Staff reporter/Yena Lee
No Longer Human is a heavy yet entertaining novel to read. Written by Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human is a Japanese semi-biography novel published in 1948 set in pre-WWII Japan. A warning for readers, this book contains sensitive topics including suicide and sexual material. The story follows Oba Yozo, a troubled individual growing up in the countryside of Japan.
I first discovered this book due to its growing popularity in social media, discussing the deep characterization of Oba Yozo and the theories connecting the protagonist of the book with the author. The book follows Yozo, starting in his childhood, through his teenage years and onto adulthood. I grew to enjoy this book for a variety of reasons. One of which was the flow of the writing and the selection of words that could convey the message to the reader smoothly.
I personally felt disgust and sympathy during the book for the main character. I understood that his mindset and mentality is the product of his past experiences but at the same time couldn’t hate but be disgusted. I think that is what I like most about this book. The book did an incredible job of showing how mental illness and disorders affect people. Yozo also feels disconnected from humans hence the title “No longer human”. It is shown on various occasions throughout the book on how Yozo feels dehumanized due to his incapability of understanding humans in general which leads to him believing that he needs to put on a façade to mask his intense feeling of not belonging.
I would recommend this book to any readers who doesn’t mind a tame storyline and enjoys darker books due to the fact that it mentions triggering topics a great deal of times. This book is also recommended to those who are suffering from loneliness and depression as I found it quite reassuring to read. Overall, I would give this book a 10/10.