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dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This year I am twenty-seven. My hair has become much
greyer. Most people would take me for over forty
There is something eerily unsettling about this book
greyer. Most people would take me for over forty
There is something eerily unsettling about this book
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Years later, I'm still traumatised.
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This was not what I was expecting after reading the summary. It says that Yozo, the main character of this fictional autobiography, is "a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas". Reading the book, I felt that Yozo was rather caught between his dread of humankind and his desire to belong to it. He can't act like people want him to and is therefore "disqualified from being a human being" (literal translation of book's title).
This quote by Donald Keene, however, I agree with: "A Dazai novel is at once immediately intelligible in Western terms and quite unlike any Western book." It helped that his translation was not awkward like other Japanese-to-English ones I have encountered before.
I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed the first half of the book much, much more than the second. The opening drew me in instantly and I related to so many things Yozo remembers from his childhood.
Dazai managed, quite impressively, to capture the hopeless and helpless feeling of depression and a distorted perception of self without romanticising nor dramatising it. The regrettable collateral damage of that is that I never felt any strong emotion during my reading. Still, I could relate to young Yozo more than to many protagonists I've read about and for that I'm happy to have given this book a try.
This quote by Donald Keene, however, I agree with: "A Dazai novel is at once immediately intelligible in Western terms and quite unlike any Western book." It helped that his translation was not awkward like other Japanese-to-English ones I have encountered before.
I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed the first half of the book much, much more than the second. The opening drew me in instantly and I related to so many things Yozo remembers from his childhood.
Spoiler
For instance, his depression about the fact that everything humans make and do–from having a meal to public transportation–is out of utility and never for aesthetics or the beauty of exotism. I also empathised with how hard it must be for him, having a concept of happiness that doesn't match with everyone else's. I was hopeful when it seemed that he was going to find solace in painting humans (and himself) how he really sees them: ghosts and demons. Alas, as Yozo grows up he goes down the slippery slope of silence, isolation, coping mechanisms, self-medication and inadequate mental health care.Dazai managed, quite impressively, to capture the hopeless and helpless feeling of depression and a distorted perception of self without romanticising nor dramatising it. The regrettable collateral damage of that is that I never felt any strong emotion during my reading. Still, I could relate to young Yozo more than to many protagonists I've read about and for that I'm happy to have given this book a try.
I loved it but I would’ve enjoyed it even more without these misogynistic ass sentences what the fuckkkk was this? Was it really necessary?
Some said it’s kinda like Kafka but my man Kafka would never talk THIS disrespectful about women and s*xworkers. This kind of ruined it for me
Some said it’s kinda like Kafka but my man Kafka would never talk THIS disrespectful about women and s*xworkers. This kind of ruined it for me
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-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
i think i need to read this book it didn’t hit as much as i thought it would that’s why i’m not giving it a rating