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Jay's Reviews > No Longer Human
No Longer Human
by
by
Okay, I'll bite... we live in a society?
Not sure what can be said about this that hasn't already been said before. It is the last novel published by Osamu Dazai before he committed suicide in 1948. It is a "timeless" piece about the dangers of social conformity, but it utterly fails to deliver. 170 pages pass by in a breeze and none of it actually sticks with you, it's very contemporary and unimpactful--even if you know that this is basically the author's final goodbye.
The writing--particularly in the prologue--is utterly astounding, but it sadly is not enough to hold this plot-less book up. The prologue and first notebook show promise but by the first part of the third notebook you really don't even care for the speaker at all. He just feels sorry for himself and hates others for 170 pages; and for what? Because you got caught lying twice? is that why you're so insufferable, Yozo?
The way the speaker so flippantly expresses his hatred of women and sex-workers is rather grim, it's possibly the saddest part of this novel if I'm being honest. Not sure if my distaste for this book comes from the high expectations I had going into it when I had it recommended so much but, I don't know man, it's just not a great novel. It's rather flawed, misguided, and deceiving--much like the speaker is. 1.5 stars, but I can't in good conscience bump it up to 2 stars... Hopefully Junji Ito's adaptation has more substance to it...
Oh by the way, we live in a society.
Not sure what can be said about this that hasn't already been said before. It is the last novel published by Osamu Dazai before he committed suicide in 1948. It is a "timeless" piece about the dangers of social conformity, but it utterly fails to deliver. 170 pages pass by in a breeze and none of it actually sticks with you, it's very contemporary and unimpactful--even if you know that this is basically the author's final goodbye.
The writing--particularly in the prologue--is utterly astounding, but it sadly is not enough to hold this plot-less book up. The prologue and first notebook show promise but by the first part of the third notebook you really don't even care for the speaker at all. He just feels sorry for himself and hates others for 170 pages; and for what? Because you got caught lying twice? is that why you're so insufferable, Yozo?
The way the speaker so flippantly expresses his hatred of women and sex-workers is rather grim, it's possibly the saddest part of this novel if I'm being honest. Not sure if my distaste for this book comes from the high expectations I had going into it when I had it recommended so much but, I don't know man, it's just not a great novel. It's rather flawed, misguided, and deceiving--much like the speaker is. 1.5 stars, but I can't in good conscience bump it up to 2 stars... Hopefully Junji Ito's adaptation has more substance to it...
Oh by the way, we live in a society.
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Reading Progress
June 26, 2020
–
Started Reading
June 28, 2020
– Shelved
June 28, 2020
–
Finished Reading
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by
ari
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Jul 23, 2021 06:15AM
RIGHT!! it all felt whiny and self indulgent, as if he was trying to prove to everyone how different and alone he was (which yes is the premise of the book, but i expected something a little more profound). The entire time i was sitting through it felt like having someone mansplain mental illness to me, which is frustrating because i was so excited to read it :((
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I’m only 45 pages in and it just feels like he rambles on about the same thing, about his “clownery” and how he doesn’t understand anyone and no one understands him
Surprise! Mental illness and mentally ill people are usually not palatable
