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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
sad
fast-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
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
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
there is a literary sub-genre that is quite popular but i cannot put a name on it. to describe it, would just be saying “miserable man who hates himself but will not kill himself and hates the world and says he wants to be left alone and yet is always around other people, making them miserable with his own presence.” nowadays sometimes women are also these types of men (the bell jar and my year of rest and relaxation comes to mind) but it’s mostly men. oba yozo is, of course, one of these men. but yet, he is not so miserable and pathetic that i cannot enjoy his inner dialogue at all and simply hate the man. is he a good man? hell nah. but am i so irritated by his words that i wish i had enough courage to DNF the novel? no, not at all. he walks this tight rope of depressing and interesting that allows one to somewhat enjoy reading about this man. i find the epilogue very interesting, having the last words of the novel giving compliments to the man we just read about. it has us wonder, was he really that horrible? or was he really just that good of an actor but that people would still make excuses for his outrageous behavior?
(final thoughts that have nothing to do with my review: throughout reading the novel, the idea kept popping into my head, that there were probably many people who read this novel, and perhaps others of dazai’s, merely to help them characterize the fictional dazai osamu from bungou stray dogs for their soukoku fanfiction. this idea made me giggle every time.)
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
sad
slow-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
I cannot generate sympathy for this man
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Reading this book was a real rollercoaster ride for me. I must confess that at times it was quite challenging to get through, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly why. There were so many negative emotions described in such detail that it was almost overwhelming. And don't even get me started on the author's perspective on women - it was downright disturbing. However, I can't deny that this book really shed some light on the cultural view of women in Japan, even if it left me feeling uneasy at times.
Dazai has a fantastic show-don't-tellish ability to simply describe a situation that puts you in a lonely, pathetic headspace without just boringly stating how sad he feels. Saying that his face is unremarkable and would never work as the subject of a painting resonated with me deeply; he illustrates the hopelessness and self-esteem issues that lead to depression (or perhaps depression causes these problems, or both). A powerful read that made me offer him sympathy, despite how little he deserved as the book went on.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Ōba Yōzō was a boy who, in my opinion, had emotionally matured very early. He was too aware of both himself and others. Others would laugh at things that weren’t funny, but he couldn’t understand why. Unfortunately in Japan, not laughing when everyone else is laughing is considered disrespectful and so Oba had to learn to how to fake almost any type of physical emotion in order to fit in. Among other things, that idea of faking reactions and trying to be someone you’re not eventually led him downhill into a life full of alcoholism, abuse, poverty, and eventually to suicide.