Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Indigno de ser humano by Osamu Dazai

45 reviews

royourboat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Such a captivating book. Yozo is an apathetic narrator who mostly speaks in short  sentences, which made the book hard to read at first but once I got used to it I was able to appreciate how genius the writing style/decision was. 

The writing style was extremely affective at portraying Yozo’s isolation and alienation. And while I recognize that it was a genius decision, because it accurately represents the thought process of a fractured mind, it did make the book less enjoyable at times, which is why I’m not giving it 5 stars. Yes, it succeeded in portraying the protagonist’s disconnection from the world around him, but it also made me feel disconnected from the story.

Nevertheless, the decision to have a very plain, monotonous narrator did make the book more compelling in a way. Yozo always got straight to the point in an almost shocking way which made me eager to know what happens next.

I have very conflicting feelings about our protagonist, I dislike him but I also feel for him at times. The misogyny was revolting, and since this book is semi-autobiographical it really makes you wonder which of these thoughts belong to the protagonist and which belong to the author himself?

I really disliked the epilogue. It was so unnecessary. I wouldn’t say it ~ruined the book for me but I would have definitely enjoyed it more if I hadn’t read the epilogue. 

Finally, here are 2 things to keep in mind to make your reading experience more powerful 1) Osamu Dazai committed double suicide alongside his lover right after this book was published and 2) Japan’s views on topics regarding mental illness and how taboo they are to this day, let alone when this book was first published 70 years ago. Osamu Dazai was a brave man. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Terminal illness, and Religious bigotry

cnidariar3x's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Ooooo boy. 

"Id like to report this photo, Im in it and I dont like it."

Gonna have to ruminate on this one for a bit. 

Read through this in a day. I think I liked it? I also hated much of it? It was real, but some realities are best digested over time. 

The misogyny and contempt for women in general is very jarring. (Sex workers are literally people, Yōzō, they are not lesser women).

At the same time, the descriptions of alienation, social camouflage/masking and heavy malaise are too richly detailed and personal to me to ignore.

This is a complicated text that made me feel many conflicting emotions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Death of parent

fairyribs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

martuchi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

[A FEW SPOILERS AHEAD]

I have never hated a character more than my friend Yozo here. His flaws aren’t only flaws, per se, but rather disgusting personality traits. It makes me wonder, also, as this was a semi-autobiography, whether Dazai was as shitty as the main character here. 

Yes, I understand he was severely depressed and had lots of traumas (mainly because of his childhood), yet I can’t accept what he did to the women in his life. I didn’t feel like crying, but throwing the book across the room once I read what those poor women around him went through. 

One thing I didn’t see mentioned, in fact, is that his last wife was literally 17!!!!!! —and I know it was almost 80 years ago, and those things were most.y common around that time, but I can’t accept the fact that he wanted to marry her just because she was a virgin. Period.

Anyway, the book is simply fascinating as you read through countless of weird situations caused by Yozo’s inability to communicate  —disgustingly as he is most of the time, it was enjoyable at best. I had never read this type of flawed character before, so it was an *experience*.

I would definitely recommend this book if you have a strong stomach and are willing to scream to a (kind of) nonexistent person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

devinaaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

pissdrawerlmfao's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Excrement, and Vomit

rhysecakes's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Interesting, though it did not make me feel empty or sad in a way that many reviews said it would. Includes many quotes I found astonishing. Writing was medium to complex, containing a good lot of quite difficult English words or verbs that I had to google to fully understand. (Considering English is the third language I speak fluently, the book was not a hard read!) 

Definitely recommend, but bear in mind the misogyny, rape, substance abuse, etc. Please check the trigger warnings before reading. 

As an ending note; I personally don't view Oba Yozo as a good person. As for Dazai, the author himself, I don't really know. I'm still learning what I can about him and his works to be able to fully form an opinion. If the mindset of Yozo in this book represents Dazai's own mindset towards  certain topics then I most likely won't view him as a good person either. 

I don't know, it was generally a good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

daniellecarstairs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pedophilia

13octopus's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Vomit, and War

strabbyfieldz's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

this book is just experiencing a constant sensation of falling, endlessly, right up until the end when Dazai slaps you in the face. a book that I feared to put down because halting the fall might lead me to return to rationality. its hard to rate, but the experience I had reading it was like very few other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Medical content, and Death of parent