No Longer Human

De: Osamu Dazai

Narrado por: David Shih

"Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being."

Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai’s NO LONGER HUMAN narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. His attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a “clown” to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness.

Still one of the ten bestselling books in Japan, NO LONGER HUMAN is an important and unforgettable modern classic.

©1958 New Directions Publishing Corp. (P)2016 Tantor Media, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“The struggle of the individual to fit into a normalizing society remains just as relevant today as it was at the time of writing.” (The Japan Times)

The life of someone misunderstood

wow. this was a dreadful recount of someone who had live with so much disdain for themself.

Not sure if I’d recommend

It’s definitely an eye opening account of one man’s struggle with depression, masking, probable personality disorders, and feeling like an outsider. The man was such a user that I struggled to feel anything for him. Depression and other mental health issues are a struggle and unfortunately these are some of the behaviors that manifest.

Intriguing postwar Japanese literature

I think I liked it. I can see why it’s such a popular work. I wasn’t a fan of the protagonist for several reasons, but it’s was definitely nice story telling. There are many moments in the book that disgusted or irritated me in the face value. But it is clear there are many complicated factors (time period, economy, gender, “innate” human behaviors, etc.) to why it happened. It is very interesting to analyze why the people or society behaved in certain ways. It actually makes me want to listen to this again when thinking about those factors and events.

Incredibly Human

Amazing point of perspective. Tragically honest and humbling. It’s interesting when a character is so privileged, brooding, cold and at the same time, pathetic, needy and hopeless. Amazing to meet a character that is in a constant state of self reflection, knows who they are but doesn’t ever really see themselves or know how others see them. Love it.

Great Short Novel

This is a perfectly constructed novel, and one of the most unique perspectives I have ever read in all of literature. The events described are indeed terribly unfortunate and often unfair, but it is the frame of mind of the main character, Yozo, and the intricacies of his thoughts that pervade my meditations on No Longer Human. A novel is never good or bad because it is not for you, but because it is either well written or not well written. This novel belongs in the former category.

A voice of depression

The story is not a happy one. As someone who struggled with depression through stages of my life I found myself relating to the Yozo

The Deception of Self-Perception

This novel is one of the most reflective and thorough study of self-degradation and environmental influence I’ve ever read. Do not skip the translators note either, it’s a great exploration of the cultural context and influence behind the novel. Excellent narration and phenomenal payoff. Highly recommend!

absolutely messed up.

messed up but tragic and a very important story in terms of mental health. it has became a favorite of mine in the same vain of looking at a beautifully ugly picture and ironically that is the art that the main character loved to paint.

An arrow pointing towards sadness

A deeply disturbing story through and through, but one that can be learned from in the negative. Beautifully written to a point where I suggest you do not read this book if you’re a depressed person as the writing romanticizes depression as it reveals it for what it is.

No longer human review

The speaker makes a sharp “s” sound that completely bothered me throughout the listen but aside from that it’s a great story about identity and real life problems along with how easily they can find you.