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rprkrshearer 's review for:
No Longer Human
by Osamu Dazai
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The narrator of this book is terrified of other people, and his own inability to reconcile himself with them, despite their existence being monstrous to him. He hates them, and himself, but also being alone, desperately. This duality mirrors his childhood of affluence and freedom, but also the insidiousness of his secret abuse by a person employed in their home, reifying his deep mistrust in everyone, but especially women. The lengths to which he goes to earn the favor of others, farcical as it is to him, completely distort and further exacerbate the divine between his internal and external selves. Maybe if he were capable of feeling empathy, he would understand that his anxiety, fear, and confusion were shared with the others he so detests and longs for, and would allow him to relinquish a little of that shame, as all of these feelings are, after all, distinctly human elements.
This book is deeply sad, and the narrator’s feelings of joy are so thin and fleeting, much like the experiences of the author’s own life, which itself was permeated with depression, violence (though sometimes perpetuated by the author against others), mental illness, and suicide. Prosaically, it is deeply poignant, and evokes much of the empathy and sympathy its narrator feels bereft of; though not always toward the narrator himself, as it is also very misogynistic, and much of his suffering he perpetuates against others without remorse. This, too, is a very human element.
This book is deeply sad, and the narrator’s feelings of joy are so thin and fleeting, much like the experiences of the author’s own life, which itself was permeated with depression, violence (though sometimes perpetuated by the author against others), mental illness, and suicide. Prosaically, it is deeply poignant, and evokes much of the empathy and sympathy its narrator feels bereft of; though not always toward the narrator himself, as it is also very misogynistic, and much of his suffering he perpetuates against others without remorse. This, too, is a very human element.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol