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A review by wildelwrcase
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
As a whole this book is a strange, visceral read. It’s almost comical in it’s depravity and wallowing and yet I cannot help but be utterly gripped by it.
I was worried going in that the long bouts of depressing inner monologues would be absolutely exhausting, but they ended up being some of the most deeply resounding things for me. I absolutely adore the prose in this book. I absolutely flew through it because not only is it short, but every line just pulls you further down into it's own depraved world. I don't know if that is a compliment for some, but it made me thoroughly enjoy it.
Relating to the main character feels so wrong, the words Dazai uses to describe his own depression are so uninhibited, raw, and relatable to anyone who's experience a similar illness. But it also brings feeling of disgust, for the situations the character is in, for his decisions, and worst of all for yourself for being able to relate to it. It sticks you into the mind of a man so ill that he's been institutionalized and forces you to contend with the fact, that you bear fundamental similarities. Then you have to contend with the fact that his bleak outlook on life, is not that different to yours. It's a different kind of pain and one that is absolutely addicting to read.
The closest reading experience I could compare it to would probably be the Metamorphosis by Kafka. But the greatest difference between the books (one that makes me prefer Dazai's) is how personal it is. Gregor is a tragic character, but there is also an undeniable distance between Gregor and the reader. The narrator is very separate from the situation, and while tragic it's also ultimately contained. No Longer Human offers no such comfortable rift. Dazai himself is telling you every detail about why he want to kill himself and how his brain is such a torturous place to live, and the only way to escape it is to have never read it at all.
Highly recommend if you are in the right headspace, but even if you are this book has a good chance of making you spiral in some way.
I was worried going in that the long bouts of depressing inner monologues would be absolutely exhausting, but they ended up being some of the most deeply resounding things for me. I absolutely adore the prose in this book. I absolutely flew through it because not only is it short, but every line just pulls you further down into it's own depraved world. I don't know if that is a compliment for some, but it made me thoroughly enjoy it.
Relating to the main character feels so wrong, the words Dazai uses to describe his own depression are so uninhibited, raw, and relatable to anyone who's experience a similar illness. But it also brings feeling of disgust, for the situations the character is in, for his decisions, and worst of all for yourself for being able to relate to it. It sticks you into the mind of a man so ill that he's been institutionalized and forces you to contend with the fact, that you bear fundamental similarities. Then you have to contend with the fact that his bleak outlook on life, is not that different to yours. It's a different kind of pain and one that is absolutely addicting to read.
The closest reading experience I could compare it to would probably be the Metamorphosis by Kafka. But the greatest difference between the books (one that makes me prefer Dazai's) is how personal it is. Gregor is a tragic character, but there is also an undeniable distance between Gregor and the reader. The narrator is very separate from the situation, and while tragic it's also ultimately contained. No Longer Human offers no such comfortable rift. Dazai himself is telling you every detail about why he want to kill himself and how his brain is such a torturous place to live, and the only way to escape it is to have never read it at all.
Highly recommend if you are in the right headspace, but even if you are this book has a good chance of making you spiral in some way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Rape, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, and Abandonment