No Longer Human Book Review
An astonishing read into a legendary yet disturbed author of Osamu Dazai.
Osamu Dazai committed double suicide with his wife, Tomie, in 1948 by drowning in Tamagawa Reservoir in Tokyo, Japan and was found six days later on what would have been his 39th birthday. But not before writing “No Longer Human”, a semi autobiography loosely based on his life. Although being an author of many well received works, such as “The Setting Sun” and “Schoolgirl”, “No Longer Human” has been regarded to be his Magnum Opus, some might say that it is the one of the best works in Classic Japanese Literature, ultimately ranking as the second best selling novel in Japan.
I had originally heard about “No Longer Human” through a friend who recommended the book and through some research, I discovered the monumental legacy that he created in the Japanese Literature scene, inspiring many authors such as the award winning Shusuke Michio and Ryu Murakami. It tackles very heavy themes such as substance abuse, isolation and suicide, most of which was taken inspiration from Dazai’s own life.
No Longer Human, as stated before, is a novel loosely detailing events in Dazai’s life, through the fictitious lens of Oba Yozo. It’s separated into three Notebooks with a Prologue and Epilogue sandwiching them. Each Notebook acts as a diary for Yozo or alternatively Dazai, detailing each stage of his life: his childhood, his adolescence and finally, his adulthood.
Ever since childhood, Yozo never experienced the concept of happiness and he constantly repeats that he ‘does not understand human beings’. This leads to him adopting the personality of a jokester, constantly trying to make people laugh as much as possible with comical acts because he doesn’t know how people would respond if they discovered his true self.
Very early on, you are able to tell that Yozo perceives himself as different from humans and suffers from some type of mental illness or disorder. He feels a perpetual isolation from everyone.
People also commonly speak of the “wound of a guilty conscience.” In my case, the wound appeared of itself when I was an infant, and with the passage of time, far from healing it has grown only the deeper, until now it has reached the bone.
For example, when his father asks what should he bring back for the children after his business trip, Yozo simply stared in silence, not knowing what answer would satisfy him. His father ended up suggesting a lion mask which was immediately shot down by Yozo’s brother who said that he would probably prefer a book instead. His father reluctantly accepts and walks away disappointed. Yozo, in fear of the consequences, sneaks into his office that night and writes ‘LION MASK’ in the notebook where he was keeping records of the gifts, despite liking the idea of the book in the first place. Yozo is inherently afraid of what happens when humans do not get their way, thus goes out of his way to put on an guise to please them and appear normal.
He would continue acting out this performance throughout his life, eventually meeting a person named Horiki during university where Yozo would be strung along to drink in Tokyo’s bars. He enjoyed drinking as it was the first time that his existential dread disappeared. He also became a womanizer of some sorts during this time, however these relationships that he has with women would eventually lead him to even darker depths such as suicide attempts and decline of his mental well-being. These experiences would reinforce his ideology that he would never be truly understood.
Dazai would continue to develop these motifs throughout the book and I encourage you to pick up this story to read the rest of it to conclusion.
I’ve let the book simmer in my headspace for a week at this point and not a single day goes by without thinking about it. Despite Yozo inherently being an deplorable protagonist (especially with certain story beats later on), the narrative being told from the first person perspective weirdly humanized Yozo to a point where while I didn’t feel completely sympathetic, I gained a sliver of hope that he would readjust and live a normal life. Dazai’s way of portraying Yozo using pronouns like ‘I” enables us to comprehend his inner struggle and isolation that he endures. Therefore, “No Longer Hunan” becomes an incredibly compelling read to those who is going through similar feelings of alienation.
If my neighbours 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 griefs really be genuine?
The last line of the novel states, ‘The Yozo we knew was so easy going and amusing, and if only he hadn’t drunk— no, even though he did drink— he was a good boy, an angel’. There are multiple interpretations to this line; one being that a majority of his pains and turmoils are self-imposed and due to his warped perception. Another is that a majority of people he met never suspected him of hiding his true self under his clownery. One popular interpretation is this was about society’s poor understanding of mental illnesses at the time, attributing his pains to alcoholism which invertly a result of his mental illness, broadening the message to be about the help that Yozo/Dazai never got in their lives.
From then on. however, I came to hold, almost as a philosophical conviction, the belief: What is society but an individual? From the moment I suspected that society might be an individual I was able to act more in accordance with my own inclinations
Most discussions of this book revolves around readers connecting very personally to Yozo and it isn’t uncommon to see people proclaim “No Longer Human” as their favourite piece of literature. As for me, it really was an engaging read showing the unfiltered, raw emotion of someone going through this internal turmoil through their perspective. And despite not experiencing even a smidge of Yozo’s total troubles, Dazai’s method of storytelling allowed me to relate to his feelings of alienation presented throughout the novel.
Having said that, I feel as though this is one of those books that should been on everyone’s bucket list. I highly recommend that you go read it as it’s simply a very profound and amazing novel that deserves its legendary status.
Do drop any book recommendations that you think I would enjoy. The one I’m particularly eyeing is “The Woman in the Dunes” by Kobo Abe as I’ve seen it recommended frequently to read after “No Longer Human”.