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A Shameful Life
by
Osamu Dazai is one of the most famous—and infamous—writers of 20th-century Japan. A Shameful Life (Ningen shikkaku) is his final published work and has become a bestselling classic for its depiction of the tortured struggle of a young man to survive in a world that he cannot comprehend. Paralleling the life and death of Dazai himself, the delicate weaving of fact and ficti
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Paperback, 142 pages
Published
November 30th 2018
by Stone Bridge Press
(first published 1937)
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I spent like three years just crazy depressed. Grim thoughts all the time, super self destructive, at once alienating and distributing "cries for help" or whatever you wanna call it... sheesh, man. It was so fucked. I'm really glad I got out of that frame of mind and I hope I never go back. No Longer Human was something I read toward the end of that phase. I probably would have been okay anyway, but this shit helped a ton. Dazai totally nails the impossibly bummed out mindset without being corny
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Aug 06, 2013
Florencia
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Cowards seeking change
LXXXV
They say that “time assuages”,—
Time never did assuage;
An actual suffering strengthens,
As sinews do, with age.
Time is a test of trouble,
But not a remedy.
If such it prove, it prove too
There was no malady.
Emily Dickinson, Part Four: Time and Eternity, The Complete Poems
*
Everything passes. (169)
A gentle breeze brushes the branches of luxuriant trees brimming with cherry blossoms which surround the quaint park bench I chose as my reading spot. A diaphanous cloud softly attached to the sun create ...more
Behind ballads of an orphaned heart,
Lay poetic trance of a love’s facade.
Dreads the ghostly art within hazy shades,
Human shame in comic masquerades.
Inebriated words coughing in notebooks
Empty sake bottles in curls of smoke,
Vice or virtue, the gullible spirit brags
Diabolical tales of a death mask.
“Everything passes”, cried the blue cradle
Slept, the wings of a fallen angel.
A solitary word blissfully prances from the anxious mind, fears the disintegration of its syllables; the distorted enunciation ...more
Lay poetic trance of a love’s facade.
Dreads the ghostly art within hazy shades,
Human shame in comic masquerades.
Inebriated words coughing in notebooks
Empty sake bottles in curls of smoke,
Vice or virtue, the gullible spirit brags
Diabolical tales of a death mask.
“Everything passes”, cried the blue cradle
Slept, the wings of a fallen angel.
A solitary word blissfully prances from the anxious mind, fears the disintegration of its syllables; the distorted enunciation ...more
No Longer Human
by Osamu Dazai is deep, painful, real and so very human. This book, which was first published in 1948, is a raw portrayal of the human thinking, feelings and emotions. It specifically captures the isolated, troubled, disturbed and confused thought process of a young man named Yozo.
This well-written book though depressing and pessimistic is, in a way, a required reading for everyone, as it is important for each one of us to understand and feel what a fellow human being is goin ...more
This well-written book though depressing and pessimistic is, in a way, a required reading for everyone, as it is important for each one of us to understand and feel what a fellow human being is goin ...more
(Image taken from the Junji Ito manga adaptation of the novel... which I will also review later)
I do not like typing these words. This is something I hesitate to say during the best of situations, but I simply do not know how to review this book. This is... this book makes me feel like I got a glimpse of something I shouldn't have, and rather than putting it down and walking away, I continued reading someone's most private thoughts. Now obviously, Dazai intended these thoughts to be read, but o ...more
Jul 23, 2012
Paquita Maria Sanchez
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literature
Those days where you wake up with your head in a fog and your body feeling like it's covered in bricks that you have to dig your way out of, and your leg is asleep so you trip getting out of bed, and you're late for work so of course the traffic's bad leading you to road-rage across lanes accelerating then braking back and forth again while muttering to yourself about how stupid everyone is and you're so glad it's Sunday in their fucking world because all the drivers are 90 years old and frail w
...more
this book, is just another motherfucker for me when i crusade in the holyland on one certain day
i can see why most of the japanese parents don't want their kids to read this book
here's some parts of my review (i don't know how i cud write this, maybe i was possessed by something at the time):
i am sorry for being a human
i need booze, i need drugs, i need vaginas, but i can quit them all at any time when i just need death
i don't need love, i don't need pride, i don't need duty, but it seems i am t ...more
i can see why most of the japanese parents don't want their kids to read this book
here's some parts of my review (i don't know how i cud write this, maybe i was possessed by something at the time):
i am sorry for being a human
i need booze, i need drugs, i need vaginas, but i can quit them all at any time when i just need death
i don't need love, i don't need pride, i don't need duty, but it seems i am t ...more
What is it with young men in so much Japanese literature? Whether it's Murakami, Mishima, Soseki, or Dezai they always come across as either lonely, shut-off or damaged (or some combination of the three). Yozo feels about as radically alienated from the world as any character could be. Even bitchy little Holden Caulfield never carried half as much angst as the main character in No Longer Human seems to have. And the loneliness he feels is all the more painful because of how deeply internalized i
...more
It's the worst thing when people refuse to bullshit, right? Can you imagine? They might wander off in the middle of a sentence because you're boring. They would tell you when your jokes are lame. They could never hold a job, much less a family. It's not sociopathy, it's more like catastrophic self-awareness. It doesn't work out for Ōba any more than it would work for you.
Didn't work for his big influence, Dostoevsky, either, although I just reminded myself, as I do about once a year, that Dostoe ...more
Didn't work for his big influence, Dostoevsky, either, although I just reminded myself, as I do about once a year, that Dostoe ...more
At the very beginning of No Longer Human, Dazai lays out his narrator's plight in clear, stark terms:
Although I had a mortal dread of human beings I seemed quite unable to renounce their society. I managed to maintain on the surface a smile which never deserted my lips; this was the accommodation I offered to others, a most precarious achievement performed by me only at the cost of excruciating efforts within.
The narrator, Yozo, born into a wealthy political family in rural northeastern Japan, h ...more
Although I had a mortal dread of human beings I seemed quite unable to renounce their society. I managed to maintain on the surface a smile which never deserted my lips; this was the accommodation I offered to others, a most precarious achievement performed by me only at the cost of excruciating efforts within.
The narrator, Yozo, born into a wealthy political family in rural northeastern Japan, h ...more
This novel was utterly perfect and so masterfully written. The prose is one of the most charming I've come across and I absolutely loved it. It's one of those books which I wish I had a printed copy so that I could smell and underline mostly everything, write comments next to paragraphs etc. Unfortunately, I cannot and that makes me sad.
Hadn't I watched Bungo stray dogs and hadn't I identified as Osamu Dazai and hadn't I loved this character so much I would probably not have read this book soon ...more
Hadn't I watched Bungo stray dogs and hadn't I identified as Osamu Dazai and hadn't I loved this character so much I would probably not have read this book soon ...more
Fails to deliver and didn't captivate me or draw me in in any serious way at all. Time passes, and things happen, but I feel like there's no reason for me to care. I don't feel anything reading this, and that's odd considering the topics dealt with. 177 pages blow by and leave no mark or trace at all. There are beautiful passages here, to be sure, but the book is, in my opinion, largely forgettable. Perhaps an issue with the translation?
...more
Caught between the past and the present a young man (Oba Yozo) finds that he is becoming more and more alienated from society and any sort of future. His decent into existential crisis is the reason why this book is so often compared to The Stranger by Albert Camus.
No Longer Human - a book with which I was not comfortable - a book which constantly frustrated me. Was that why I read it in a day - to be done with it - to be able to put it back on the shelf? But still, four solid stars - recommended to those who suffer - i.e. humans
A story of a man with a lifelong depression - a depression which leaves him incapable of maintaining any kind of positive human relationship. I could almost relate to that except that this character, Yozo, never seems to learn hide ...more
A story of a man with a lifelong depression - a depression which leaves him incapable of maintaining any kind of positive human relationship. I could almost relate to that except that this character, Yozo, never seems to learn hide ...more
Apr 08, 2011
Mariel
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
I am terrified
Recommended to Mariel by:
the stupid, the proud
No Longer Human... Yozo believes halfheartedly (it doesn't beat strongly enough to be whole) himself to be an outcast. He feels nothing in himself to connect himself to himself, let alone others. I have to say that I didn't feel he was different from other people. All along I was disregarding the not being human parts. It wasn't different to feel behind blank walls, a gravity for numbness and not having to think. I kinda think (aha!) one has to know themselves a bit before they can begin expandi
...more
4/5stars
I started out REALLY loving this book. It started out the same as “The Convenience Store Woman” did for me - I love reading about characters whose thinking is very drastic from every day people and who are seen as outcasts or “strange” but are also in many ways incredibly relatable and voice thoughts many have. But, unfortunately this one went south as the narrator got older and it turned less from stream of consciousness introspection and consideration of humans beings and their odditie ...more
I started out REALLY loving this book. It started out the same as “The Convenience Store Woman” did for me - I love reading about characters whose thinking is very drastic from every day people and who are seen as outcasts or “strange” but are also in many ways incredibly relatable and voice thoughts many have. But, unfortunately this one went south as the narrator got older and it turned less from stream of consciousness introspection and consideration of humans beings and their odditie ...more
Aug 17, 2017
Khashayar Mohammadi
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
japanese-lit,
asian-lit
I couldn't stop thinking about Yukio Mishima while reading this book. A strange and eerily atmospheric book that sucked me in from the very first chapter. Although the whole dissociation with humans was a bit overtly explicit for my taste, I enjoyed reading it very much.
...more
--A Shameful Life
Translator's Afterword
Note on the Current Translation & Acknowledgments ...more
Translator's Afterword
Note on the Current Translation & Acknowledgments ...more
Aug 26, 2020
Lyn❤Loves❤Listening #AUDIOBOOKADDICT
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Audio 5 Stars
Story 4.25 Stars
Before reading this book, I recommend a handful of happy pills and sunny surroundings because this is one heck of a depressing story.
Story 4.25 Stars
Before reading this book, I recommend a handful of happy pills and sunny surroundings because this is one heck of a depressing story.
An absolutely incredible frame narrative sandwiching 150 pages of good, disturbing, self-analytical writing in the vein of, say, Knut Hamsun's Hunger or Notes from the Underground. The frame - the opening a description of three photographs, the ending a major insight on human nature - goes a long way toward redeeming the strange, alienating notes of misogyny, violence, and illogic that Yozo and his narrative occasionally suffer from.
This reminds me of Proust in some ways in its vivid documentat ...more
This reminds me of Proust in some ways in its vivid documentat ...more
No Longer Human is brutal, and about as accurate a portrait of the skewing effects the twin corrupters of narcissism and depression can have on a life. The narrator, based closely on Dazai's own life, is insufferable, not only to those around him but to himself and yet like a corrosive fog, he consumes everyone and everything with whom he comes in contact.
Anyone blessed enough to not have depression in them will likely not find much to like in this book, but for the rest of us, Dazai is brave/h ...more
Anyone blessed enough to not have depression in them will likely not find much to like in this book, but for the rest of us, Dazai is brave/h ...more
The quiddity of No Longer Human was a game of antonyms. I found the novel heartbreaking because of the protagonist’s clarity; this isn’t a ready world for such vision.
Jan 26, 2009
Gertrude & Victoria
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
japanese-library
I consider this book to be the bible for the disaffected artist. No Longer Human was the final novel written by Dazai Osamu. It is also his magnum opus and a true-to-life representation of the restless and tormented spirit that Dazai was. This work could be taken, at least to a certain extent, as an autobiographical account of the writer himself.
Oba the main character recognizes, from early childhood, his place in the world, which is no place, neither here nor there. He feels pangs of alienation ...more
Oba the main character recognizes, from early childhood, his place in the world, which is no place, neither here nor there. He feels pangs of alienation ...more
Yes, the title sums up the bleak mood of this novel.
A few years ago BBC did a story about the "self-immolation of a 71-year-old man" who was on a Japanese bullet train. A reticent man who lived alone in a dilapidated apartment. The article went on to state that in 2014, more than 25,000 people living in Japan took their own lives. This is in no way a spoiler for this book, although if you know anything about the author, you know that Dazai lived a tortured life and you know how he faced the end. ...more
A few years ago BBC did a story about the "self-immolation of a 71-year-old man" who was on a Japanese bullet train. A reticent man who lived alone in a dilapidated apartment. The article went on to state that in 2014, more than 25,000 people living in Japan took their own lives. This is in no way a spoiler for this book, although if you know anything about the author, you know that Dazai lived a tortured life and you know how he faced the end. ...more
the opening of this book, which is a description of three photographs taken of a man over the course of his life, is one of the most best and disturbing things i've ever read. just an absolutely thrilling beginning. the rest of the book doesn't quite live up to it, although it often comes close. it feels a lot like The Stranger or Notes from Underground. i only wish it built more instead of kind of petering out.
...more
Oct 13, 2015
Belle
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Readers who like suicidal memoir and depressing fiction
After reading a brief synopsis, I never thought I'd be able to finish this book without weeping at least once. Surprisingly enough, I read through the entire book without shedding a single tear but I ended up feeling extremely depressed from a debilitating ache in my chest. If you are someone who struggles with alienation, depression and habitual dread of human being then this book will impose itself on your mind/existence and offer you an immense sense of comfort and belonging. I read this book
...more
One of the most heartbreakingly human characters I’ve ever connected with.
'now i have neither happiness nor unhappiness.
everything passes.
that is the one and only thing that i have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where i have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.
everything passes.'
wish I was capable of adding something to my 5 star rating. I feel irreparably broken, a sad sense of acceptance has taken over me. everything passes. ...more
everything passes.
that is the one and only thing that i have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where i have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.
everything passes.'
wish I was capable of adding something to my 5 star rating. I feel irreparably broken, a sad sense of acceptance has taken over me. everything passes. ...more
I really enjoyed this book. Couldn't put it down today and read most of it in one sitting.
I've come to sympathize with Yozo, the narrator, a twenty-something haunted by his feelings of inadequacy since childhood—or the feelings of being "disqualified as a human being" as the original title in Japanese suggests.
Yozo had an aristocratic upbringing. Servants catered to his every need. Mother and father, naturally, were distant. After being "violated" by the servants, and being unable to tell anyone ...more
I've come to sympathize with Yozo, the narrator, a twenty-something haunted by his feelings of inadequacy since childhood—or the feelings of being "disqualified as a human being" as the original title in Japanese suggests.
Yozo had an aristocratic upbringing. Servants catered to his every need. Mother and father, naturally, were distant. After being "violated" by the servants, and being unable to tell anyone ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Around South/East...: A book by a Japanese Author | 2 | 12 | 11. November, 17:14 Uhr | |
| PewDiePie's Liter...: No Longer Human - Osamu Dazai | 3 | 203 | 27. Januar, 13:21 Uhr | |
| Should this be merged with No Longer Human? | 1 | 58 | 07. Dezember, 03:24 Uhr | |
| level_bo: [Special#2] Книга января (2016) - Исповедь "неполноценного" человека | 13 | 99 | 05. Januar, 15:26 Uhr | |
| /lit/ (revival ed...: * No Longer Human | 10 | 134 | 20. April, 00:15 Uhr | |
| Japanophiles!: Week 5: Epilogue and final thoughts and impressions | 14 | 88 | 15. November, 23:06 Uhr |
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Osamu DAZAI (太宰 治, real name Shūji TSUSHIMA) was a Japanese author who is considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th-century Japan. A number of his most popular works, such as Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), are considered modern-day classics in Japan.
With a semi-autobiographical style and transparency into his personal life, Dazai’s stories have intrigue ...more
With a semi-autobiographical style and transparency into his personal life, Dazai’s stories have intrigue ...more
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“Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness.
Everything passes.
That is the one and only thing that I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.
Everything passes.”
—
549 likes
Everything passes.
That is the one and only thing that I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.
Everything passes.”
“I am convinced that human life is filled with many pure, happy, serene examples of insincerity, truly splendid of their kind-of people deceiving one another without (strangely enough) any wounds being inflicted, of people who seem unaware even that they are deceiving one another.”
—
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