Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Indigno de ser humano

The semi-autobiographical nature of No Longer Human and the use of first person meant that I found it almost wrong to rate this knowing that it was definitely not going to be a 5 star book for me. The prologue was great which is why I hate to say that there wasn't much I actually enjoyed about this book irrespective of the subject matter. I found it hard to feel anything other than the ocassinal disgust which is astonishing given its raw exploration of mental illness and isolation. I'm led to believe that maybe this is due to the translation and its inability to convey the original meanings or emotions. Another factor that contributed to my dislike was the deplorable misogyny (yes, yes I am aware when and where this was written. I'm tired of reading about it).

Yozo's flawed disposition left very little room to like him as a character. That being said, I also couldn't entirely fault him for succumbing to things like morphine addiction. Building a fulfilling life while trying to survive with Yozo's attitude towards life and society is hard. While I don't encourage such self destructive actions, I can empathise to an extent with his need need to grasp some sense of meaning and value in life whether it be false or not. The book attempted to show that despite being isolated a person can still try to build connections with others. However, this was mostly shown by mutual suffering which only added more gloom to an already gloomy book. I suppose that's maybe part of the complexity of Yozo's character, no matter how hard he tries he can't reconcile himself with society. I found his pursuit of self expression through art admirable but other than that he didn’t really have any redeeming qualities.

Undoubtedly, the book is an interesting exploration of how mental illness progresses from adolescence to adulthood and the effects of alienation from society. While it was a good that mental illness wasn't glamourised and was allowed to show its true face, It was also hard to truly "like" the book. Definitely requires a re-read in the future.

Content Warnings

indigosparrow's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

2.0

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jehna's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

Could’ve been good but it was rampant with misogyny

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nmcannon's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

My journey to this book is a little kooky (it involves an RPF vampire visual novel), but I made it. And got my mind blown in the bargain!

Since it would have helped past me, here’s a run down on Ningen Shikkaku VS No Longer Human VS A Shameful Life. Arguably Dazai-san’s most famous work, Ningen Shikkaku was first published in 1948. The author died soon after, so he didn’t live to see his work become one of the bestselling books in Japan. In 1958, scholar Donald Keene translated and published Ningen Shikkaku to American audiences. Keene’s translation is seen as the definitive one and probably what one would see in a bookstore. The phrase “ningen shikkaku” literally translates to “disqualified from being human,” and Keene translated this phrase to the more stylistic “no longer human.” Under the title No Longer Human, this book has been adapted to many, many mediums, including live-action films, anime, animated movies, and manga.

Keene’s translation is also HELLA popular at my local library, like all of Dazai-san’s works. I could wait 8 holds deep, or read Mark Gibeau’s lesser known 2018 translation, A Shameful Life. In the back matter, Gibeau explains that he and some grad students were at a bar one night and decided, for fun, to translate Ningen Shikkaku’s delicate, winding sentences. In true Dazai-san fashion, what started as a drunk game became a serious endeavor. Gibeau positions his translation not in competition, but in conversation with Donald Keene’s—and to avoid confusion, he chose a different title.

No matter the translation, the protagonist and plot remain. An unknown person finds three journals and photos of Ōba Yōzō. Like footage meant to be found, Ōba wrote the journals to record and reveal his true, terror-stricken personality behind his mask of class clown. The autobiography goes from his childhood to late twenties. He has various misadventures, including failing out of university, becoming a popular cartoonist, joining the forbidden Communist party, suffering from addiction, and having various affairs with women. Throughout, Ōba feels intense alienation from other people and struggles to figure out the “rules” of existence. He mimics other people’s behavior and makes them laugh—but inwardly feels lonely and miserable.

If the plot summary seems brief, it’s because the plot isn’t the focus of the novel. I read A Shameful Life in one sitting, and by the end my mind was aswirl with names, places, feelings, images, and self-imposed wretchedness. Instead of everyday mundanities, Dazai-san intensely focuses on Ōba’s inner world. Sometimes I wonder how many of Ōba’s problems would disappear if he rolled in the mud for a bit. Get out of your brain, boy! It sucks in there, with all the depression, alcoholism, and addiction. More seriously, reading was like looking in a fun house mirror for me. My brain is also a sucky place to live sometimes.

To add another mirror, Ōba acts an anthropologist of his own life, trying to figure out “humanity,” just like a teenage me (and, interestingly, Nell in The Haunting of Hill House). How does one define “humanity” as a concept? I cheered when Ōba realized that society isn’t a punishing monolith so much as individuals within society acting cruelly. Probably because I’ve had these thoughts before, I didn’t find the novel depressing so much as intriguing. The most bleh part was Ōba’s dismissive treatment of the women around him.

I haven’t read much Japanese literature, besides manga. I want to explore more! A Shameful Life is a rich body of work, and I could viscerally feel my lack of ability to dissect it. Gibeau’s afterward explained the i-novel and authentic novel movements, which was great. I got the main theme about the impossibility of understanding and being understood, of truly knowing another. But there’s so much more! I can tell why universities have entire classes on Dazai-san’s books.

A Shameful Life easily earns 5 stars, and I may be a Dazai-san fangirl now.

Content Warnings

risemini's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

hapikohw's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

3.5 stars. This was written very well, and tells quite the sad tale. When human beings get like this, they are still important.

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