are no monsters and it’s not particularly graphic. There is nothing that would exist outside of this world to take the horror from. No, the horror in this book is human. It's human and goes undedicated. There is no help, no support and no hope. This book is depressing in its complete lack of hope in humanity. 

You have to look up trigger warnings for this one because it contains most of the things that come to mind when you think of what trigger warnings might include. Suicide, self-harm, derealisation, desocialisation, death, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and more. This book has the lot. Its definitely one of the darkest books some people will ever read and it’s a book that will stay with you long after you’ve read it. It is a perfect example of a car crash you can’t look away from. It’s a difficult book to rate because of this because it’s difficult to say I loved it or enjoyed it because how can I? I’m happy I bought and read it and I’ll probably read it again. I’m also intrigued by Dazai’s other works now.  

For these reasons I gave it 4 stars. Would I recommend it to someone? It very much depends on the person and they would have to be in the place to read it because this book really does have the ability to impact someone negatively, especially if they are in a vulnerable place. But yes, if I think it’s okay to do so, I would recommend it. It’s one of those books where if it wasn’t about the topics it is and what I previously stated wasn’t true, this would be a book that you could argue everyone should read but again, I said what I said.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Mental illness, and Murder

thefigtree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

fast paced enough to not become boring but slow enough to stay reflective. i loved it. 
if you like camus' the outsider then i think you'll like no longer human. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Rape

Minor: Chronic illness and Vomit

Incredible. I read mainly in one day and loved every page. It's fast paced enough to stay engaging but slow enough to be reflective. It's a beautifully written book on alienation. If you like Camus' The Stranger you'll love this.

_tabby_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book really captures the self-centered and immoral life lead by the main character, Oba Yozo. Its told from the perspective of Yozo through 3 notebooks and each notebook follows on from the last but progresses through his life until the age of 27. 
Osamu Dazai writes the role of the self-loathing yet hypocritical man, (who believes himself to be an exception from the rules simply because he believes himself to not be human and to be above the understanding of humans) incredibly well but you will never like Yozo. I believe that is the point of the book: to pity the ones who were involved in the life of our main character.
Edit: I just found out this was a suicide note written by Dazai that he wrote in the form of a book... uh.. at least he had a creative outlet???

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Misogyny

cait's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Death of parent