Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - No Longer Human

This book captivated me from the first sentence. I hadn’t read for fun in so long (like 3 years?) and this book brought me out of my reading slump. It’s short, at least for me (>200 pages), so it was perfect.

It’s beautifully written.

I love me some existential ramblings. Yozo is (maybe) relatable if you’ve ever felt out of place and/or have had depression, which makes you feel bad since

he’s basically a piece of shit and treats everyone around him horribly

. He calls you out, making you uncomfortable, but that’s just what I love. But DON’T read this book if you’re currently depressed. This book would’ve sent me spiraling down a hole five years ago. It’s definitely not for everyone, it’s harsh and heavy. It’s not something I usually read, but I couldn’t put it down.

Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable

- Cesar A. Cruz

Content Warnings

charrlee's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have never seen such an inscrutable face on a man (17)

The darkest novel I have yet to read, and I don't say that lightly. So much of how you read this novel is dependent on your own beliefs and biases. While the three notebooks pose a slight a question of subjectivity, the way Yozo is viewed in the prologue and epilogue are what truly form the thoughts of the reader. I can, and will, write an analysis on my thoughts around No Longer Human at some point. There is so much more that just cannot be said in a review.

The last line haunts you; this book will haunt your mind. I don't feel as though I can rate this properly because there is something so human despite the inhumanities described. Also, knowing this work is semi-autobiographical enables you to approach the topic with more humanity as opposed to an entirely fictional rendition.

Yozo is textually represented as a bad person, yet at the same time, he manages to be more than his evils to the people around him, whether that is realized or not. Everyone is important to somebody. At the heart of this novel lies the question of redemption and rebirth. No Longer Human, despite its name, invites the question of where humanity lies; is it inside or outside of us? We must extend the hand of sympathy to others, but to what degrees is society willing to extend sympathy? Yozo fills us with the uncomfortable and we must carry that haunting every day. Who is the real clown?

P.S. The more direct translation, disqualified as a human being, packs a better punch.

He was a good boy, an angel (177)

Content Warnings

nabaraditi's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense 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

I don't know what rating I want to give this book. So, I won't.
Don't read this book, if u have problem with violence, violence against women, if you're struggling with depression, are not in a good head space.
So the guy named Yozo is narrating his story and he's abused in every possible way in his childhood and how this incident or rather series of incidents affects him all his life. There is mysogyny in this book. There is alcoholism, morphine addiction, prostitution. There is suicidal thoughts and attempts. There's no ounce of hopefulness or optimism in this book. It's filled with hopelessness, emptiness, depression. There wasn't a single minute where I enjoyed this book. But this book wasn't written for entertainment or enjoyment. It's eye-opening for the society that there are people who are living an emotionally destitute life. It's about about how low one can get that even if they try to pick themselves up, their habits and their dreadful thoughts and beliefs don't let them.
There are many quotes in this book that hit like a punch for the society.

"Society won't stand for it.

It's not society. You're the one who won't stand for it-right?

If you do such a thing society will make you suffer for it.

It's not society. It's you, isn't it?

Before you know it, you'll be ostracized by society.

It's not society. You're going to do the ostracizing, aren't you?"

Content Warnings

gabriella_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.5

This book is heartbreaking when you read it as a

suicide note.

It’s very deeply troubled and misogynistic. It simply reads like a cry for help. His depiction of

childhood trauma

is so visceral I had to put the book down at a couple points. There’s real heart here but it’s being squeezed. More than anything, I just felt an overwhelming sadness reading it.

Content Warnings

realnawa'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fantastic book. Truly ahead of it's time and made me feel for the main character.

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en0mad's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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rionardo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is incredilby depressing and deals with hard topics. While reading I found myself relating to the main character, but I also hated and despised him throughout the book. I also felt bad for him. Still one of my favorite books and has a big impact on me and what I think about mental illnesses.

Content Warnings

golpesar818's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

considering this book within the imperialist context of post WWII Japan, i found this book to be even more unsettling and depressing, because then i started to feel like Yozo’s character represents postwar Japanese society broadly (i.e kinda like how Yozo, in his many attempts to understand society, asks “what is society?” and answers: “a society is just an individual”). yes,
he’s a patriarchal misogynist. his hatred of women is overt. he experiences multiple overlapping dependencies and isolations, he is not very likeable, but what’s even scarier, he is dangerously recognizable in SOME specific ways. namely his social anxiety. it’s all very banality of evil. overall though, by the end of the book i felt that the title “no longer human” or “disqualified as human” suggests to me that his loss of humanity (attributed to his psychiatric institutionalization), much like his many desires to unalive himself, is systemic. i don’t normally read “classic” literature but appreciated the vibe shift even though this book medium key fucked me up. major tw that i listed below.

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