No Longer Human

Mine has been a life of much shame. I can't even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.

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. His 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.

Still one of the ten bestselling books in Japan, No Longer Human is an important and unforgettable modern classic: "The struggle of the individual to fit into a normalizing society remains just as relevant today as it was at the time of writing." (The Japan Times)

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177 pages

Average rating: 7.29

139 RATINGS

14 REVIEWS

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inspired by fahie

Dec 02, 2024

5/10 stars

This book presents a haunting exploration of a man's struggle with identity and feelings of alienation. The dark themes felt quite heavy for me, making it a challenging read. However, I genuinely admired how Dzai's prose captured the complexities of the human experience. I'll probably recommend this book to someone who loves to explore the darker aspects of the human experience.

Anonymous

Sep 01, 2024

6/10 stars

The way I feel about this book is conflicting. Likely because I found it to be extremely depressing. Aside from that, this book is incredibly unique as I have not read anything like it before. I picked it up in the first place to expand the type of literature I read, as Dazai is a Japanese author. The protagonist is someone you can both sympathize with but also hate intensely. His lifestyle could have easily been avoided through his choices. But then you realize it was inevitable with the type of person he was. It's a little frightening to know that the book was semi-autobiographical. Not to mention that the author committed suicide soon after its publication. All in all, this book isn't for everyone, but can provide an interesting perspective on the human mind and society as a whole, while also giving some insight into Japanese culture and literature.

Chethawleyz

Aug 04, 2024

8/10 stars

This one took me a while to get through. The main character reminds me of an old friend and it made me very frustrated but I had empathy for him. It’s actually quite sad peering into the mind of an unwell person. Severe depression, lack of self, very insecure, misogynistic, suicidal man. Fantastic work of art this book is and I won’t be reading it soon but I will recommend it.

Gabriel Wetzel

Jun 19, 2024

10/10 stars

Love this book, my favorite of all time, -1 point for the depiction of women throughout all of Osamu Dazai's works

3amchris

Jun 06, 2024

7/10 stars

I wish i could understand the protagonist more but that’s the point of the story.