No Longer Human, is a semi-autobiography reflecting the author, Osamu Dazai’s life and experiences. This book is a bit unusual as Dazai was not the one to publish the book. Dazai wrote No Longer Human in three different notebooks, which weren’t put together and published until a month after he committed suicide in 1948. Dazai’s books typically have a dark theme, including this one, where he goes into depth about the struggle to find belonging in society, as well as highlights the inner thoughts of a person with depression.
The book follows the protagonist, Oba Yozo, who from a young age, has struggled to understand people’s emotions/actions, and ultimately fails to form deep, meaningful relations with others. From an early age, Yozo has never been able to understand people and the reason for their actions. Because of this, Yozo tends to think of himself as less than human, with there being many instances where he’d refer to himself as a “parasite,” “toad,” or other non-human creatures. In an attempt to mask his alienization, he began putting up a comical act in front of others, while hiding his internal chaos. Eventually, Yozo learns to cope with other healthy hobbies such as painting, but after meeting and experiencing certain people, he begins indulging in drugs, alcohol, and relishing in dysfunctional romantic relationships as a means to escape reality. At some point in his adulthood, Yozo’s actions become more extreme with attempted suicides to the point of having to be constantly supervised.
This book was certainly an eye-opener to me. When I first picked up this book it was out of boredom and pity to see it sitting on my older sister’s shelf. I didn’t expect this book to be so impactful. In a way, I could sort of relate to the main character’s sense of unbelonging in certain social situations, and inability to resonate with other’s feelings (not this extreme though). No Longer Human made me realize a concept I thought I had already known, which is that a person's true feelings may be completely different than what they show on the surface. Reading this book also made me very sad as I remembered that all the dehumanizing thoughts Oba Yozo had, were really Osamu Dazai’s in real life. The only critical thing I could say about this book is that there were times when following the story got kind of confusing as it would sometimes jump from present to past. However, It is my understanding that Dazai did not publish this book himself and instead wrote this out in three different notebooks, so it is likely that things got switched around or were not finished properly.
In general, I would recommend this book to others. I believe its dark theme and deeper meanings are worth reading, however, I feel like if you’re looking for an exciting and entertaining book, No Longer Human might not be the best option. While I did enjoy reading it, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t gotten bored and stopped reading a couple of times throughout the book. Nonetheless, this book did have an impact on me.
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