The poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas.
Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. Oba Yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a "clown" to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness.
No Longer Human
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the most powerful book I have ever read.
This novel (inspired by Dazai's autobiography and written in the first person) tells the story of one person who feels since childhood utterly alien from his fellow human beings but learn to put a face to hide his deep sense of alienation and his despise for the hypocrisy of society. He feels incapable to belong to a human society (hence the title). Follows a descent into alcohol, drugs, suicide as the main character enters into aldulthood.
The story did remind me a little of Camus' The stranger (l'etranger) in so far as both are a tale of a person alienated from the society at large. But Dazai also explore the sense of self-loathing and self-destruction and is therefore much darker (Camus sounds cheerful in comparison).
Dazai is known as a dark post-war writer and indeed this is a dark novel.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By J. Ramirez
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is a pretty dark and tragic story but it really makes you wonder about the true nature of humans. The main character is a really interesting one. At time one could easily say: "That's me", sometimes you fell pity for him, sometimes you genuinely hope that he can find happiness and some other times you just downright hate him. Rather than being depressing I would say that it just mirrors life way too clearly. Definitely a must read.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"No Longer Human", by Osamu Dazai is basically a narrative based on the author's life. It would be difficult not to be captivated by Yozo, the main character of the story. From childhood Yozo feels strangely alienated from human society. As you read his views about the world you can't help but become completely fascinated with his strange way of interpreting the world around him.
This book is obviously intended for a mature audience due to the explicit subject matter involving drugs, alcohol, sex, and prostitution. I think the author's objective in writing this novel is to open the eyes of those who read it. Although the character of Yozo seems odd and quirky, the reader can't help but feel enlightened by his way of seeing things. On several instances I found myself thinking he was in fact a genius for seeing things in such a different way than the average person. This of course would make me the ordinary person. Although as Yozo points out in the book, genius is often mistaken for madness and I suppose it goes the other way as well.
Along with enlightenment comes the sad realization that perhaps it is his ability to see the truth in people that causes him such horror. He knows that people put on false fronts in order to fit into society and because of this one can never truly trust another person. I admit even I can scare myself when I over analyze the fact that you can truly never know another person's thoughts or intentions. Yozo however takes this to extremes and relies on vices to keep his mind from scaring him to death.
I found this book almost impossible to put down. It is a story like no other I have ever read. I found the story captivating. I think part of what kept me interested was wondering if Yozo would ever feel comfortable in his own skin.... Read more ›
This book is obviously intended for a mature audience due to the explicit subject matter involving drugs, alcohol, sex, and prostitution. I think the author's objective in writing this novel is to open the eyes of those who read it. Although the character of Yozo seems odd and quirky, the reader can't help but feel enlightened by his way of seeing things. On several instances I found myself thinking he was in fact a genius for seeing things in such a different way than the average person. This of course would make me the ordinary person. Although as Yozo points out in the book, genius is often mistaken for madness and I suppose it goes the other way as well.
Along with enlightenment comes the sad realization that perhaps it is his ability to see the truth in people that causes him such horror. He knows that people put on false fronts in order to fit into society and because of this one can never truly trust another person. I admit even I can scare myself when I over analyze the fact that you can truly never know another person's thoughts or intentions. Yozo however takes this to extremes and relies on vices to keep his mind from scaring him to death.
I found this book almost impossible to put down. It is a story like no other I have ever read. I found the story captivating. I think part of what kept me interested was wondering if Yozo would ever feel comfortable in his own skin.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
It transmits emotions like no novel I had read before. I completely identified with the main character and his problems. It is a book I would suggest to anyone who has enjoyed Camus or 'The catcher in the rye.'
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By literary bug
Format:Paperback
Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human) employs unsentimental, autobiographical language, to show a protagonist trapped between the Japanese traditions of his aristocratic family and the impact of an infiltrating Western culture. Three chapters divide the man's life, revealing his path towards self-destruction in the guise of alcohol abuse, prostitution, and suicide attempts.
The fatalistic story suggests the impossibility of changing the course of one's life. Dazai writes, "I find it difficult to understand the kind of human being who lives, or who is sure he can live, purely, happily, serenely, while engaged in deceit. Humans never did teach me that abstruse secret." If you are interested in exploring the myth of Sysphus through a Japanese lens, then this book is for you.
The fatalistic story suggests the impossibility of changing the course of one's life. Dazai writes, "I find it difficult to understand the kind of human being who lives, or who is sure he can live, purely, happily, serenely, while engaged in deceit. Humans never did teach me that abstruse secret." If you are interested in exploring the myth of Sysphus through a Japanese lens, then this book is for you.
11 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By T. Hooper
Format:Paperback
This novel covers the life of Yozo, a young man who feels alienated from human society. He finds it impossible to connect with his fellow humans, and in fact, fears them. He is afraid of what they think of him. He puts on the face of a clown, but he is totally crushed when he is found out to be a phoney. As he enters University, he comes to battle with alchohol and drugs. The center of his misery is his inability to have a normal relationship with women. However, the fault lies completely within himself and his terribly pessimistic attitude.
This was an interesting book, but I found it difficult to get into the head of the dark hero. In this book, he finds no hope, and there are no ways to escape from his depression and his fear of society. He can only escape. It was difficult to fathom his point of view, but I think it helped me to understand the feelings of people who shut themselves away from society.
19 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By Eric A Berg
Format:Paperback
I tutor a Japanese woman once and week and I recently asked her for advice on selecting Japanese authors (partly for the reason mentioned recently in The Atlantic Monthly's book review section: American literature normally finds itself caught in a breeze of cultural shallowness). "Osamu Dazai is good," she responded, "but I think he maybe too depressing."
My student, understandably, reads the book in a very different context than I do. She follows Yozo, the main character, through his trials and tribulations with a sense of impending dread - one that is brought to fruition with a storyline meant to explore the emotional and personal impact of the post-war period. While the American reader can glean the same reading, "No Longer Human" is also appealing in its quality of universality as applied to the common man. Yozo stumbles around his life bemoaning the world around him and his inability to operate in it, and the effect is often humorous and insightful. True, he is a tragic character, but one imbued with a sharp eye and a sharper wit. "No Longer Human" is filled with observations that I laughed at because of their appropriateness in my life, which upon casual comparison, shouldn't be similar at all.
"You thought it was funny? How? It's so sad!" my student all but yelled at me.
"Well, it's funny because it's so...correct. It's a great book because it deals with something so simple, and it deals with it well."
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
a big let down
was looking for some thought provoking themes.. instead got a bunch of cowardly complaining. save your money, or call you mother in law, it's about the same thing..
Published 6 days ago by ErikBowitz
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic
A must read for any fan of Japanese literature. A classic tale of wasted lives, psychological entanglement and desperation over the mundane. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jaime
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Japan's Best
A very dark and disturbing story. It follows the life of a man who strives to understand and be understood by Human Society. Read more
Published 10 months ago by costasss
4.0 out of 5 stars
We're all alone (but young japanese men are extra-especially alone)
What is it with young men in so much Japanese literature? Whether it's Murakami, Mishima, Soseki, or Dezai they always come across as either lonely, shut-off or damaged (or some... Read more
Published 16 months ago by jafrank
4.0 out of 5 stars
Japanese essential reading
I'm Japanese, read this in college English class. Most of all Japanese read this, and experience main character, Yozo's feelings vicariously, more or less. Read more
Published on March 4, 2010 by Hiroki Fukuoka
5.0 out of 5 stars
addictive
i first looked into an anime called sayonara zetsubou sensei and the first
episode included an excerpt from this novel. so i decided to read it and
i really enjoyed it
episode included an excerpt from this novel. so i decided to read it and
i really enjoyed it
Published on April 30, 2009 by e. gonzalez
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Descent into Mediocrity...
This semi-autobiographical tale centers around the degeneration of the main character as he spurns (and abuses) woman after woman, abuses alcohol, avoids work, and generally wastes... Read more
Published on January 25, 2008 by Harkius
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't live up to expectations
This was my first encounter with Dazai, and I must say No Longer Human did not live up to my high expectations. Read more
Published on August 30, 2006 by Charles E. Stevens
3.0 out of 5 stars
No Longer Shock
Dazai, he was a writer who the most influenced my split in my youth days. When I read "No Longer Human" I remember I thought "It could be me". As if it indicated my dark side. Read more
Published on October 4, 2005 by Miho Hirono
