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A review by ghostboyreads
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
4.0
"He could only consider me as the living corpse of a would be suicide, a person dead to shame, an idiot ghost. His friendship had no other purpose but to utilize me in whichever way would further his own pleasures."
Sad to an unbearable degree. Utterly tragic. A masterclass in cruelty and sorrow - No Longer Human is a strangely beautiful book, and it's brutal as shit. It's entirely without mercy, yet, not completely hopeless. It's a story that's far more fascinating than it is miserable. As bleak as the title would suggest, No Longer Human is the tale of a man who falls through the cracks in society, it's an incredibly profound and rather deep piece of autofiction, that somehow captures so perfectly the broken beyond help, dejected, despondent mindset without becoming melodramatic or theatrical. This is a super, super cynical text, it's the book equivalent of a never-ending rainstorm, it's a total void, a haunting pit of despair. It's just, so, so very sad.
No Longer Human is so brilliant, it's so moving, perhaps in ways I'm not entirely intelligent enough to explain. By all accounts, our protagonist is not someone we're meant to like, it's all too easy to write him off as a vile person, as detestable. After all, this is an examination of a life gone astray. Yet there's a skillful artistry that Dazai utilizes, to paint Yozo in a sympathetic and at times, almost flattering light. There are moments, however fleeting and brief they may be, in which Yozo becomes, well, just like the rest of us. There's going to be at least one point in this novel that all of us can relate to, that all of us, can say we've at least experienced before. What an entirely unpleasant reading experience. What a godless little novel. How joyless and wonderful.
Sad to an unbearable degree. Utterly tragic. A masterclass in cruelty and sorrow - No Longer Human is a strangely beautiful book, and it's brutal as shit. It's entirely without mercy, yet, not completely hopeless. It's a story that's far more fascinating than it is miserable. As bleak as the title would suggest, No Longer Human is the tale of a man who falls through the cracks in society, it's an incredibly profound and rather deep piece of autofiction, that somehow captures so perfectly the broken beyond help, dejected, despondent mindset without becoming melodramatic or theatrical. This is a super, super cynical text, it's the book equivalent of a never-ending rainstorm, it's a total void, a haunting pit of despair. It's just, so, so very sad.
No Longer Human is so brilliant, it's so moving, perhaps in ways I'm not entirely intelligent enough to explain. By all accounts, our protagonist is not someone we're meant to like, it's all too easy to write him off as a vile person, as detestable. After all, this is an examination of a life gone astray. Yet there's a skillful artistry that Dazai utilizes, to paint Yozo in a sympathetic and at times, almost flattering light. There are moments, however fleeting and brief they may be, in which Yozo becomes, well, just like the rest of us. There's going to be at least one point in this novel that all of us can relate to, that all of us, can say we've at least experienced before. What an entirely unpleasant reading experience. What a godless little novel. How joyless and wonderful.
"The news of my father's death eviscerated me. He was dead, that familiar, frightening presence who had never left my heart for a split second. I felt as though the vessel of my suffering had become empty, as if nothing could interest me now. I had lost even the ability to suffer."
A timeless piece of literature, and perhaps one of the most painfully accurate depictions of depression ever written. There's something so oddly comforting in the authenticity of No Longer Human, it's fucking disturbing, really. Certainly not a tale for the find of heart, No Longer Human plunges itself, and by extension, us, into the murky depths of humanity, where our greatest fears and biggest sins await. It's absolutely not a fun experience, hardly an ounce of happiness is found in this atrocious novel. It's dark, it's horrible, it's as uncomfortable as any book can be. Completely drenched in nihilism and melancholy, No Longer Human is a cathartic release for those who have stared into the abyss that is depression. It's the perfect portrait of suffering.
"I don't understand. If my neighbors manage to survive without killing themselves, without going mad, maintaining an interest in political parties, not yielding to despair, resolutely pursing the fight for existence, can their griefs really be genuine?"