Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

60 reviews

peebee33's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Don't read this book unless you're in a good place (mentally), it is incredibly depressing and dark. It takes us through a journey of Dazai's life and deepest thoughts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

cheskann's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

fazington's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

livelaughomo'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

4.0

thank you, dazai osamu. happy birthday, i hope you've found peace

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, and Sexual content

spncrsun's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the most reflective and though provoking books I have ever read. Although the book is semi-autobigraphical, the author Osamu Dazai captures the depressed, overwhelmed emotion of the main character, Yozo quite perfectly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Rape

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

sluglightning's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

sigh... how do i start this review? this was such a complex book and i have complex feelings about it.

it has been on my tbr since maybe about one or two years? it caught my attention because, honestly, i have kind of a savior complex and i've always been interested in mental health issues.
but the main reason why i decided to finally read it this time was because of its short length and because of my reading slump. so if you want to read this, i would recommend you to wait until you're in a good state of mind because it can be triggering. 

i must also admit that after finishing the story i found myself confused at some things. so hence why i decided to read junji ito's manga adaptation, which has helped me to get a better overall view of the story.

i think it's easy to emphathize with yozo's character at the beginning. he is a people pleaser who can't say no and can never wish bad things to anyone. he makes everyone believe he is a comedic clown-ish guy.
although terrible things happen to him (which perpetuate his nihilism and pessimism) he doesn't talk about them with no one. 

he is not very good at keeping friendships and doesn't have any special bond to his family. i guess that's understandable, since his belief of everyone being a terrible person alienates him from society.
so, as he grows up, he ends up becoming an alcoholic and, eventually, a drug addict. 

another important theme in yozo's life are women. disclaimer: this was written in the 40s or so, therefore it is clearly a product of its time. expect lots of misogyny. 
the thing is that im not really sure of how he felt about them. did he just 100% think they're impossible creatures who he couldn't understand? were his insecurities and anxiety making him believe he was not worth enough to be loved? a mix of both things? i also can't understand how did he attract so many women (specially after he grew up and stopped acting funny 24/7), did they sense he was broken and thought they could fix him? or did the author just see women as desperate human beings who would do anything for some male affection?

personally, i think the most interesting parts were the first one and the epliogue (as soon as i finished, i went super quickly to read the prologue again and it all made sense, lmao). during the other parts sometimes the writing felt off and i couldn't understand exactly what was going on.

for example, i was super confused about why he felt relieved by his father's death by the end. i even had to skim through the book to find out if i had missed some horrible thing he did. but i guess that, just like other terrible things in the story, it was something implicit

as this is kind of an autobiography, i am not completely sure of what message the author meant to give. 
but what i got from this story, is how alienation, depression and not properly coping with traumas can fuck up a person. but i guess one of the main conclusions leads to a couple of questions: how many pain can a human being go through? how much can everyone else emphathize with them? at what point do these two answers collide and when does someone become no longer human?

im a super empathetic person so i was always waiting for yozo to get better? maybe to actually fight and pursue for his dream of becoming a painter, even after that man laughed at him?
but i lost part of my faith on him after he just watched his wife getting raped without a word. i guess that triggered some memories in him? so that's why he couldn't do anything, but i still felt uneasy. 

ps: a part that really hit me, for some reason, is when he got in the psych ward and said that, after that, he was no longer human. maybe this whole book is just about his "journey" to dehumanization?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

mariaaa_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

thebeautifulmind42's review against another edition

slow-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

1.5

Well written but mysoginistic 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism