No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai is the second best-selling novel in Japan of all time. I read he killed himself shortly after publishing the book which is essentially an autobiography, but with fictional characters. The author had also inspired horror manga artist Junji Ito. Of course, curiosity got the best of me; I had to read this book.
It fucked me up, friends. It is a really short read that took me just a few days, and let me tell you, it’s a page turner. The protagonist is a very troubled individual, but the raw look into his psyche helped me sympathize and oftentimes relate to his behavior. After finishing it, I feel a little empty. I can’t stop thinking about it.
I recommend reading this if you want a book that really analyzes the complexities of the human mind, but I would avoid it if you are struggling with deep depression. Additionally, there are themes of sexual assault, suicide, and child abuse, as well as quite a lot of misogynistic statements throughout the book.
by Sugar-Wall
25 Comments
Thanks for sharing your experience with No Longer Human.
I’ve struggled with depression for years, but I’ve read No Longer Human multiple times (the most recent during my COVID-related quarantine last year). It’s one of the few books that affirms how messed up I feel as a person trying to navigate my life, to the point that it makes me cry every time. But at the same time it makes me grateful that I’m not as “objectively terrible” as the protagonist.
‘It fucked me up, friends’
Have to say that sold me on it and I’ve just ordered it.
I shall report back once finished.
what are the odds, just picked this up the other day and then finished it in the same day. i found that I had the same exact reaction as you, finished it not knowing exactly how to feel or how i should feel about the main character
Read it few years ago while dealing with depression as a joke to myself, but I only managed to read it halfway. I don’t remember much from the book, the only thing I remember is I’m screaming inside my head telling how the protagonist is overthinking everything to the point that he’s making himself miserable. And just now that I think about it, maybe that is depression – overthinking all the worst possible outcomes.
I’ll try picking it up again this year.
I’d recommend A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe. Not as bleak, but has that same stark, unforgiving autobiographical style. Kobo Abe is great, too.
There’s an anime version of it as well, if anybody is interested.
One of my favorite book. It really gets in your head. Anyone whose suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts can relate, but also see someone who has fallen far further then most. It’s also an interesting look at post war Japan.
Read a Wodehouse book for change. It’ll cheer you up.
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This book gave me a short term depression. I hate some parts of it but I would absolutely read it again.
Kobo Abe is an author you might like also.
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It’s the protagonist who I’ve most related to. I think Yozu and Elliot Alderson are my favorite depictions of alienation, vis-à-vis trauma and a keen awareness of the artifice girding social relations and norms. He is a person, through no choice of his own, has been appointed his own inquisitor, torturing himself with fears and doubts.
He’s deeply human, and, in my mind, a sympathetic figure. I think it’s a work accomplished in its exploration of the self and its many facets. How Yozu truly sees himself, how he thinks others see him, the performance of self for others based on how he wants them to see him in accordance with social norms.
The only perspective outside of his own beliefs resides with us, the readers. Even though I’ve grappled with many of the same thought distortions as he as, I never feel the same way as he does about himself. Some people are programmed by life, by circumstances out of their control, to persecute themselves. It’s habit, automatic, difficult to break. But with other people, I don’t apply the same impossible standards. There is an absence of the shame and contempt that, in scrutinizing the self, is so quick to surface.
It’s clear that he’s dealing with a distorted sense of self. I know I do too but, while I understand this logically, it’s difficult to untangle my emotions, habitually negative, echoes of angry adults castigating a child, and the slurs slung by bullies, day after day after day.
Yozu and Dazai experience traumatic childhoods that had a corrosive impact on their self esteem. Experiencing CSA, with parents cold and removed. Adults manipulative or loveless. Having to put on a new persona of the fool to achieve any kind of warmth from others, which further alienates one self when it isn’t the authentic you that’s valued, but the mask.
Brilliant book.
I read Junji Ito’s adaptation a while ago and… Yeah. It’s impossible to put down, and oh so depressing.
I am incredibly intrigued but now is really not the time for me to read books like this
self care is knowing when to stay away from some shit, no matter how great they probably are lol
I have a weird experience with this book. When I worked at a bookstore, I was surprised to see how many people were suddenly asking about it, and more strangely, how many of those people were younger teenagers. The subject matter in No Longer Human would have messed me up if I read it at 14, so I wondered where this boost in popularity among younger readers came from.
The only reason I heard was that there’s an anime with a character with the same name as the author of the book, which I still found odd.
Man there is just something about Japanese authors in this time period.
This was not the most depression book I’ve read. johnny got his gun will always be on top for that. But there was something relatably depressing about the main character Yozo, sometimes I found myself sympathizing while also at times feeling extreme disgust.
His repeated affairs and substance abuse and in general, irresponsibility really put me off.
His belief that he is no longer human became clear to me that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, so, in a sense, his misfortune is his own making. But in the epilogue, when the woman called Yozo an ‘angel’, It struck me that that Yozo spent an entire book trying to disprove–that he is indeed human.
It’s a book that made me feel a lot and nothing at the same time.
Japanese lit is amazing for this! You could also try Out by Natsuo Kirino, Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe, and you’d definitely find The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima good as well.
Osamu Dazai had one of the craziest and saddest lives. I read his book Schoolgirl and it was crazy to read a book a man had written that could have been lifted from my highschool diary.
Just finished it today, and I agree the book is a good look into depression. Did anyone find it hard to read due to the amount of misogyny? I got some major incel vibes from the main character, I had little sympathy for him at times.
If anything I’d encourage anyone with depression to read it. Without spoiling it, the final line recontextualizes the whole book and shows it in a new light—a sentiment I think a lot of depressive people would benefit from
As a person who hasn’t been depressed, this intrigues me. I just read the first chapter, and the whole thing about railroad bridges just… bwooooh, baffled me. I never really thought about bridges that way.
I read the book. Used to suffer from depression and suicidal tendencies for 10 years. The book really wasn’t that difficult for me to read. Although I can really relate to it. So maybe that’s why.
FYI, the book has been in the public domain for a few years.
You can read it [here.](https://www.academia.edu/23537185/No_Longer_Human_by_Osamu_Dazai)