Customer Reviews

No Longer Human

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

"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. I almost felt sorry for him and hoped he might find even the slightest bit of happiness. Of course any small bit of happiness he found he would pay for ten fold with misery, which was his nature. Overall I found the book very eye-opening, even though the ending did not have much of a climax.

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.

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."

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.

I have read the book in Japanese and, in my opinion, Keene didan excellent job, even if his foreward comments are tainted byall-too-often used theories and opinions concerning Japan and "the West". This book is simply marvelous and a must read for anyone interested in modern Japanese literature. It is Dazai's "masterpiece" and it delves into the heart of something truly deep, dark, and beautiful....and, ultimately, the great man himself. Reading pleasure.....guarranteed.

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. However I have no idea how American feel, I feel like other Japanese. This is a story of degeneration and deterioration. Dazai (author) committed suicide later.

I recommend "The Setting Sun" too. Not a happy story at all. But unlike "No Longer Human", there is a fighting against fate and an aesthetic of coming down.

Dazai is an excellent author, he "creates" (I think a lot of it is autobiographical just in knowing that he died as a result of suicide, double suicide with his lover nonetheless!!) this very dark, very depressing character who you'll ultimately try your hardest not to despise because he at the same time has these very junvenile qualities that redeems him somehow.

No Longer Human is regarded as a work of autobiographical fiction that reflects the struggle for the Japanese people to adjust to post World War II realities. Well, I'm not so sure about that. As Donald Keene states in the introduction, it is probably a mistake to do so. The events are clearly based upon his life experiences, but the story is too well crafted to be a mere recounting of the years when his life was surrendered to drugs and alcohol. And what relation does the book have to the post-war years, aside from the fact that this is when it was published? Whatever the case, No Longer Human is a fabulous book, a true work of World Literature. For all of us who appreciate literature, we are all very unfortunate that Dazai took his life at a relatively young age and before his best works were created. Suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness.