Reviews

Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai

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kafkaesque_kittykat's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

“There I go again—pondering the purposelessness of my day-to-day life, wishing I had more ambition, and lamenting all the contraditions in myself—when I know it’s just sentimental nonsense. All I’m doing is indulging myself, trying to console myself.” [p. 52—53]

Incredibly charming and intensely relatable. I impulsively picked up this book on a recent trip to Barnes & Noble simply because I recognised the author’s name and wanted something short to read, as I’ve been busy with work and my classes. It turned out to be much greater than I anticipated. Nothing objectively interesting happens in the story—there are even but a few lines of dialogue—but its subject is instead the lamentations of the titular schoolgirl. Usually I find such material dull and too philosophical, but Dazai executes it well. The feelings and emotions expressed in this little book are so understandable and universal, I think it’s impossible not to fall in love with it. We have all once been, or, even still are, the lost, histrionic, overly-self-concerned schoolgirl—literally or metaphorically. This is a book I shall doubtlessly return to again and again.

seaselle's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

space_owl_'s review against another edition

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4.0

I listened to an audiobook version of this just a few days after finishing Sayaka Murata's Earthlings. It was a great pairing because they share similar perspectives on the isolation of growing up at odds with the societal interests surrounding you. This book specifically comes from a postwar perspective that differentiates it, but a bigger difference between the two for me is that the main character in Schoolgirl seems to be stuck in an inner monologue about this and doesn't seem to feel she'll ever escape it, while in Earthlings the main character is more inclined to act out to embrace her preferred version of reality. Rather than hoping she can push through and "become normal," she decides to run headfirst into her truth.

I love the small moments in this book. The ending is particularly beautiful. There's a moment where she contemplates this moment in her life as a moment that all people have to go through and wonders why there is nobody to help. Everyone around her seems to accept isolation and pain as an inevitable part of growing up, but she wonders... why? Why not try to help alleviate that pain, rather than chalk it up to something they must push through because eventually, it'll go away?

I intend to sit down and give this one a more thorough read because it feels like something that has more to offer a more dedicated mind than driving a food scrap pickup route while listening to the audiobook version. :P