Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - No Longer Human

the book successfully achieved its purpose in portraying a troubled character. he IS a very strong anti-hero because at many points i found myself disgusted by him while also relating to him.. there was no point to it though! it was so shallow because nothing profoundly meaningful or valuable came out of the “i dont feel like human so i will dehumanise others” schtick.

i also thought it was too indulgent in his misogyny.

Content Warnings

dizzy_sama's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.25

Content Warnings

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

I wanted to read this book out of interest in psychology and in the end I learnt more about a person in my life than I thought I will.

I lack empathy and the same sense of emotions and feelings like others. So I find psychology really interest, as everything is new to me and it is so complex and makes no sense for me that it is actually astonishing again. I thought I just learn a bit more about depression and that's it, but I also learnt a bit more about a person in my life. I always had a feeling like they experienced some kind of trauma, but now I am certain with this book.

The book isn't long, as it is also written in notebooks by a person who experienced depression throughout their life. I learnt a lot from this book and it was informative, but it was too depressing on the long run. I wasn't sad when I read it, but I can't possibly imagine to be born with depression. It's a psychological issue that happens over time, due to trauma or other factors. And reading that this character Yozo always had depression and was NEVER joyful in his life and never experienced happiness, seems for me unlogical.

I am also not quite certain if that is the 100% true version of the notebooks and if there weren't things added or removed to it. This book is a translation, I am aware, but I am talking about the original. The translation didn't seem off, it was good, but sometimes I just thought 'would someone really write this in their own notebook?'. 'Cause there were a bit too many things quoted from other persons in his life, that it was too accurate and that he never forgot any name of the people that I started to think that perhaps a few things were added to the notebook. Just like the prologue and epilogue.

As it was informative for me, I learnt more than expected and it was interesting I will give it 4 stars. Reducing 1 star from my rating due to it's overly unrealistic unhappiness that the person experienced. The suspicion that things were added or left out are not influencing my rating as there is no proof of such.

Content Warnings

evakarolina's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

alessiamarini's review against another edition

Go to review page

sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Content Warnings

lizbeththesimp's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny informative tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

sweetb_xox's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.75

Reading this is painful especially finding out a lot of the things that happen in the book actually occurred in the author’s life. Like, yes, I know it’s a semi autobiography but the fiction tends to be 80% not 20%.

Anyway, what i find fascinating even in not being able to understand humans, when it comes to woman there’s definitely some sort of understanding that woman are the lesser being. 🙄

I think the writing is quite poignant, it’s what drew me in, the author is really able to show the character as is without justifying the actions of the character.

Content Warnings

More...