Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

387 reviews

mions's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.5

Having struggled with a sense of disconnection from humanity since childhood, the relatable parts of No Longer Human, ironically enough, helped me feel a lot more human. All the content not included in that statement served as a reminder of why that should be held onto, and how lucky I am to get to feel that way. Though the subject matters are heavy, this book left me with a sense of gratitude. Even with all its raw depictions of the harshness of reality, to me, this is a beautifully written novel.

I did not find the book as soul-crushing as it is often described. The overall tone is typically surprisingly neutral, and at times humorous. It’s much more than a monotone angst-dump, but the story and characters are nothing if not tragic.

Yozo as a main character divides people for a reason, and I can’t exactly blame the people who do not like him. By the end of the book, he is undoubtedly not a great person, but even if his actions aren’t great, they do come across as understandable with all the context provided. To those who have struggled with similar issues with mental health, at times his thoughts can be shockingly relatable. At the beginning of the book, there were parts where Dazai touches on some deeply relatable themes, despite being deeply relatable.

I can only hope that the actual plot points aren’t too reminiscent of many readers’ personal experiences, but it is no wonder that the themes present in No Longer Human resonated with many so strongly that the book became Japan’s 2nd best-selling novel.

While not happy, I find a lot of beauty in aspects of the worldview depicted. There is a sense of quiet appreciation for the significance in what is normally deemed as mundane. It doesn’t turn Yozo’s life into a happy one; it made me appreciate the meaning in some of the less exciting aspects of life as well.

Even if thinking of No Longer Human has at times filled me with dread, I’m grateful for its existence, and happy that I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Death, Grief, and Sexual assault

Minor: Misogyny, Violence, and Sexism

gh0st_f1sh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Misogyny, Bullying, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use

lio_ramon_dolor's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Child abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Rape

farzaan's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Alcoholism, Suicide, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, War, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, and Toxic friendship

dengelke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

heyimaghost's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse

lifepath7's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Confinement

333amreen's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The first half was REALLY interesting! But it lost the spark as it went on, other than a few shocking incidents here & there. Overall, decent read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Infidelity, and Medical trauma

weirdassfanta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

30 pages into this book, I already knew it would be one of the best books I’ve read. As someone who struggles with mental health, I’ve never felt someone else understood my point of view at times until now. I can’t wait to read Dazai’s other books and have already bought a few of them. The crying that occurred as I read this book was worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

ash0ncloud2306's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.25

Spoiler (later on): I personally didn’t “love” nor “liked” the book but I did understand it. I understand it’s a suicidal note which makes it sad and to know it’s a semi autobiography makes it even awful. The main character did not have any redeemable qualities at all other than his self-awareness most of the times (except his misogynistic views and thoughts and feelings). There were some things that just made me question myself why am I reading this book? I was hoping for the main character redemption arc. I was really rooting for him. And at the end “Everything passes”. At least to my understanding, that is the whole point of the book where the main character holds no redeemable qualities which makes him disqualified as a human… no longer a human. At the epilogue, they call him an Angel so perhaps he is not a human because he is not that species (I am only connecting ideas here and there or the want of connecting ideas so this can be ignored). Also he was called an Angel at the epilogue though his life…. He was not being his true self I feel or took a stand for his art. Lots of self sabotaging along with not really wanting anything. He wanted a book as a present from his dad in the beginning and that was disappointing to everyone in the family so there’s a lot of psychological issues from the main character which I felt bad for. I was really rooting for him. I really was :/ I don’t know how I feel about the book tbh. I’m not happy nor sad. Just empty. If anyone gets attached to the author and work, I’d recommend this book. I wouldn’t really recommend it to people though. It had great prose. There’s just… questionable things in there that I can’t slide it away. I mean read the book at your will. This is my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Gaslighting, Death, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Suicide, and Vomit