Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - No Longer Human

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

17 reviews

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.

Content Warnings

gabriella_'s review against another edition

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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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is heartbreaking when you read it as a

suicide note.

It’s very deeply troubled and misogynistic. It simply reads like a cry for help. His depiction of

childhood trauma

is so visceral I had to put the book down at a couple points. There’s real heart here but it’s being squeezed. More than anything, I just felt an overwhelming sadness reading it.

Content Warnings

irene62_'s review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book - is something else. While the plot is definitely something, the character is just, not it. And I'm saying this with as little judgement as possible. This book is just, sad. But in a pathetic kind of way. Especially bc it talks about the character's horrifying ideal of being known by others while also actively trying to avoid being vulnerable when pursued. And while that's hopelessly human, the idea behind it is just faulty. What's worse? He's utterly selfish. You'd think that so many life alterations would make him change his ways but no, ofc not. Call me naïve but I think hope is a beautiful thing to have, simply bc you can't exist without it, but this novel rules out the mere possibility of it, in every possible way. Would I recommend this book though? Absolutely. But the character is just - nope.

Content Warnings

squidknees's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

ssyx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

This book is fucked up

reading really did feel like reading the diary of an extremely mental disturbed and depressed individual

i definitely liked the first journal the most. it had more critiques on society and perspectives on fitting in that i felt was interesting to read.

There was some seriously uncomfortable descriptions of woman and the MC was clearly misogynistic. Very morally questionable but i think that’s the point lol.

very upsetting read. do not recommend if you are in a bad headspace as this book absolutely would make it worse.

Content Warnings