Reviews with content warning for Suicide - No Longer Human

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

610 reviews

justann33's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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b33's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Speculated to be written as Osamu Dazai’s suicide note, No Longer Human centres around a protagonist, Yozo Oba, that feels subhuman. He spends his life searching to fill the void and in return, finds drugs, women, and alcohol.

Dazai is one of my favourite authors. He manages to capture sadness and isolation in a way no author I’ve read has before. I’ve read No Longer Human 4 times and in each read, I manage to find another element that stands out. I’ve probably got a note on each page of the book. Half of the book is just my writing, at this point.

While the book undeniably has its less savoury aspects, like the visceral misogyny Yozo displays towards women characters, they still manage to fit into the plot and make sense in relation to the character. Not to say Yozo or Dazai should be excused for any prejudice.

Dazai’s writing style is quick and fluid. The poetics are exaggerated enough that I enjoyed reading them and it didn’t feel like a textbook, but subtle enough that it didn’t feel like I was reading a thesaurus. He’s able to capture a wide range of emotions, showing the beauty and suffering Yozo experienced.

Overall, I understand the criticisms of No Longer Human. It’s a miserable book, to put it simply. But I enjoyed the way Dazai was able to write the misery of Yozo, and No Longer Human remains one of my favourite book to date. Beautifully written and emotional.

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n3verm0r3's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

Content Warnings

historyoftape's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-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

3.75

This was hard to read, it was like watching someone sink into quicksand in slow motion. Fascinating, horrifying, depressing, cynical, at points slightly hopeful- haven't read anything like this in a long time.

Getting a look into the psyche of someone who cannot understand humanity, therefore struggles to define himself, defines himself as a monster and the watches himself become one, and in the end is just so incredibly human even while he believes himself not to be. That is what I would summarize this book to be, even though there is so much more.

Read the trigger warnings though. Would not recommend this to anyone currently struggling with depression or suicidal ideation. I'd say I'm mentally doing well right now, don't know what this would have been like if I'd read it at other points in life.

Content Warnings