Read this in a couple days in the summer, one of the last lines really caught me. Dazai describing his wretched appearance and horrible past just to end the book by saying he's not even 30 but looks around double his age. Dark shit man.
I actually read it in 2 days during summer as well. I bought it in Japan and read it there as well, it was very good. I always remember the synonym and antonym game.
It's like the longest, beautifully written suicide note... That makes you just wanna jump back in time to give this poor guy a hug, a peaceful prayer, and maybe a therapy - something he never received but we all agree is all he needed.
@@samblackstone3400 the man likely had a personality disorder that was triggered by his abuse. I was abused pretty similarly and suspect he has what I am diagnosed with which is notorious for having very high rates of suicide. I think/thought like him and even have the insight like him to know it’s somewhat wrong, therapy has been helping very much and yes it’s not “fixing” my early life it is fixing how I look at others and myself. The old woman said “when humans get that way they are no good for anything” is exactly the way I would describe my realizations in therapy. It makes you terrible to be around to always be brooding and sad and also it makes you not want to do anything, nothing is worth anything. I lived by “nothing is real if nobody cares” to the point where my entire life was void of anything I was interested in myself, because that didn’t matter cause if it wasn’t for my appearance to others it was stupid and not worth anything. With therapy I’ve gained appreciation for things as they are rather than how they present. I hope those saying they relate can get the help I am getting right now.
My favorite line from this book is "What is society but an individual." I am someone who suffers from social anxiety and hearing that line helped me get a new perspective. It felt calming to finally understand that not everyone is looking at me with a magnifying glass. Society is made up of the people around you, the ones you interact with, not the whole globe.
One of the things i found very interesting was in the epilogue where the ‘madam’ calls Yozo an angel (or something of the kind) because i felt like that one sentence tipped my entire view on the book slightly. This outsider’s perspective allows us to look at the character in the absence of the self-demonising lens with which he describes and views himself, it made me look back at events in the book and realise just how much Yozo’s social anxiety could have distorted his account on what happened. It also brings you back to the theme of deceit; makes you think about how much he’d hidden from the outside world and his acquaintances and how successful he had been at it. I really enjoyed this book!
Towards the end the way the older women described Yozo had unsettled me in a matter I could not put into words. The very description had confused me nonetheless. I had assumed based on the way that Yozo viewed himself possibly that others saw him falling apart as horribly as he saw himself fall apart. After the last sentence the women had said to the narrator, I realized too that when people are as depressed and anxious to the point of suicidal tendencies that they are wayyyy more pessimistic than others. So thank you so much for making not feel like I was overthinking the “Angel” part 😭
I agree. I understand that many people have romantic success without being good people, but it genuinely seemed like everyone around him truly enjoyed his company and wanted to be around him. Most women he met liked him and it seemed like (aside from the drinking) was fun to be with. His perspective was muddied with mental illness, but I don’t think it accurately reflects his relationship with people
You can look at it from two angles. Either what you said, or Dazai is further emphasizing that no one in his entire life even came close to understanding him/Yozo. Maybe it's a little bit of both.
@@ulxsyxd Thank you. I don’t see enough people mentioning this but that was immediately the way I thought of it. I think both that he was harsher on himself than he really deserved and others viewed him, as other people are saying, but also that despite the girl at the end describing him as an angel, it was obvious that nobody actually has any idea of who he really is. And I think that was likely the point (at least from my perspective).
This is one of my all-time favorite books!!! The line "Mine has been a life of much shame" hit differently when I finished the story. It is truly a literary masterpiece.
My favorite part is in the beginning when the man describes the photos. When I read it, it did not click with me that the photos were supposed to be the main character. So I went through the book only seeing him through his own self image. Then when I got to the end and they talked about the pictures again and then being him it made me see the whole book in a different light. He looked so different as a child than as he described himself, but as he grew old the self descriptions and the photos started to match up. Hopefully this makes sense
"And the way he describes these photos is probably one of the most eerily disturbing and just genuinely frightening passages I've ever read." Dude, I read this book 3 years ago and I don't even remember the description anymore, but I remember feeling exactly this way. Great review, as always you manage to verbalize exactly how I felt about the book. Thanks for doing what you do!
This book destroyed me, especially having read about Dazai's life, and because of how relatable it was, and how... well, real it felt (I don't know how else to express it.) This book is like a flame and you're a mere moth reading it... you know it'll destroy you, but you can't help but read it. It's absolutely brilliant. I'm usually a fast reader, but the depression that this book gave me in addition to my already existent depressive state, ensured that I took 6 months to read it. That's the longest time I've ever taken to read a book. It's been many months since I read it, but now, I'm reading Junji Ito's adaptation and that's somehow even more horrifying in some ways. It's scarring for life. Also, I find a lot of similarities in Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's writings with Dazai's writings (which is quite natural since Dazai was a huge fan of Akutagawa and was highly influenced by his writings.) Also, Akutagawa himself was in turn a huge fan of Kunikida Doppo and was highly influenced by his writings (he even wrote about being influenced by Kunikida in one of his semi-autobiographical stories.) To anyone who hasn't read them yet, I recommend reading the books written by all three of these great writers. It's an indescribable experience reading them and not only realising how they influenced each other, but also how the Japanese societal, cultural and literary thought process changed with time (keeping in mind that all three of these writers were decades ahead of their time, and each wrote during 3 consecutive periods, never meeting each other... Akutagawa was a child when Kunikida passed away, and Dazai was a child when Akutagawa breathed his last, and all of them died very young)
And some people say that Dazai's suicidal choice was also influenced by Akutagawa's surprising suicide, while if I'm not mistaken, Kunikida died from disease?
@@eluziaaloinabarus1853 Dazai was extremely distraught when he read about Akutagawa's suicide in the papers, and it may have been an initial catalyst to the multiple suicide attempts that followed throughout his life, but it definitely wasn't the only one, and certainly not the main reason for these attempts. He became increasingly obsessed with Akutagawa and when he repeatedly failed to win the acclaimed Akutagawa Prize for literary excellence, he once again went into a spiral of depression and drug abuse, and another attempt followed. Dazai was someone who had trouble connecting to other people on an emotional level, but was very lonely at the same time. He had a very addictive personality, and quickly became obsessed with certain people even if they didn't think much of him, or in Akutagawa's case, didn't even know him. Coupled with this, his numerous psychological issues and suicidal tendencies, and it was a roller coaster of a series of tragedies. I'm reading a biography of Dazai atm which suggests that he may actually have been murdered by his mistress (who then killed herself) instead of willingly dying with her. However he may have died though, it was incredibly tragic. Dazai had tried to commit a double suicide with a 19 year old waitress when he was 21; the girl died while he survived. I wonder, what his last thoughts were. Kunikida died very young (at only 36 years old) of tuberculosis. I read an amazing book about the friendships between famous authors. The first chapter was about the friendship between Kunikida and Tayama Katai. His letters to Tayama from his hospital bed about coming to terms with death and worries about his family after his death brought tears to my eyes. In the anime/manga Bungou Stray Dogs, where the characters are based on real life authors, its version of Kunikida Doppo loves eating bonito flakes. It was in that book where I found the real life inspiration for that: when the real life Kunikida Doppo was on his death bed in the hospital, bonito tuna was the only thing he could palete due to his illness. He used to think of his best friend Tayama Katai whenever he ate bonito, thinking, "Katai loves bonito so much. I wish I could share some with him. He'd have enjoyed it so much"... he was dying, and that was what he was thinking while eating the only food he could stand to eat anymore 😭. Kunikida was quite famous in his last years, and his interviews and letters during his stay at the hospital are heartbreaking. Edit: I have since fortunately got hold of Tayama Katai's autobiography, "Thirty Years in Tokyo" where he devotes two entire massive chapters to his friendship with Kunikida and Kunikida's death. Nothing could've prepared me for the feels that followed reading those chapters 😭
Whenever I'm depress, I like to read tragic, depressing books. This month hasn't been kind to me, so I order this book online, read it as soon as it arrived, finished it the same day, and now I'm more depress. I read this book without knowing anything about the author or this book, I'm glad I did because after reading the book, I looked the author up on google and found out what happened, what happened to the author in real life felt like the ending that was supposed to happen in the book, it's tragic.
Maybe reading and reading tragedy is your thing. It’s disturbing that the writer didn’t seek any solution, worked hard on his craft (dwell in misery), instead of put that mind to turn those social problems into solutions. At the very least not be so destructive
I find it funny that for me, this all started with the anime "Bungo stray dogs" which opened me up to so many potential books I want to read. And the first one I chose was No Longer Human. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into until I started the book, and I'm glad I did. The sections mentioning his social anxiety might be one the most relatable moments compared to any other book I've read. Can't wait to get into the other authors' famous works!
Same lol, thanks to Bungo Stray Dogs I learned about many classic writers and started reading some of their works. Particularly, I'll be eternally grateful to BSD for introducing me to Dostoevsky and allowing me to read Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, my two favorite books so far.
the setting sun is depressing, but it's less relatable I guess, its theme is about the fallen noble (kazoku) trying to live as commoners in post war japan without much money
I'm reading The setting sun, I like it a lot. It's really depressing and I feel so bad for the girl. She is just so stuck and her brother doesn't really help much. She can't live her life because she is stuck with her mom, she has no help. I'm 2 chapters away from being done.
Idk, it was a good read, but by the end I was like: "What did this book even mean?" Idk, I prefer No Longer Human even if it is more painful to read, there seems to be a purpose to it even if it is a depressing and despairing account of human life, but I never really got the point of The Setting Sun by the end. I liked it, it also had I think more moments of beauty than No Longer Human as even if it is depressing, it does not come close to the despair No Longer Human. I really had a good time reading both, but if the Setting Sun's only purpose was some comentary on Japan after WW2 I'm slightly dissapointing. Also, this book has some great metaphors and I really liked the mother in the book for some reason.
I read this book quite a while ago before it gained its recent popularity. None of my English teachers had heard of it, and I just remember stumbling open it. I finished this book in a single day; I couldn't put it down. If anyone asked me to describe this book I wouldn't be able to. I feel like there are no words to use. So hats off to you, your review was amazing. For those of you who haven't read this book, read it. You will never read anything like this. I always think of the last line: "He was an angel." When I read this, goosebumps invaded my body. There's a parallel with the title and this sentence and just wow.
"This is a magnificently depressing book." I'm ok with this because this book sounds intriguing! Though usually I prefer stories that aren't just depressing for their own sake (Blood Meridian, for example)
Blood Meridian may be violent & depressing like all of Cormac McCarthy work but he is 1 hell of a writer. The novel is never nonsensical everything has meaning. The Judge is also an incredible antagonist.
Unlike a lot of books where the author dreams up a bleak fictional narrative (not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with that at all), No Longer Human has a very tangible and conspicuous reason for being so depressing: it’s a largely autobiographical novel. The book is so dark and distressing because Dazai’s life was just that. I think this actually makes it a more depressing read than something like Blood Meridian.
@@user-qb3jg8ep9t Interesting. What would you say your qualms with it are? Do you think other people are overrating it or trying to play it up to fit in with the hype? And what would you say makes Blood Meridian better than this book? I’ve been thinking about maybe reading Blood Meridian soon but I know nothing about it, I’ve just heard good (or rather bad) things about it that have made me interested. My favorite books tend to be the more depressing because they’re the only ones that seem to talk about anything really important.
Woahhh. Finally a review on a book I've read, a few times at that! Edit: I did a report on this for my university course, and I totally am on the same page with you about this book. The first time I read it, I was 15, so I couldn't connect as much. Fast forward to the last time I read it last year, at 22, it was much more relatable. The book is the closest I have ever resonated with when it comes to my own experiences of depression, similar as in, not through his actions, but with the feelings.
Many thanks for this review, Cliff. No Longer Human was one of my top handful of reads of 2020, and speaking to my own experience, it truly is the most accurate depiction of anxiety, depression and general low self esteem I’ve come across up to this point. And that New Directions pressing is just... “chef’s kiss”
In case you didn’t know, No Longer Human was adapted into an animation, the first 4 episodes of Aoi Bungaku cover No Longer Human. I highly recommend you check it out if you’ve read the book.
I just finished this book. I have such a weird mix of feelings. It felt very invasive to learn so much about the protagonist in such a casual way. To talk about despair in such a casual way was so devastating to me to read.
This protagonist seems to have all his essence up to view for the readers, almost as if we could see his organs functioning and mind thinking. I had never read anything with nearly such a transparent character.
I thought to myself as I read over the line "I just kept thinking that when human beings get that way, they're no good for anything," that how can the society or environment be good for anything when it allows human beings to be tortured this way; I mean we are the environment to everyone around us. This book further reinforced the idea that I ought to live my life in order to free other fellow men from this torturous existence by being embodying the moments of tenderness that various people showed towards Dazai.
"Eat or die, the saying goes, but to me it sounds just like another unpleasant threat." I love this novel. The extent to which every day necessities come off as an unbearable threat to the narrator really resonates. It is true that this novel outlines the feeling of despair; the despair that comes from who you are. But because this despair is articulated in such a conversational and personal tone, it seems not as an injustice imposed on the narrator (he doesn't seem to think that any one is at fault for his despair). His description of the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of the servants in his family home comes to mind. He does emphasize that this is the "vilest, cruelest crime" any one can commit against a child. But as Sargeant's quote in the videos suggests, he is unable to engange with and influence the deceitful narratives of life; to which his only solution is to keep the world at bay with his clowning. As he writes in relation to the sexual abuse: "If I had formed the habit of telling the truth, I might perhaps have been able confide unabashedly to my father or mother about the crime. But I could not fully understand even my own parents. To appeal for help to any human being, I could expect nothing from that expedient. Supposing I complained to my father or my mother, or to the police, the government, I wondered if in the end, I would not be argued into silence by someone in good graces with the world, by the excuses of which the world approved. It is only too obvious that favoritism inevitably exists. It would have been useless to complain to human beings. So I said nothing of the truth. I felt I had no choice but to endure whatever came my way and go on playing the clown." In the case of Yozo, I understand him as a character that is unable to make his desires known to the world because he doesn't understand the normative conditions other people make their wishes known through. "But that is precisely what I don't understand. If my neighbors manage to survive without killing themselves. Without going mad. Maintaining an interest in political parties. Not yielding to despair. Resolutely pursuing the fight for existence. Can their grieves really be genuine? Am I wrong in thinking that these people have become such complete egoists and have are so convinced of the normality of their way of life, that they have never once doubted themselves? If that is the case, their suffering should be easy to bear. They are the common lot of human beings and perhaps the best one can hope for." Apart from the blatant narcissism and complete disregard for the legitimate worries of the average person, I think we can discern a personal dispair that is almost impossible to assuage. He often refers to how he accepts almost anything that people offer him. His childhood, apart from his clowning, is also one of giving way to the wishes of others. Perhaps, his kindness and friendliness observed only sparsely because we rarely get to see the perspective of other characters in the novel, is also the wish to serve others. Perhaps, he is so starved for love (he describes clowning as the last quest for love he was to direct at human beings) that he subjugated his wishes and fears to the emotional and societal needs of his family, later the numerous people who would use him to their benefits. And because he couldn't understand the point of these actions and these needs, self-annihilation was the only option he felt was left for him to pursue. Edit. I'm not sure about my analysis. Perhaps he just wanted to have his way and if he had been honest about his wishes, he knows very well that he would have faced ridicule for his dreams of becoming a painter (like flat-fish laughed at him). Perhaps he truly didn't care about others and just wanted them to have their way so he could protect his fragile ego from developing. His treatment of the women in the novel is truly abysmal. But I still think I was right about him, not being able to understand the motivations of society. And that is partially the reason for his despair. (SPOILER)The heroine of Dazai's other novel, "The Setting Sun", Kazuko, writes a letter to the debauched artist, Mr. Uehara, who, I believe, have similarities to Dazai himself and Yozo as well. I believe the following quote to some extent sums up an aspect of their characters: "Recently I have come to understand why such things as war, peace, unions, trade, politics exist in the world. I don't suppose you know. That's why you will always be unhappy." (p. 172). Nothing can justify his mistreatment of the people who cared for him nor his apathy towards the needs (political or otherwise) of his fellow man (as long as that of course doesn't entail Japanese imperialism, but his disregard for such ends was never out of any principled considerations). Either way I still feel immensely sorry for him and relate to him on many levels.
I was SA too at a young age. It definitely had an effect but nothing too traumatizing , not with anyone helping but rather from internal resilience. I think his life was rather privileged, and took a dark path. He took the path.
@@MugenTJ I'm sorry to hear that even if you say that you overcame it through internal resilience. When it comes to so serious incidents, I don't feel qualified to pass judgment on whether people should muster up the strength to live through traumatic incidents or not; some people can and will, and some can't or won't (or usually both). But I agree that hardships in life shouldn't be used as excuses to do harmful things to others or make irresponsible life-choices. But at the very least they can serve as explanations for certain outcomes that we can reflect on to improve the living conditions for people in general.
@@mikkel964 of course law of cause and effect applies without exception. My theory simply that he was brought up in a wealthy family, eating was a chore for him since he didn’t have to experience poor diet (starvation), it’s very easy fall into self indulgence. (Poor ppl like myself did the opposite, strive to be productive, practice moderation, try to stay alive and well). Also, Drug and alcoholism was more likely the reason for further destructive behavior more so than being SA, especially for a man. I would never do drug, even avoid medication as much as possible. I do enjoy drinking now and then, but the hang over experience alone tells me not to abuse alcohol. I actually think a lot about suicide too, rather philosophically, not due to depression (or substance abuse). Life is indeed full of suffering but also beauty. To experience it as much as possible is life purpose. Was that lacking for him in his lifetime, post war and all. I know many people that use drug and alcohol, they experience depression more acutely and declining health rather at a young age. Some even die from over drinking. It could very well be that his inability to connect with people on a genuine level, result in more isolated emotional states. The irony I found in my own experience in years of trying be genuine to make friends and long lasting connections, ultimately resulted in people come and go. Looking back I hardly feel like I made good progress. My conclusion is human can work together and accomplish more as a group, hence we maintain social connections, but we are tragically lonely in our own psyche. Even when you are genuine to people they will fail to understand or even doubt you , depending on their own state of mind. However this feeling of isolation should be experienced and managed by engaging in healthy personal development rather than destructive behavior. Dazai’s tale is tragic but mostly due to his own choices after he became of age. Hopefully people can learn from it rather than imitate. If I have to judge, he is incredibly human. If only he knew that everyone struggles, and his own problems were not without solutions. But alas, his life was privileged enough to make him a good writer, not a problem solver.
@@MugenTJ I agree that SA cannot serve as a sufficient explanation for Yozo's tragedy. Rather, I would say that his remarks around the incident convey his basic lack of trust in people pretty well. I also agree with your conclusion that the "feeling of isolation should be experienced and managed by engaging in healthy personal development rather than destructive behavior." The tragedy of Yozo is never any of the specific awful events that occur during his life, but his inability to convey and mirror his experiences in other people. The novel is, I would argue, an exploration of a pathological constitution and mindset. Why is he unable to convey his feelings honestly to other people? We are never really told why and can only speculate, though there are plenty of indications. His father was obviously perceived as a looming presence in his life that forced certain expectations on him that he wasn't able to rebel against. I think I will have to re-read the novel to give a proper analysis. That being said, in continuation of the edit I made of my first comment earlier today, I have become less forgiving of Yozo and probably should have been from the beginning. I still sympathize with him (and Dazai) and can eerily relate to many of the depictions of alienation in the novel. But as your comment says, plenty of people feel alienated, alone and misunderstood, but they don't ruin their own lives or the lives of people around them. The question that seems to stand out from our comments is whether Yozo's despair was a product of a self-indulgent lifestyle resulting from privilege or a product of a constitution that was with him from the beginning that he didn't know how to handle. It is probably just of product of my own upbringing, but to me, Yozo seems to have been a sensitive boy who was never really seen for who he was and whose social awkwardness was taken advantage of by people in his family and later a character like Horiki. He never found a way to assert himself and ended up living a life that depended on the grace and cruelty of the people he ran into while using alcohol and drugs to alleviate the pain of his dismal mindset. In turn he treated the people who were kind to him with indifference and condescension, out of embarrasment and perhaps also the lack of belief that people could love him (as he says, women would "look after him" rather than love him). And that is ultimately another aspect of his tragedy that I alluded to initially: he is unable to trust and consequently believe what other people tell him. I cannot quote the exact passage, but at a certain point during the first half of the novel, he explicitly states that he never believed what a human being told him. He always just drew the conclusion that he could do nothing to improve his situation or bring happiness to the lives of other people (the scene with the mother and her daughter playing with a bunny is an especially heart-breaking example of his self-doubt). None of this answers your specific points, but I think my perspective is a little more pessimistic. Whether privileged or not, some people will just yield to despair while others don't. As a society we have to act and think as if we can bring about conditions that will improve the lives of people even though they themselves don't believe it. I don't think a society is worth more than the way it treats its most vulnerable members. Though Yozo (and Dazai) lived a life of privilege, it was a life in a racist, imperialist nation with little tolerance for weakness. I think I see the same cruelty and disregard for human vulnerability in the way disabled people and immigrants are talked about in many modern industrialized economies (right-wing extremism blossoming all around Europe, in the US and once again in Japan as well; though it might be said these ideas never really subsided to begin with). Just to say that I'd like to think that the brief social improvements seen in many welfare-states during the second half of the twentieth century, now being broken down again due to austerity, perhaps turned the tide for such dismal existences as Yozo's (though I understand that such broad social changes can't really be applied to an isolated piece of fiction). Even if it is true that a poor life might teach people a frugal life-style, I would still contend that poverty should be avoided at all cost for the sake of those, not strong enough to live through such circumstances (and that is not an accurate presentation of what you said, just a thought of my own).
@@mikkel964 Your analysis appeals more broadly with the environment, social factors, and the influences people around had on him. Those things surely contributed a whole lot to his outlook on life. Each of us are more or less the product of our circumstances, poverty or privileged, war torn or peace time, abused or adored. Needless to say my own analysis focuses more on his approach toward those factors, which either would magnify or reduce his problems. I should mention my view is perhaps less fair since I didn’t read his book, but rather learned about him thru various sources including your inputs. Regarding his search for love (and acceptance even) from female figures. I find it unsurprising that they looked after him but not love him. Because that’s essentially female instinct if they treat you well. He failed to be the kind of man that women would love. He got the look but not the personality and strength. It’s sad but true that women don’t love weak men, they also care less about the inner turmoils that men go thru. (Like how men love beauty, much less for anything else). I would also add that the divide between him and his father, and nearly everyone around him was actually natural, because he saw them as insincere and he too wasn’t truly genuine with them. Instead of being the agent of change , he gave into the same pattern of behavior, but internally cannot cope. Basically crying how fake ppl are and he himself the same way. Ever since I was a boy, I believed in being direct and honest toward people, despite people told me to be more discreet or what not. Yes when I get older I understand that not everyone appreciate complete honesty , people are really tricky to talk to. One had to be a chameleon and adapt to each situation. But being myself remains a priority. Anyways, I was born in Vietnam, still in the rebuilding phase after the war. My grandparents were definitely privileged, so was my mom and dad, but by the time I was born my mom side went slowly into poverty (food and clothes became inadequate, I never forget the day we didn’t have food to eat, thankfully it was just one day because my grandma would go into debt to provide for us frequently). My dad side didn’t accept my mom and they ended up divorced. So I was left to be raised by my aunts and uncles (where the SA occurred). Barely ever see my parents if at all. Till this day I wish I was never born. Thought of suicide came naturally to me during teenage years. Despite all that , I remained trusting of people around me, even the one who abused me wasnt really a bad person in my view. I stayed positive and always try to make my life functional and more promising, as opposed to sad and tragic. Currently I’m quite content with my journey so far, despite having few friends , mostly long distance, no wife or kids (my relationships didn’t work out). I entered my 40s last year. I plan on doing well another 20 years, then find a peaceful way to check myself out. (As I can feel my health declining with age.) I tell this to everyone I am close to. I too could write a story detailing my journey but there is no need, because I already told it along the way to whom I treasure. The reason I share some of my history is to contrast with that of Dazai’s. To distinctly show while circumstances can be cruel or unfair, each of us is born with a formidable spirit to go thru trial and error, to learn and reflect, to fight and love. Never give into despair, or escapism (thru substance). It is hard to say exactly why Dazai, given his good look, funny personality, and family wealth, unable to solve the problems that he struggled with. My only assumption is that being privileged made him weak, or perhaps he was just born with less mental fortitude. None of that was to put him down because I’m very much a flawed individual. To those close to me I reveal to them my flaws so they can understand me better, often to little effect. I am also into art (writing poetry, sometimes painting) and deep thinking, but life constantly reminds me to be practical, resilient, and patient, not get completely lost in my own hubris. Seek peace and genuine happiness while alive; no regret when it’s all over. My sincere wish is that his parents put in the time to connect with him, not leaving the children in the hands of his servants. Teaching him about humanity, how to be strong when time is tough, how to use wealth to build more and help the poor, but apparently his father rather take more from the poor than to give, not be a good role model. - Perhaps he be better off without parents than with bad ones. ☺️ Edit: thanks for sharing your thoughts thus far. It helps me gain more perspectives into his unique experience. I am too used to seeing things from “problem - solution” attitude as exemplified in my comments . Which I think Yozo needed to approach his life and would not be stuck in despair. Otherwise I find Dazai’s story more relatable than blame worthy. Serveral times I can’t help but cried during this video. Generally I’m not a fan of tragedy, I surely cannot read this story on my own.
I've also commented this on a video that reviews Junji Ito's version and the original book at the same time but these pieces did not ruin me even after learning it was basically a really long suicide note because the concepts described are so foreign and incomprehensible to me (ofc I felt bad because it's a tragic story and a mostly real one at that) that I didn't feel existential dread. I understood what I read, but couldn't get myself in the headspace of someone who thinks such a way and I think that's for the best. It felt like it was something above me and bigger than me.
When I first read No Longer Human I was incredibly repulsed by it. I hated the celebration of self-destructive behaviors, alcoholism, addiction, suicide and I could not bring myself to find any sympathy for this tragic story. But watching your video has really awakened me to the book, and exposed me to why I was so appalled. I read this book a lot like Mishima did, but your video has helped me to understand it better and open my eyes to some real meaning within. Thanks for making this :)
i was soooo excited to read this book and finished it in two days. i had read a lot of comments about how it super depressing (which it was lolz i’m not saying it wasn’t) and left a really big like.. gap (??) in you. i didn’t really feel that gap, i was just really really fascinated. i also related to him a lot so maybe that’s why?? the one thing i didn’t get about him was how he was with women. he treated them horribly and didn’t understand them but he surrounded himself with them. I WAS LIKE??? HELLO??
Awesome that you reviewed my favourite book ever! And you nailed the analysis, upon rereading it many times it feels like a bottomless pit of layers that you can lower yourself into as much as you want. Like you said about society’s tolerance with people like him, a lot of other readers have written it off as a sucks to by you kind of story but it’s the best work of empathy that I’ve seen in fiction. Even if you are not depressed, I’d say there’s something in everyone that has this decaying, alien quality. And when I read it I actually feel nothing but happiness because it’s a step towards a truth. To acknowledge yourself completely, “flaws” is too reductive, I’d rather call them necessary aspects if that makes any sense. Great review man 👍
Wonderful review, I just finished this book last week so the timing couldn't have been better. I can't stop thinking about that last line in which the madam refers to Yozo as an angel, hits so hard.
I discovered Dazai s watching the anime Aoi Bungaku. Its an animated adaptation of No Longer Human and Run Melos. Also features Kokoro by Soseki and two works by Akugutawa.
I've read that book exactly 3 years ago and it completely changed my life. Not only that book but a lot of things were happening in my life and this was the time I've met with some of the Japanese authors such as osamu. He is fascinating with his inner world and story telling. So gently spoken. He really was a genius man. Edit: btw this book has an anime (japanese animation) adaption named "aoi no bungoku". The first 4 episodes (if i remember correctly) of this show is about this book. Very underrated.
Those who have read the book will realize that some of the topics that were discussed were very specific. One would say that nobody would spend their time thinking about something like that. At the beginning of the book, when they talked about eating at the table, for example, it showed how depression really works. So many things are illogical for some people to the point of exaggeration. Though, that's what people think. How everything was said so directly made the book so much better. I'm talking about page 87 here (if I remember correctly). Four words, so direct. It made my heart drop in disbelief. Some things do not have to be conveyed in detail to leave a stinging feeling in the reader's mind. Sometimes a direct answer is something that makes you think of the details yourself. Truly an amazing book.
I never thought about the ghost portraits as lovecraftian. But I remember reading the book and feeling that the way everything was being described fit lovecraftian. I feel like it's the prose that makes a lovecraftian text lovecraftian, the constant existential worry, the dread, which No Longer Human has in droves, ever barring the ghost portraits.
Oba's tragedy is that he's a character who's constantly thrust into situations and environments that worsen his pre-existing issues. Combine that with his own fallibleness as a human and you end up with a person that keeps rolling down a hill, faster and faster. There are moments when his descent is slowed; sometimes he stops falling and makes progress up the hill. But inevitably the mountain (society) he needs to climb is too tall, too steep and he resumes falling again.
I dug Junji Itos adaptation on it. Kinda assaulted me with its art and matter of fact description of the darkest of depressions. I feel like I'll have to pick up the book soon.
That's exactly what I did. I read the Junji Ito adaptation. It was amazing... It was so good that I immediately went and bought the book the next day I finished the manga.
You make a good point at 16:30. I think it is extremely relatable, however, if you think you are just like the main character, you're fooling yourself. This is an extreme of an extreme, but the way he portrays his thoughts about his experiences is what makes it so relatable.
It must have been truly disturbing for Mishima to have met his doppelganger. Dazai chose dissipation rather than the "discipline of Sun and Steel" but the same penultimate dissolution that mirrored their the artistic creations of their imagination.
Great review. My favourite scene (for whatever reason) was when Oba and Horiki are discussing antonyms for words. Wanted to connect with this one more than I did. If I had read this in my mid-20s alongside Ham on Rye it might have been a crucial book for me. After I'm done Kobo Abe's Woman of the Dunes I need to check out Mishima.
I read Osamu Dazai in the 1980s in Japan. I think I read his books in the cultural context and the notions of nobility and failure (in Ivan Morris's book). There is a character in Mikio Naruse's Anzukko (1958) who is similar to Dazai. What interesting about that film is the perspective from the writer's long-suffering wife.
I started reading this book last week and just finished it, and I’d like to add that it kind of alludes to the Japanese value of keeping these kinds of things to yourself (which is still one that the Japanese stand behind to this day.) It’s tragic because that value plays out a lot better in Yozo’s head but it ends up causing more mess for the people around him, which drives him slowly into an even deeper degradation. What a great book. I’m also turning 27 in a couple days, and the final sentences in the book hit pretty close to home.
Thanks for another great review. I recommend Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. It is a blend of eastern and western cultures. While being a drug trip in the form of a book.
Found the channel whilst searching for the review 'Opinion' of in Praise Of Shadow, and the best thing that happened to be today. This composed personality and very friendly conservations are motivating.. I must read more!
I read 'No Longer Human' the graphic novel version by the great Junji Ito a few days ago in one sitting. I know what you mean by pausing when you say that you 'enjoyed' reading it. I found it fascinating and will definitely reread it, but first will go and explore some of Dazai's works, starting with 'No Longer Human'. Truly dark, it'll be interesting to compare the graphic novel adaptation with the original.
Idk why but i just love apathetic characters. No Longer Human, The Stranger, Notes from Underground, Blood Meridian, American Psycho the characters in these novels are interesting character studies.
Bro thank you for that take on this masterpiece. that bowling ball pin amazon version fo the book, I also first bought befor I could my father to read my favorite book in his language, german. So kudos forever my man
oh i just read this too! i'm afraid i'm one of the ppl who mostly finds our hero repulsive and pathetic, even though he's definitely a unique character unlike any i've read, and i can see how for those who've experienced depression he might be a comforting or at least convincing presence. and i really love the notes from underground guy and the whole angsty-depressive male loner interiority thing in general, but this one was hard to relate to or feel sorry for past a certain point. also, i think the humourlessness that you mentioned was a big drawback for me. definitely check out Akutagawa, especially his later "I" stories, which are also very auto-biographical and depressing, but which i found way more moving and impressive.
Have you read the prequel of the book also written by dazai when he was still relatively young called the flowers of buffoonery? It was written after his first lovers suicide where only he survived and it's interesting how to read on how much he evolved as a writer and how different the mood is in this book.
@@jordanloux3883 technically no longer human should instead be called the sequel and continuation as flowers of buffoonery is written before no longer human when dazai was stil quite young which also featured the character oba yozo
I have just this second finished 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac which I read after watching your review! Loved it! This is most certainly the best place for book recommendations that i've ever come across. Thank you! Much love, from Birmingham, England ✌️
Not to mention that after the author wrote the book he committed suicide because the story no longer human was the story of his life and all the tragic things he had came across which led wanting to commit suicide that truly shows how scary and sad the book no longer human really is
I personally think this man was on the spectrum. Bit the depression he experiences is like reading someone with the same thoughts as me. As someone with aspergers this was just. . . . So heartbreaking but so poignant. Even for today. Honestly, speaking in the depression and anxiety its a realistic take on the thoughts people may go through when experiencing these illnesses. Its like the hardest diary entries you'll ever read but also the most authentic.
I was on the train for 12 hours and I remembered that I had this book in my luggage (a friend of mine knows I love reading and gave it to me on my bday) and I decided to read it. It’s a masterpiece. A sad one needless to say. I just wanna go back in time and hug Osamu Dazai
Fantastic review of a fantastic book. I read the novel mostly in a single sitting, and when I reached the last sentence, I couldn’t help but burst into tears. It really is something.
I looked this book up because I thought the Anime character Dazai seemed relatable. By your description of the book, I'd say the book is likely even more reliable. Though I don't really care about letting anyone get involved with my problems unless they are trying to help.
For some reason TH-cam recommended this video to me despite me never searching for this book and having read it in 2020. Even so, I freaking loved this book and I remember writing in my review "This book is hauntingly good and incredibly depressing." Enjoyed the book review.
i read this book years ago and recently read it again. i really resonated with the childish aspect of the beginning the first time around so reading it again i paid more attention and this time i resonated more with the lonely depressing aspect and i appreciated it a lot more. must read for anyone.
I started reading it immediately after I saw your review and it has now become one of the most impactful books I've ever read!! I wish I could talk about it with some of you? Are there any 'booksarebetterthanfood' book club meetings? If yes how can we join? If not can we start those? I am constantly thinking about this book and I absolutely need to talk to people who have read it as well!
Just watched this today, a bit late to the party! I have a lot to say, let's see how it goes. First, I enjoyed your analysis because it's not often you see manga analyzed on that level. Thought provoking, really good. Now, on to "No Longer Human". I have not read the novel, I have only read the manga. I was depressed for a few days after reading it until my wife convinced me to go read something funny. (I did.) I am a Junji Ito fan, which is what led me to the book. I saw Uzumaki at the Portland Lovecraft film festival when it came out. I didn't actually get to read the manga for it until a year or two ago, and have been catching up on his work ever since. Wonderful stuff. I read a lot of the horror books and though I'm a literature fan, I was on the fence about "No Longer Human" because I couldn't imagine what he'd do with what I assumed to be a fairly mainstream novel, however dark. But the price kept going up and down, and finally one day I saw it new at the lowest price yet, so I bought it. The first third of the book was a difficult read for me. The artwork was as fantastic as ever. My problem was, I HATED the main character. I understood his social phobia, and his never really feeling at home among other people. And what I didn't understand, I could accept for the sake of the story. OK, noted, he has this and that difficulty relating to people. But how he handled it, his interactions with others, was repulsive. I couldn't label it sociopathic because he does have a conscience, it just never seems to kick in hard until the damage is done. And it gets worse the longer he can obsess on it. But in his dealings with people, he doesn't learn from it. Ito does a masterful job of illustrating the fear in the eyes of the clowning boy/young man, the fear when the kid at school finds him out. His face tells one story, his eyes tell another. Brilliant illustration. Here is where I have to bring up something which I think is important to bear in mind clear through the book. Ito is representing what's in the book. He's not the narrator. He's illustrating the narrator's ideas and character. And this narrator is hideously fallible, in the way a Poe character might be. The Tell Tale Heart, Berenice, The Black Cat, and so on. These are first person narratives by very disturbed men. And in my opinion, Yoba Ozo is a pretty disturbed man, and was so from childhood. This brings me to the misogyny in the story. I don't believe Ito means to put more misogyny into the story because he agrees with it. I think he puts more into it because he sees the horror in it. The women are not the monsters, they are the victims that our fallible narrator imagines to be monsters. Look at their faces when the narrator isn't hallucinating. These are basically sweet women who try to help and care for a troubled man, and get destroyed for their kindness. And I think this is pretty clearly shown throughout, in the illustration if not the dialogue. I read the book slowly, a chapter a night. At first, it was because. like with all Ito's books, I wanted to savor it. But after the first two chapters, it was because I had to steel myself for trying to read about someone I couldn't stand. I thought the effort would be worth it. And it was. Because as the story progressed, I started to feel that he was the monster and source of horror in the book, and read on wondering what kind of catastrophe he was going to cause next. I didn't expect this to change, but to my surprise it did, the first time he did something painful but really selfless, by walking away from the woman and daughter. He could have gone back and continued to allow them to love him, despite his knowing what a destructive parasite he was. Instead, he walked away, into a windy, rainy night with nowhere to go. It was his first really thoughtful act as a person. From that point on I found it easier to like him. And, in what is a perfect, tragic piece of irony, it all gets worse from there. The more he starts to become a better human being, the more he develops a conscience, the more things start to fall in on him. Of course, the majority of the time it's his own fault. But sometimes, without giving too much away, we see clearly it isn't, and he has been treated cruelly by someone else for a change. Always men, actually. The women continue to be supportive. Before the conclusion, of the book, while I wouldn't go so far as to say I liked the character, I would say he had at least gained a lot of ground as a human being, just at the point he thinks he has relinquished his humanity. And in the worst bit of irony in the book, h opens himself to his victims, he wants to do the right thing and take care of them. Probably the best thing he's ever done, when he can easily leave it all behind. He could have easily skipped out. I can't say any more but you've read the book. Hope you don't mind the length of this comment, but all of this came to mind as I was watching this and I really wanted to share it.
The book is well written and it's easy to read but the story isn't. It's such a heavy book. I had to put it down numerous times and have a deep breath. It's so clear and raw, how Dazai wrote this beautifully, gave me vivid image in my head and a sting on my heart. It's very reflecting on me and it got me reminiscing things I buried deep down; subconsciously protecting me from my truth. This become an eye opener. I sometimes too, think if it's alright reading this because I knew a man's life was written in this book, the author himself, stated how much he hid his true self. I felt guilty both because of that and the truth I cannot do anything to make him a little better. This will remain as my favorite book.
It's very easy to conflate authors' methods of killing themselves - excessive drinking, shotgun wound, gassed in apartment, jumped in river tied to a lady via kimono. All seem pretty casual to me.
I finished this in a day this book was that good. Wow. To say this book is depressing doesn't just cut it... it's so well written. When I recommend this to my friends, I just say that they need to read it. It hit home and hearing your point of view was so helpful too. I'm currently reading "The setting sun" by Dazai. If you haven't made a video plz can you do one. I started it right after I finished "No longer Human" I love love his writing. I'm getting more of his books from New Editions. I also have "Schoolgirl" It's a novella. I'll read it after I finish the setting sun.
‼️To me the main character of this book is literally the male version of the main character in My Year Of Rest And Relaxation. Clearly they're both dealing with some serious mental issues such as grief and depression. But they are also being self-destructive and in their spiral of self-destruction they hurt other people around them. Both of these characters are completely self-obsessed and struggling with substance use in a slow self ending. The main character of No longer Human is way more of a terrible person than the main character of MYORAR, BUT he is way more likable than she is. Because he lies and tells people what they want to hear and does whatever he wants and that causes extreme suffering and pain to those around him. Such as the case of the two sisters. He tells them both he loves them and has seggs with them both. Then when the first sister catches in the act she ends the other sister who is pregnant with his child. Because she is also pregnant with his child. So she is sentenced to deletion and he just dips and abandons that kid. Not to mention the kid whose death he causes in the very first part of the book. To me both of these books are dealing with the same issues and themes but with completely different characters in a completely different setting. I really disliked the main characters for the same reason. Because they never took responsibility for their own actions. Neither feels guilty about who they have hurt. They are both so busy throwing themselves pity parties and feeling sorry for themselves that they are literally incapable of feeling empathy for anyone else. You can't help it if you're mentally ill but you can still control your actions and that doesn't give you an excuse to terrorize and harm innocent people around you. YOU are still ultimately responsible for YOUR own actions and you don't get to hide behind mental illness as a shield to avoid responsibility and blame. And I see this parallel in real life too. People who have experienced real suffering are the ones capable of inflicting real suffering on others. They spend all their time looking in a mirror m@$7urbating with their own tears to ever feel anything for anyone else.
Big thanks to Ridge for sending me this wallet and supporting the channel! Here’s the site if you want to check them out! > ridge.com/BETTERTHANFOOD
We adultsss thank you for your efforts
Just bought one 'cause of your recommendation. Looks great
Read this in a couple days in the summer, one of the last lines really caught me. Dazai describing his wretched appearance and horrible past just to end the book by saying he's not even 30 but looks around double his age. Dark shit man.
I actually read it in 2 days during summer as well. I bought it in Japan and read it there as well, it was very good. I always remember the synonym and antonym game.
He was 27 but looked people thought he haw on his 40s. Damn.
@@stolenqueen_can relate
prove it @@MiyamotoMusakaki
@@spotmotion7452 In Japanese or translated work?
It's like the longest, beautifully written suicide note... That makes you just wanna jump back in time to give this poor guy a hug, a peaceful prayer, and maybe a therapy - something he never received but we all agree is all he needed.
No amount of therapy can fix having a bad life
@@samblackstone3400 true
@@samblackstone3400 the man likely had a personality disorder that was triggered by his abuse. I was abused pretty similarly and suspect he has what I am diagnosed with which is notorious for having very high rates of suicide. I think/thought like him and even have the insight like him to know it’s somewhat wrong, therapy has been helping very much and yes it’s not “fixing” my early life it is fixing how I look at others and myself. The old woman said “when humans get that way they are no good for anything” is exactly the way I would describe my realizations in therapy. It makes you terrible to be around to always be brooding and sad and also it makes you not want to do anything, nothing is worth anything. I lived by “nothing is real if nobody cares” to the point where my entire life was void of anything I was interested in myself, because that didn’t matter cause if it wasn’t for my appearance to others it was stupid and not worth anything. With therapy I’ve gained appreciation for things as they are rather than how they present. I hope those saying they relate can get the help I am getting right now.
I think he has every right to kill himself
@@izzydandrea7548 may I ask that that disorder is? I believe I have AvPD and found this book to be very relatable.
My favorite line from this book is "What is society but an individual." I am someone who suffers from social anxiety and hearing that line helped me get a new perspective. It felt calming to finally understand that not everyone is looking at me with a magnifying glass. Society is made up of the people around you, the ones you interact with, not the whole globe.
yes for sure
One of the things i found very interesting was in the epilogue where the ‘madam’ calls Yozo an angel (or something of the kind) because i felt like that one sentence tipped my entire view on the book slightly. This outsider’s perspective allows us to look at the character in the absence of the self-demonising lens with which he describes and views himself, it made me look back at events in the book and realise just how much Yozo’s social anxiety could have distorted his account on what happened. It also brings you back to the theme of deceit; makes you think about how much he’d hidden from the outside world and his acquaintances and how successful he had been at it.
I really enjoyed this book!
Towards the end the way the older women described Yozo had unsettled me in a matter I could not put into words. The very description had confused me nonetheless. I had assumed based on the way that Yozo viewed himself possibly that others saw him falling apart as horribly as he saw himself fall apart. After the last sentence the women had said to the narrator, I realized too that when people are as depressed and anxious to the point of suicidal tendencies that they are wayyyy more pessimistic than others. So thank you so much for making not feel like I was overthinking the “Angel” part 😭
thats exactly what i was thinking. great explanation
I agree. I understand that many people have romantic success without being good people, but it genuinely seemed like everyone around him truly enjoyed his company and wanted to be around him. Most women he met liked him and it seemed like (aside from the drinking) was fun to be with. His perspective was muddied with mental illness, but I don’t think it accurately reflects his relationship with people
You can look at it from two angles. Either what you said, or Dazai is further emphasizing that no one in his entire life even came close to understanding him/Yozo. Maybe it's a little bit of both.
@@ulxsyxd Thank you. I don’t see enough people mentioning this but that was immediately the way I thought of it. I think both that he was harsher on himself than he really deserved and others viewed him, as other people are saying, but also that despite the girl at the end describing him as an angel, it was obvious that nobody actually has any idea of who he really is. And I think that was likely the point (at least from my perspective).
This is one of my all-time favorite books!!! The line "Mine has been a life of much shame" hit differently when I finished the story. It is truly a literary masterpiece.
My favorite part is in the beginning when the man describes the photos. When I read it, it did not click with me that the photos were supposed to be the main character. So I went through the book only seeing him through his own self image. Then when I got to the end and they talked about the pictures again and then being him it made me see the whole book in a different light. He looked so different as a child than as he described himself, but as he grew old the self descriptions and the photos started to match up.
Hopefully this makes sense
woah
"And the way he describes these photos is probably one of the most eerily disturbing and just genuinely frightening passages I've ever read." Dude, I read this book 3 years ago and I don't even remember the description anymore, but I remember feeling exactly this way. Great review, as always you manage to verbalize exactly how I felt about the book. Thanks for doing what you do!
This book destroyed me, especially having read about Dazai's life, and because of how relatable it was, and how... well, real it felt (I don't know how else to express it.) This book is like a flame and you're a mere moth reading it... you know it'll destroy you, but you can't help but read it. It's absolutely brilliant. I'm usually a fast reader, but the depression that this book gave me in addition to my already existent depressive state, ensured that I took 6 months to read it. That's the longest time I've ever taken to read a book. It's been many months since I read it, but now, I'm reading Junji Ito's adaptation and that's somehow even more horrifying in some ways. It's scarring for life.
Also, I find a lot of similarities in Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's writings with Dazai's writings (which is quite natural since Dazai was a huge fan of Akutagawa and was highly influenced by his writings.)
Also, Akutagawa himself was in turn a huge fan of Kunikida Doppo and was highly influenced by his writings (he even wrote about being influenced by Kunikida in one of his semi-autobiographical stories.) To anyone who hasn't read them yet, I recommend reading the books written by all three of these great writers. It's an indescribable experience reading them and not only realising how they influenced each other, but also how the Japanese societal, cultural and literary thought process changed with time (keeping in mind that all three of these writers were decades ahead of their time, and each wrote during 3 consecutive periods, never meeting each other... Akutagawa was a child when Kunikida passed away, and Dazai was a child when Akutagawa breathed his last, and all of them died very young)
This.
And some people say that Dazai's suicidal choice was also influenced by Akutagawa's surprising suicide, while if I'm not mistaken, Kunikida died from disease?
@@eluziaaloinabarus1853 Dazai was extremely distraught when he read about Akutagawa's suicide in the papers, and it may have been an initial catalyst to the multiple suicide attempts that followed throughout his life, but it definitely wasn't the only one, and certainly not the main reason for these attempts. He became increasingly obsessed with Akutagawa and when he repeatedly failed to win the acclaimed Akutagawa Prize for literary excellence, he once again went into a spiral of depression and drug abuse, and another attempt followed. Dazai was someone who had trouble connecting to other people on an emotional level, but was very lonely at the same time. He had a very addictive personality, and quickly became obsessed with certain people even if they didn't think much of him, or in Akutagawa's case, didn't even know him. Coupled with this, his numerous psychological issues and suicidal tendencies, and it was a roller coaster of a series of tragedies. I'm reading a biography of Dazai atm which suggests that he may actually have been murdered by his mistress (who then killed herself) instead of willingly dying with her. However he may have died though, it was incredibly tragic. Dazai had tried to commit a double suicide with a 19 year old waitress when he was 21; the girl died while he survived. I wonder, what his last thoughts were.
Kunikida died very young (at only 36 years old) of tuberculosis. I read an amazing book about the friendships between famous authors. The first chapter was about the friendship between Kunikida and Tayama Katai. His letters to Tayama from his hospital bed about coming to terms with death and worries about his family after his death brought tears to my eyes. In the anime/manga Bungou Stray Dogs, where the characters are based on real life authors, its version of Kunikida Doppo loves eating bonito flakes. It was in that book where I found the real life inspiration for that: when the real life Kunikida Doppo was on his death bed in the hospital, bonito tuna was the only thing he could palete due to his illness. He used to think of his best friend Tayama Katai whenever he ate bonito, thinking, "Katai loves bonito so much. I wish I could share some with him. He'd have enjoyed it so much"... he was dying, and that was what he was thinking while eating the only food he could stand to eat anymore 😭. Kunikida was quite famous in his last years, and his interviews and letters during his stay at the hospital are heartbreaking.
Edit: I have since fortunately got hold of Tayama Katai's autobiography, "Thirty Years in Tokyo" where he devotes two entire massive chapters to his friendship with Kunikida and Kunikida's death. Nothing could've prepared me for the feels that followed reading those chapters 😭
@@strawberrymilksamurai thank you so much for the wonderful explanation!
@@eluziaaloinabarus1853 you're welcome! Sorry for editing my explanation so many times though... I kept forgetting to add info before posting it 😅
Whenever I'm depress, I like to read tragic, depressing books. This month hasn't been kind to me, so I order this book online, read it as soon as it arrived, finished it the same day, and now I'm more depress. I read this book without knowing anything about the author or this book, I'm glad I did because after reading the book, I looked the author up on google and found out what happened, what happened to the author in real life felt like the ending that was supposed to happen in the book, it's tragic.
Same for me. last time I was depressed I read the bell jar by Sylvia Plath. I would not recommend that course of action.
Maybe reading and reading tragedy is your thing. It’s disturbing that the writer didn’t seek any solution, worked hard on his craft (dwell in misery), instead of put that mind to turn those social problems into solutions. At the very least not be so destructive
I find it funny that for me, this all started with the anime "Bungo stray dogs" which opened me up to so many potential books I want to read. And the first one I chose was No Longer Human. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into until I started the book, and I'm glad I did. The sections mentioning his social anxiety might be one the most relatable moments compared to any other book I've read. Can't wait to get into the other authors' famous works!
Same lol, thanks to Bungo Stray Dogs I learned about many classic writers and started reading some of their works. Particularly, I'll be eternally grateful to BSD for introducing me to Dostoevsky and allowing me to read Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, my two favorite books so far.
Next should be Dostoievsky's Crime and punishment as it was mentioned in anime and in No longer human book too .
Junji Ito did a manga on No Longer Human and thats how I got into it. Id suggest it
Same. I read No Longer Human and The Moon Over the Mountain because I love BSD and I never regretted it.
Same, I thought I have heard of those names before then I found out that every character names in that anime is an author's name
If you enjoyed/were depressed by No Longer Human, try its companion novel The Setting Sun.
while it does help me felt understood, the setting sun did nothing for me. sadly..
the setting sun is depressing, but it's less relatable I guess, its theme is about the fallen noble (kazoku) trying to live as commoners in post war japan without much money
I'm reading The setting sun, I like it a lot. It's really depressing and I feel so bad for the girl. She is just so stuck and her brother doesn't really help much. She can't live her life because she is stuck with her mom, she has no help. I'm 2 chapters away from being done.
Idk, it was a good read, but by the end I was like: "What did this book even mean?" Idk, I prefer No Longer Human even if it is more painful to read, there seems to be a purpose to it even if it is a depressing and despairing account of human life, but I never really got the point of The Setting Sun by the end. I liked it, it also had I think more moments of beauty than No Longer Human as even if it is depressing, it does not come close to the despair No Longer Human. I really had a good time reading both, but if the Setting Sun's only purpose was some comentary on Japan after WW2 I'm slightly dissapointing. Also, this book has some great metaphors and I really liked the mother in the book for some reason.
I read this book quite a while ago before it gained its recent popularity. None of my English teachers had heard of it, and I just remember stumbling open it. I finished this book in a single day; I couldn't put it down. If anyone asked me to describe this book I wouldn't be able to. I feel like there are no words to use. So hats off to you, your review was amazing. For those of you who haven't read this book, read it. You will never read anything like this.
I always think of the last line: "He was an angel."
When I read this, goosebumps invaded my body. There's a parallel with the title and this sentence and just wow.
"This is a magnificently depressing book." I'm ok with this because this book sounds intriguing! Though usually I prefer stories that aren't just depressing for their own sake (Blood Meridian, for example)
Then this book is not for you. I have gained nothing from reading it, unlike Blood Meridian
Blood Meridian may be violent & depressing like all of Cormac McCarthy work but he is 1 hell of a writer. The novel is never nonsensical everything has meaning. The Judge is also an incredible antagonist.
Unlike a lot of books where the author dreams up a bleak fictional narrative (not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with that at all), No Longer Human has a very tangible and conspicuous reason for being so depressing: it’s a largely autobiographical novel. The book is so dark and distressing because Dazai’s life was just that. I think this actually makes it a more depressing read than something like Blood Meridian.
@@unchartedrocks1 i thought Blood Meridian was miles better. Writing and story. Couldn't finish this book.
@@user-qb3jg8ep9t Interesting. What would you say your qualms with it are? Do you think other people are overrating it or trying to play it up to fit in with the hype? And what would you say makes Blood Meridian better than this book? I’ve been thinking about maybe reading Blood Meridian soon but I know nothing about it, I’ve just heard good (or rather bad) things about it that have made me interested. My favorite books tend to be the more depressing because they’re the only ones that seem to talk about anything really important.
Woahhh. Finally a review on a book I've read, a few times at that!
Edit:
I did a report on this for my university course, and I totally am on the same page with you about this book. The first time I read it, I was 15, so I couldn't connect as much. Fast forward to the last time I read it last year, at 22, it was much more relatable. The book is the closest I have ever resonated with when it comes to my own experiences of depression, similar as in, not through his actions, but with the feelings.
Haha same
For the first time in my case lolol
Yeah, same here.
i’m 15 and can rlly connect w him what does this meannnn
Many thanks for this review, Cliff. No Longer Human was one of my top handful of reads of 2020, and speaking to my own experience, it truly is the most accurate depiction of anxiety, depression and general low self esteem I’ve come across up to this point. And that New Directions pressing is just... “chef’s kiss”
In case you didn’t know, No Longer Human was adapted into an animation, the first 4 episodes of Aoi Bungaku cover No Longer Human. I highly recommend you check it out if you’ve read the book.
I just finished this book. I have such a weird mix of feelings. It felt very invasive to learn so much about the protagonist in such a casual way. To talk about despair in such a casual way was so devastating to me to read.
This protagonist seems to have all his essence up to view for the readers, almost as if we could see his organs functioning and mind thinking. I had never read anything with nearly such a transparent character.
I thought to myself as I read over the line "I just kept thinking that when human beings get that way, they're no good for anything," that how can the society or environment be good for anything when it allows human beings to be tortured this way; I mean we are the environment to everyone around us. This book further reinforced the idea that I ought to live my life in order to free other fellow men from this torturous existence by being embodying the moments of tenderness that various people showed towards Dazai.
"Eat or die, the saying goes, but to me it sounds just like another unpleasant threat."
I love this novel. The extent to which every day necessities come off as an unbearable threat to the narrator really resonates. It is true that this novel outlines the feeling of despair; the despair that comes from who you are. But because this despair is articulated in such a conversational and personal tone, it seems not as an injustice imposed on the narrator (he doesn't seem to think that any one is at fault for his despair).
His description of the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of the servants in his family home comes to mind. He does emphasize that this is the "vilest, cruelest crime" any one can commit against a child. But as Sargeant's quote in the videos suggests, he is unable to engange with and influence the deceitful narratives of life; to which his only solution is to keep the world at bay with his clowning.
As he writes in relation to the sexual abuse:
"If I had formed the habit of telling the truth, I might perhaps have been able confide unabashedly to my father or mother about the crime. But I could not fully understand even my own parents. To appeal for help to any human being, I could expect nothing from that expedient. Supposing I complained to my father or my mother, or to the police, the government, I wondered if in the end, I would not be argued into silence by someone in good graces with the world, by the excuses of which the world approved. It is only too obvious that favoritism inevitably exists. It would have been useless to complain to human beings. So I said nothing of the truth. I felt I had no choice but to endure whatever came my way and go on playing the clown."
In the case of Yozo, I understand him as a character that is unable to make his desires known to the world because he doesn't understand the normative conditions other people make their wishes known through. "But that is precisely what I don't understand. If my neighbors manage to survive without killing themselves. Without going mad. Maintaining an interest in political parties. Not yielding to despair. Resolutely pursuing the fight for existence. Can their grieves really be genuine? Am I wrong in thinking that these people have become such complete egoists and have are so convinced of the normality of their way of life, that they have never once doubted themselves? If that is the case, their suffering should be easy to bear. They are the common lot of human beings and perhaps the best one can hope for."
Apart from the blatant narcissism and complete disregard for the legitimate worries of the average person, I think we can discern a personal dispair that is almost impossible to assuage. He often refers to how he accepts almost anything that people offer him. His childhood, apart from his clowning, is also one of giving way to the wishes of others. Perhaps, his kindness and friendliness observed only sparsely because we rarely get to see the perspective of other characters in the novel, is also the wish to serve others. Perhaps, he is so starved for love (he describes clowning as the last quest for love he was to direct at human beings) that he subjugated his wishes and fears to the emotional and societal needs of his family, later the numerous people who would use him to their benefits. And because he couldn't understand the point of these actions and these needs, self-annihilation was the only option he felt was left for him to pursue.
Edit.
I'm not sure about my analysis. Perhaps he just wanted to have his way and if he had been honest about his wishes, he knows very well that he would have faced ridicule for his dreams of becoming a painter (like flat-fish laughed at him). Perhaps he truly didn't care about others and just wanted them to have their way so he could protect his fragile ego from developing. His treatment of the women in the novel is truly abysmal. But I still think I was right about him, not being able to understand the motivations of society. And that is partially the reason for his despair. (SPOILER)The heroine of Dazai's other novel, "The Setting Sun", Kazuko, writes a letter to the debauched artist, Mr. Uehara, who, I believe, have similarities to Dazai himself and Yozo as well. I believe the following quote to some extent sums up an aspect of their characters: "Recently I have come to understand why such things as war, peace, unions, trade, politics exist in the world. I don't suppose you know. That's why you will always be unhappy." (p. 172). Nothing can justify his mistreatment of the people who cared for him nor his apathy towards the needs (political or otherwise) of his fellow man (as long as that of course doesn't entail Japanese imperialism, but his disregard for such ends was never out of any principled considerations). Either way I still feel immensely sorry for him and relate to him on many levels.
I was SA too at a young age. It definitely had an effect but nothing too traumatizing , not with anyone helping but rather from internal resilience. I think his life was rather privileged, and took a dark path. He took the path.
@@MugenTJ I'm sorry to hear that even if you say that you overcame it through internal resilience. When it comes to so serious incidents, I don't feel qualified to pass judgment on whether people should muster up the strength to live through traumatic incidents or not; some people can and will, and some can't or won't (or usually both). But I agree that hardships in life shouldn't be used as excuses to do harmful things to others or make irresponsible life-choices. But at the very least they can serve as explanations for certain outcomes that we can reflect on to improve the living conditions for people in general.
@@mikkel964 of course law of cause and effect applies without exception. My theory simply that he was brought up in a wealthy family, eating was a chore for him since he didn’t have to experience poor diet (starvation), it’s very easy fall into self indulgence. (Poor ppl like myself did the opposite, strive to be productive, practice moderation, try to stay alive and well). Also, Drug and alcoholism was more likely the reason for further destructive behavior more so than being SA, especially for a man. I would never do drug, even avoid medication as much as possible. I do enjoy drinking now and then, but the hang over experience alone tells me not to abuse alcohol.
I actually think a lot about suicide too, rather philosophically, not due to depression (or substance abuse). Life is indeed full of suffering but also beauty. To experience it as much as possible is life purpose. Was that lacking for him in his lifetime, post war and all. I know many people that use drug and alcohol, they experience depression more acutely and declining health rather at a young age. Some even die from over drinking.
It could very well be that his inability to connect with people on a genuine level, result in more isolated emotional states. The irony I found in my own experience in years of trying be genuine to make friends and long lasting connections, ultimately resulted in people come and go. Looking back I hardly feel like I made good progress. My conclusion is human can work together and accomplish more as a group, hence we maintain social connections, but we are tragically lonely in our own psyche. Even when you are genuine to people they will fail to understand or even doubt you , depending on their own state of mind. However this feeling of isolation should be experienced and managed by engaging in healthy personal development rather than destructive behavior.
Dazai’s tale is tragic but mostly due to his own choices after he became of age. Hopefully people can learn from it rather than imitate. If I have to judge, he is incredibly human. If only he knew that everyone struggles, and his own problems were not without solutions. But alas, his life was privileged enough to make him a good writer, not a problem solver.
@@MugenTJ I agree that SA cannot serve as a sufficient explanation for Yozo's tragedy. Rather, I would say that his remarks around the incident convey his basic lack of trust in people pretty well. I also agree with your conclusion that the "feeling of isolation should be experienced and managed by engaging in healthy personal development rather than destructive behavior." The tragedy of Yozo is never any of the specific awful events that occur during his life, but his inability to convey and mirror his experiences in other people. The novel is, I would argue, an exploration of a pathological constitution and mindset.
Why is he unable to convey his feelings honestly to other people? We are never really told why and can only speculate, though there are plenty of indications. His father was obviously perceived as a looming presence in his life that forced certain expectations on him that he wasn't able to rebel against. I think I will have to re-read the novel to give a proper analysis. That being said, in continuation of the edit I made of my first comment earlier today, I have become less forgiving of Yozo and probably should have been from the beginning. I still sympathize with him (and Dazai) and can eerily relate to many of the depictions of alienation in the novel. But as your comment says, plenty of people feel alienated, alone and misunderstood, but they don't ruin their own lives or the lives of people around them.
The question that seems to stand out from our comments is whether Yozo's despair was a product of a self-indulgent lifestyle resulting from privilege or a product of a constitution that was with him from the beginning that he didn't know how to handle. It is probably just of product of my own upbringing, but to me, Yozo seems to have been a sensitive boy who was never really seen for who he was and whose social awkwardness was taken advantage of by people in his family and later a character like Horiki. He never found a way to assert himself and ended up living a life that depended on the grace and cruelty of the people he ran into while using alcohol and drugs to alleviate the pain of his dismal mindset. In turn he treated the people who were kind to him with indifference and condescension, out of embarrasment and perhaps also the lack of belief that people could love him (as he says, women would "look after him" rather than love him). And that is ultimately another aspect of his tragedy that I alluded to initially: he is unable to trust and consequently believe what other people tell him. I cannot quote the exact passage, but at a certain point during the first half of the novel, he explicitly states that he never believed what a human being told him. He always just drew the conclusion that he could do nothing to improve his situation or bring happiness to the lives of other people (the scene with the mother and her daughter playing with a bunny is an especially heart-breaking example of his self-doubt).
None of this answers your specific points, but I think my perspective is a little more pessimistic. Whether privileged or not, some people will just yield to despair while others don't. As a society we have to act and think as if we can bring about conditions that will improve the lives of people even though they themselves don't believe it. I don't think a society is worth more than the way it treats its most vulnerable members. Though Yozo (and Dazai) lived a life of privilege, it was a life in a racist, imperialist nation with little tolerance for weakness. I think I see the same cruelty and disregard for human vulnerability in the way disabled people and immigrants are talked about in many modern industrialized economies (right-wing extremism blossoming all around Europe, in the US and once again in Japan as well; though it might be said these ideas never really subsided to begin with). Just to say that I'd like to think that the brief social improvements seen in many welfare-states during the second half of the twentieth century, now being broken down again due to austerity, perhaps turned the tide for such dismal existences as Yozo's (though I understand that such broad social changes can't really be applied to an isolated piece of fiction). Even if it is true that a poor life might teach people a frugal life-style, I would still contend that poverty should be avoided at all cost for the sake of those, not strong enough to live through such circumstances (and that is not an accurate presentation of what you said, just a thought of my own).
@@mikkel964 Your analysis appeals more broadly with the environment, social factors, and the influences people around had on him. Those things surely contributed a whole lot to his outlook on life. Each of us are more or less the product of our circumstances, poverty or privileged, war torn or peace time, abused or adored. Needless to say my own analysis focuses more on his approach toward those factors, which either would magnify or reduce his problems. I should mention my view is perhaps less fair since I didn’t read his book, but rather learned about him thru various sources including your inputs.
Regarding his search for love (and acceptance even) from female figures. I find it unsurprising that they looked after him but not love him. Because that’s essentially female instinct if they treat you well. He failed to be the kind of man that women would love. He got the look but not the personality and strength. It’s sad but true that women don’t love weak men, they also care less about the inner turmoils that men go thru. (Like how men love beauty, much less for anything else).
I would also add that the divide between him and his father, and nearly everyone around him was actually natural, because he saw them as insincere and he too wasn’t truly genuine with them. Instead of being the agent of change , he gave into the same pattern of behavior, but internally cannot cope. Basically crying how fake ppl are and he himself the same way. Ever since I was a boy, I believed in being direct and honest toward people, despite people told me to be more discreet or what not. Yes when I get older I understand that not everyone appreciate complete honesty , people are really tricky to talk to. One had to be a chameleon and adapt to each situation. But being myself remains a priority.
Anyways, I was born in Vietnam, still in the rebuilding phase after the war. My grandparents were definitely privileged, so was my mom and dad, but by the time I was born my mom side went slowly into poverty (food and clothes became inadequate, I never forget the day we didn’t have food to eat, thankfully it was just one day because my grandma would go into debt to provide for us frequently). My dad side didn’t accept my mom and they ended up divorced. So I was left to be raised by my aunts and uncles (where the SA occurred). Barely ever see my parents if at all. Till this day I wish I was never born. Thought of suicide came naturally to me during teenage years. Despite all that , I remained trusting of people around me, even the one who abused me wasnt really a bad person in my view. I stayed positive and always try to make my life functional and more promising, as opposed to sad and tragic. Currently I’m quite content with my journey so far, despite having few friends , mostly long distance, no wife or kids (my relationships didn’t work out). I entered my 40s last year. I plan on doing well another 20 years, then find a peaceful way to check myself out. (As I can feel my health declining with age.) I tell this to everyone I am close to. I too could write a story detailing my journey but there is no need, because I already told it along the way to whom I treasure.
The reason I share some of my history is to contrast with that of Dazai’s. To distinctly show while circumstances can be cruel or unfair, each of us is born with a formidable spirit to go thru trial and error, to learn and reflect, to fight and love. Never give into despair, or escapism (thru substance). It is hard to say exactly why Dazai, given his good look, funny personality, and family wealth, unable to solve the problems that he struggled with. My only assumption is that being privileged made him weak, or perhaps he was just born with less mental fortitude.
None of that was to put him down because I’m very much a flawed individual. To those close to me I reveal to them my flaws so they can understand me better, often to little effect. I am also into art (writing poetry, sometimes painting) and deep thinking, but life constantly reminds me to be practical, resilient, and patient, not get completely lost in my own hubris. Seek peace and genuine happiness while alive; no regret when it’s all over.
My sincere wish is that his parents put in the time to connect with him, not leaving the children in the hands of his servants. Teaching him about humanity, how to be strong when time is tough, how to use wealth to build more and help the poor, but apparently his father rather take more from the poor than to give, not be a good role model. - Perhaps he be better off without parents than with bad ones. ☺️
Edit: thanks for sharing your thoughts thus far. It helps me gain more perspectives into his unique experience. I am too used to seeing things from “problem - solution” attitude as exemplified in my comments . Which I think Yozo needed to approach his life and would not be stuck in despair. Otherwise I find Dazai’s story more relatable than blame worthy. Serveral times I can’t help but cried during this video. Generally I’m not a fan of tragedy, I surely cannot read this story on my own.
I've also commented this on a video that reviews Junji Ito's version and the original book at the same time but these pieces did not ruin me even after learning it was basically a really long suicide note because the concepts described are so foreign and incomprehensible to me (ofc I felt bad because it's a tragic story and a mostly real one at that) that I didn't feel existential dread. I understood what I read, but couldn't get myself in the headspace of someone who thinks such a way and I think that's for the best. It felt like it was something above me and bigger than me.
When I first read No Longer Human I was incredibly repulsed by it. I hated the celebration of self-destructive behaviors, alcoholism, addiction, suicide and I could not bring myself to find any sympathy for this tragic story. But watching your video has really awakened me to the book, and exposed me to why I was so appalled. I read this book a lot like Mishima did, but your video has helped me to understand it better and open my eyes to some real meaning within. Thanks for making this :)
this is exactly how i felt!! it was like somebody shined a spotlight on my own issues and i projected that repulsion onto the review of the book.
I always come to this channel for book recommendations. Thanks Cliff!
oo Dazai! I know this name from anime "Bungou Stray Dogs" :))
but seriously, this book is worth reading. Japanese literature is great
Yes all the characters are named after authors!
@@fayed9540 yeah and their abilities were based from their books and signature style in literature. The anime was pretty creative lol
You need to watch Tsuki ga kirei. This book 人間失格 did appear in the anime
Is it in Netflix
@@taasinbinhossainalvi9173 yes.
i was soooo excited to read this book and finished it in two days. i had read a lot of comments about how it super depressing (which it was lolz i’m not saying it wasn’t) and left a really big like.. gap (??) in you. i didn’t really feel that gap, i was just really really fascinated. i also related to him a lot so maybe that’s why?? the one thing i didn’t get about him was how he was with women. he treated them horribly and didn’t understand them but he surrounded himself with them. I WAS LIKE??? HELLO??
That excerpt from the Mishima biography is just - wow. Quite something.
Awesome that you reviewed my favourite book ever! And you nailed the analysis, upon rereading it many times it feels like a bottomless pit of layers that you can lower yourself into as much as you want. Like you said about society’s tolerance with people like him, a lot of other readers have written it off as a sucks to by you kind of story but it’s the best work of empathy that I’ve seen in fiction. Even if you are not depressed, I’d say there’s something in everyone that has this decaying, alien quality. And when I read it I actually feel nothing but happiness because it’s a step towards a truth. To acknowledge yourself completely, “flaws” is too reductive, I’d rather call them necessary aspects if that makes any sense. Great review man 👍
Thats nice, did you ever read "notes from the underground" by Dostoejvski, it has a similar concept and it is aswell my favourite book ever
@@aggelos8256 yeah, Dazai was really inspired by Dostoevsky too
Well put
Wonderful review, I just finished this book last week so the timing couldn't have been better. I can't stop thinking about that last line in which the madam refers to Yozo as an angel, hits so hard.
I discovered Dazai s watching the anime Aoi Bungaku. Its an animated adaptation of No Longer Human and Run Melos. Also features Kokoro by Soseki and two works by Akugutawa.
ah akutagawa, his novels are stunningly well-written
I also discovered Dazai from the anime Aoi Bungaku. I just wished they released the depressing OSTs since they're so great.
I've read that book exactly 3 years ago and it completely changed my life. Not only that book but a lot of things were happening in my life and this was the time I've met with some of the Japanese authors such as osamu. He is fascinating with his inner world and story telling. So gently spoken. He really was a genius man.
Edit: btw this book has an anime (japanese animation) adaption named "aoi no bungoku". The first 4 episodes (if i remember correctly) of this show is about this book. Very underrated.
he comes across so gentle to me in the book. i hope he rests well in his death, he felt so silently tormented :{
First adult in this calm space :)
I googled this book and your video was on front page, you are doing good.
Those who have read the book will realize that some of the topics that were discussed were very specific. One would say that nobody would spend their time thinking about something like that. At the beginning of the book, when they talked about eating at the table, for example, it showed how depression really works. So many things are illogical for some people to the point of exaggeration. Though, that's what people think.
How everything was said so directly made the book so much better. I'm talking about page 87 here (if I remember correctly). Four words, so direct. It made my heart drop in disbelief.
Some things do not have to be conveyed in detail to leave a stinging feeling in the reader's mind. Sometimes a direct answer is something that makes you think of the details yourself.
Truly an amazing book.
I never thought about the ghost portraits as lovecraftian. But I remember reading the book and feeling that the way everything was being described fit lovecraftian. I feel like it's the prose that makes a lovecraftian text lovecraftian, the constant existential worry, the dread, which No Longer Human has in droves, ever barring the ghost portraits.
Oba's tragedy is that he's a character who's constantly thrust into situations and environments that worsen his pre-existing issues. Combine that with his own fallibleness as a human and you end up with a person that keeps rolling down a hill, faster and faster. There are moments when his descent is slowed; sometimes he stops falling and makes progress up the hill. But inevitably the mountain (society) he needs to climb is too tall, too steep and he resumes falling again.
I dug Junji Itos adaptation on it. Kinda assaulted me with its art and matter of fact description of the darkest of depressions. I feel like I'll have to pick up the book soon.
That's exactly what I did. I read the Junji Ito adaptation. It was amazing... It was so good that I immediately went and bought the book the next day I finished the manga.
This book deserved a nuanced review like this.
Kudos!
I shall now proceed to re-read it.
You make a good point at 16:30. I think it is extremely relatable, however, if you think you are just like the main character, you're fooling yourself. This is an extreme of an extreme, but the way he portrays his thoughts about his experiences is what makes it so relatable.
The prologue is genuinely frightening!! It struck me when I first read. Btw nice review 👍
No longer human is easily one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written.
a reach..
It must have been truly disturbing for Mishima to have met his doppelganger.
Dazai chose dissipation rather than the "discipline of Sun and Steel" but the same penultimate dissolution that mirrored their the artistic creations of their imagination.
Great review. My favourite scene (for whatever reason) was when Oba and Horiki are discussing antonyms for words. Wanted to connect with this one more than I did. If I had read this in my mid-20s alongside Ham on Rye it might have been a crucial book for me. After I'm done Kobo Abe's Woman of the Dunes I need to check out Mishima.
my man, finally this book! so hyped
this book did so much in a few pages, it's crazy
I read Osamu Dazai in the 1980s in Japan. I think I read his books in the cultural context and the notions of nobility and failure (in Ivan Morris's book). There is a character in Mikio Naruse's Anzukko (1958) who is similar to Dazai. What interesting about that film is the perspective from the writer's long-suffering wife.
I started reading this book last week and just finished it, and I’d like to add that it kind of alludes to the Japanese value of keeping these kinds of things to yourself (which is still one that the Japanese stand behind to this day.)
It’s tragic because that value plays out a lot better in Yozo’s head but it ends up causing more mess for the people around him, which drives him slowly into an even deeper degradation.
What a great book. I’m also turning 27 in a couple days, and the final sentences in the book hit pretty close to home.
No longer human may be my favorite book ever.
After a blindingly optimistic book like this, maybe some Calvino would be a nice palette cleanser
just got this book for christmas! can’t wait to read it, loved the review!
Who gifted you the book?
@@powerranger2467 comin in wit the real questions.
If your mother gave you this she either really loves you or really hates you. Perhaps both.
I´ve waited so long for this!!! Much Love
One of your best book reviews! Greetings from the other side of the world!
Thanks for another great review. I recommend Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. It is a blend of eastern and western cultures. While being a drug trip in the form of a book.
Found the channel whilst searching for the review 'Opinion' of in Praise Of Shadow, and the best thing that happened to be today. This composed personality and very friendly conservations are motivating.. I must read more!
I read 'No Longer Human' the graphic novel version by the great Junji Ito a few days ago in one sitting. I know what you mean by pausing when you say that you 'enjoyed' reading it. I found it fascinating and will definitely reread it, but first will go and explore some of Dazai's works, starting with 'No Longer Human'. Truly dark, it'll be interesting to compare the graphic novel adaptation with the original.
I want to visit japan, solely to go to his tombstone and museum. Just me? lol
Nah you are not the only one
I want to visit his favorite bridge near the railway trail
Idk why but i just love apathetic characters. No Longer Human, The Stranger, Notes from Underground, Blood Meridian, American Psycho the characters in these novels are interesting character studies.
Your reviews are so fair and respectful really real
Bro thank you for that take on this masterpiece. that bowling ball pin amazon version fo the book, I also first bought befor I could my father to read my favorite book in his language, german. So kudos forever my man
oh i just read this too! i'm afraid i'm one of the ppl who mostly finds our hero repulsive and pathetic, even though he's definitely a unique character unlike any i've read, and i can see how for those who've experienced depression he might be a comforting or at least convincing presence. and i really love the notes from underground guy and the whole angsty-depressive male loner interiority thing in general, but this one was hard to relate to or feel sorry for past a certain point. also, i think the humourlessness that you mentioned was a big drawback for me. definitely check out Akutagawa, especially his later "I" stories, which are also very auto-biographical and depressing, but which i found way more moving and impressive.
i am so so glad i found your channel. just wanted to say thank you.
The way i finished this book in 2 days shows how great the book is and the way it ended just absolutely hit. I have no words.
I swear I read this book, but I can't remember any of it. It's on my bookshelf, so I'm going to either re-read it or read it for the first time.
I just picked this up a few days ago! Excited to come back and watch your review when I'm finished!
Update: book is more interesting than it is depressing imo
Have you read the prequel of the book also written by dazai when he was still relatively young called the flowers of buffoonery? It was written after his first lovers suicide where only he survived and it's interesting how to read on how much he evolved as a writer and how different the mood is in this book.
Is it a real prequel or a spiritual prequel?
@@jordanloux3883 technically no longer human should instead be called the sequel and continuation as flowers of buffoonery is written before no longer human when dazai was stil quite young which also featured the character oba yozo
This channel is a gem.
Thanks for the great review, Cliff. Now, I have ordered this book. Thanks
Is there anyone who came after they learned that Dazai is not just bsd character :D
Meee I came here when I saw "no longer human"
many of the bsd characters are based on real people.
@@violetevergarden7162 Bungo Stray Dogs is a love letter to the classics of Modern Japanese Literature.
@@violetevergarden7162 yes
no
I have just this second finished 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac which I read after watching your review! Loved it! This is most certainly the best place for book recommendations that i've ever come across. Thank you!
Much love, from Birmingham, England ✌️
I bought it today and read it all, the story really makes you feel both sorry for him and also kind of despise him. Lot of food for thought.
“Trapped inside themselves, and unable to stand it”
Awesome line 👌🏻
These videos are so good. Glad I found you.
Not to mention that after the author wrote the book he committed suicide because the story no longer human was the story of his life and all the tragic things he had came across which led wanting to commit suicide that truly shows how scary and sad the book no longer human really is
is no longer human referring to him or society?
Probably both
what a find! that didnt know about and i did read a lot about Mishima, sounds like a must-read...
Thank you for making such a thorough review at the perfect time, i just picked this up and finished today (:
You should check out Junji Ito's manga adaptation of NLH. Its great and Ito's art captures the atmosphere perfectly.
Great vid! Loved your insights!
Arthur Shelby starts reading
really loved the description of dazai and mishima’s meeting.
I personally think this man was on the spectrum. Bit the depression he experiences is like reading someone with the same thoughts as me. As someone with aspergers this was just. . . . So heartbreaking but so poignant. Even for today. Honestly, speaking in the depression and anxiety its a realistic take on the thoughts people may go through when experiencing these illnesses. Its like the hardest diary entries you'll ever read but also the most authentic.
I was on the train for 12 hours and I remembered that I had this book in my luggage (a friend of mine knows I love reading and gave it to me on my bday) and I decided to read it. It’s a masterpiece. A sad one needless to say. I just wanna go back in time and hug Osamu Dazai
I read this book because of this review. Loved the book, thanks for the video!
Fantastic review of a fantastic book. I read the novel mostly in a single sitting, and when I reached the last sentence, I couldn’t help but burst into tears. It really is something.
Amazing work, loved the review!!!
I looked this book up because I thought the Anime character Dazai seemed relatable. By your description of the book, I'd say the book is likely even more reliable. Though I don't really care about letting anyone get involved with my problems unless they are trying to help.
For some reason TH-cam recommended this video to me despite me never searching for this book and having read it in 2020. Even so, I freaking loved this book and I remember writing in my review "This book is hauntingly good and incredibly depressing." Enjoyed the book review.
Thanks Cliff! Will be reading this soon. Are you doing a Top 5 of 2020??? Please do. Looking forward to it.
Got this for Christmas! Very excited to read this.
Just started Seratonin... now I’m off to buy No Longer Human. Another great review!
i read this book years ago and recently read it again. i really resonated with the childish aspect of the beginning the first time around so reading it again i paid more attention and this time i resonated more with the lonely depressing aspect and i appreciated it a lot more. must read for anyone.
I started reading it immediately after I saw your review and it has now become one of the most impactful books I've ever read!! I wish I could talk about it with some of you? Are there any 'booksarebetterthanfood' book club meetings? If yes how can we join? If not can we start those? I am constantly thinking about this book and I absolutely need to talk to people who have read it as well!
Enjoyed the review and love your channel. Hope you read lost domain sometime and review it.
Just watched this today, a bit late to the party! I have a lot to say, let's see how it goes.
First, I enjoyed your analysis because it's not often you see manga analyzed on that level. Thought provoking, really good.
Now, on to "No Longer Human".
I have not read the novel, I have only read the manga. I was depressed for a few days after reading it until my wife convinced me to go read something funny. (I did.)
I am a Junji Ito fan, which is what led me to the book. I saw Uzumaki at the Portland Lovecraft film festival when it came out. I didn't actually get to read the manga for it until a year or two ago, and have been catching up on his work ever since. Wonderful stuff. I read a lot of the horror books and though I'm a literature fan, I was on the fence about "No Longer Human" because I couldn't imagine what he'd do with what I assumed to be a fairly mainstream novel, however dark.
But the price kept going up and down, and finally one day I saw it new at the lowest price yet, so I bought it.
The first third of the book was a difficult read for me. The artwork was as fantastic as ever. My problem was, I HATED the main character. I understood his social phobia, and his never really feeling at home among other people. And what I didn't understand, I could accept for the sake of the story. OK, noted, he has this and that difficulty relating to people. But how he handled it, his interactions with others, was repulsive. I couldn't label it sociopathic because he does have a conscience, it just never seems to kick in hard until the damage is done. And it gets worse the longer he can obsess on it. But in his dealings with people, he doesn't learn from it. Ito does a masterful job of illustrating the fear in the eyes of the clowning boy/young man, the fear when the kid at school finds him out. His face tells one story, his eyes tell another. Brilliant illustration.
Here is where I have to bring up something which I think is important to bear in mind clear through the book. Ito is representing what's in the book. He's not the narrator. He's illustrating the narrator's ideas and character. And this narrator is hideously fallible, in the way a Poe character might be. The Tell Tale Heart, Berenice, The Black Cat, and so on. These are first person narratives by very disturbed men. And in my opinion, Yoba Ozo is a pretty disturbed man, and was so from childhood.
This brings me to the misogyny in the story. I don't believe Ito means to put more misogyny into the story because he agrees with it. I think he puts more into it because he sees the horror in it. The women are not the monsters, they are the victims that our fallible narrator imagines to be monsters. Look at their faces when the narrator isn't hallucinating. These are basically sweet women who try to help and care for a troubled man, and get destroyed for their kindness. And I think this is pretty clearly shown throughout, in the illustration if not the dialogue.
I read the book slowly, a chapter a night. At first, it was because. like with all Ito's books, I wanted to savor it. But after the first two chapters, it was because I had to steel myself for trying to read about someone I couldn't stand. I thought the effort would be worth it. And it was. Because as the story progressed, I started to feel that he was the monster and source of horror in the book, and read on wondering what kind of catastrophe he was going to cause next.
I didn't expect this to change, but to my surprise it did, the first time he did something painful but really selfless, by walking away from the woman and daughter. He could have gone back and continued to allow them to love him, despite his knowing what a destructive parasite he was. Instead, he walked away, into a windy, rainy night with nowhere to go. It was his first really thoughtful act as a person. From that point on I found it easier to like him. And, in what is a perfect, tragic piece of irony, it all gets worse from there. The more he starts to become a better human being, the more he develops a conscience, the more things start to fall in on him. Of course, the majority of the time it's his own fault. But sometimes, without giving too much away, we see clearly it isn't, and he has been treated cruelly by someone else for a change. Always men, actually. The women continue to be supportive.
Before the conclusion, of the book, while I wouldn't go so far as to say I liked the character, I would say he had at least gained a lot of ground as a human being, just at the point he thinks he has relinquished his humanity. And in the worst bit of irony in the book, h opens himself to his victims, he wants to do the right thing and take care of them. Probably the best thing he's ever done, when he can easily leave it all behind. He could have easily skipped out. I can't say any more but you've read the book.
Hope you don't mind the length of this comment, but all of this came to mind as I was watching this and I really wanted to share it.
Read this book a long time ago. Nice review Cliff!
Just found your channel. Great review! Plan to look into this book! Thanks for the recommendation!
The book is well written and it's easy to read but the story isn't. It's such a heavy book. I had to put it down numerous times and have a deep breath. It's so clear and raw, how Dazai wrote this beautifully, gave me vivid image in my head and a sting on my heart. It's very reflecting on me and it got me reminiscing things I buried deep down; subconsciously protecting me from my truth. This become an eye opener. I sometimes too, think if it's alright reading this because I knew a man's life was written in this book, the author himself, stated how much he hid his true self. I felt guilty both because of that and the truth I cannot do anything to make him a little better. This will remain as my favorite book.
It's very easy to conflate authors' methods of killing themselves - excessive drinking, shotgun wound, gassed in apartment, jumped in river tied to a lady via kimono. All seem pretty casual to me.
I finished this in a day this book was that good. Wow. To say this book is depressing doesn't just cut it... it's so well written. When I recommend this to my friends, I just say that they need to read it. It hit home and hearing your point of view was so helpful too. I'm currently reading "The setting sun" by Dazai. If you haven't made a video plz can you do one. I started it right after I finished "No longer Human" I love love his writing. I'm getting more of his books from New Editions. I also have "Schoolgirl" It's a novella. I'll read it after I finish the setting sun.
‼️To me the main character of this book is literally the male version of the main character in My Year Of Rest And Relaxation. Clearly they're both dealing with some serious mental issues such as grief and depression. But they are also being self-destructive and in their spiral of self-destruction they hurt other people around them. Both of these characters are completely self-obsessed and struggling with substance use in a slow self ending.
The main character of No longer Human is way more of a terrible person than the main character of MYORAR, BUT he is way more likable than she is. Because he lies and tells people what they want to hear and does whatever he wants and that causes extreme suffering and pain to those around him.
Such as the case of the two sisters. He tells them both he loves them and has seggs with them both. Then when the first sister catches in the act she ends the other sister who is pregnant with his child. Because she is also pregnant with his child. So she is sentenced to deletion and he just dips and abandons that kid. Not to mention the kid whose death he causes in the very first part of the book. To me both of these books are dealing with the same issues and themes but with completely different characters in a completely different setting.
I really disliked the main characters for the same reason. Because they never took responsibility for their own actions. Neither feels guilty about who they have hurt. They are both so busy throwing themselves pity parties and feeling sorry for themselves that they are literally incapable of feeling empathy for anyone else.
You can't help it if you're mentally ill but you can still control your actions and that doesn't give you an excuse to terrorize and harm innocent people around you. YOU are still ultimately responsible for YOUR own actions and you don't get to hide behind mental illness as a shield to avoid responsibility and blame. And I see this parallel in real life too. People who have experienced real suffering are the ones capable of inflicting real suffering on others. They spend all their time looking in a mirror m@$7urbating with their own tears to ever feel anything for anyone else.
I've been meaning to read this for a while now. I'll add it to the list.
Junji Ito's Manga adaptation is beautiful
This story resonated with me so much I had to get the Japanese title tattooed on my head