Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - No Longer Human

I was drawn to this boo on my search for literature that was horror related, disturbing or simply unpleasant to read but not in a ‘this book is shit’ way and yeah this book definitely fits that criteria. More so, I finally picked this up after it being on my list for a while after a youtuber I really admire published a video on this book titled “The most disturbing book I’ve ever read”. Safe to say, I finally bit the bullet and bought it soon after that video was published.

This book isn’t an enjoyable read and it’s so good at making you simply unhappy without wanting to put the book down. It is depression on paper. This thing is, is that it’s also beautifully written. There are some truly beautiful lines and the impact they create is masterful. The subject matter is painful and deeply upsetting but the wording makes it impossible to put down. There are no monsters and it’s not particularly graphic. There is nothing that would exist outside of this world to take the horror from. No, the horror in this book is human. It's human and goes undedicated. There is no help, no support and no hope. This book is depressing in its complete lack of hope in humanity.

You have to look up trigger warnings for this one because it contains most of the things that come to mind when you think of what trigger warnings might include. Suicide, self-harm, derealisation, desocialisation, death, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and more. This book has the lot. Its definitely one of the darkest books some people will ever read and it’s a book that will stay with you long after you’ve read it. It is a perfect example of a car crash you can’t look away from. It’s a difficult book to rate because of this because it’s difficult to say I loved it or enjoyed it because how can I? I’m happy I bought and read it and I’ll probably read it again. I’m also intrigued by Dazai’s other works now.

For these reasons I gave it 4 stars. Would I recommend it to someone? It very much depends on the person and they would have to be in the place to read it because this book really does have the ability to impact someone negatively, especially if they are in a vulnerable place. But yes, if I think it’s okay to do so, I would recommend it. It’s one of those books where if it wasn’t about the topics it is and what I previously stated wasn’t true, this would be a book that you could argue everyone should read but again, I said what I said.

Content Warnings

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

5.0

No Longer Human is such a good book to show the hypocrisy embedded in our mindset of mental illness. The actions and words never align, and when they do, they start to change completely. We see the perspective of this man who is struggling and can acknowledge it, yet cannot change it. He is stuck in this pattern of vices to try and feel, even if it hurts in the end because he wants to feel something. Oba struggles with the perception of himself, how others see him, and how society will see him. He treads on the fine line between feeling above and below everyone. We get to see the perspective of someone being stuck in this void, especially during a time period and culture that doesn't speak of mental illness as human.

The misogyny and his vices were hard to look at but I don't think it ruined the book for me. I don't think he was meant to be liked as an individual. It is harder to try and want him to do better due to the impact he has had on others, but that doesn't make his trauma any less. He still deserves to have good mental health - but man, he is pretty annoying with his actions.

The Epilogue was also amazing in terms of commentary about societal views on mental illness.

The fact that his journals were viewed as a good story instead of a narrative about someone's life? Whewww. The fact that Oba was referred to as a madman and had his private journals viewed shows an immense lack of empathy. He was judged harshly for not having good mental health and considering this was Osamu Dazai's last book before committing suicide, one can assume Osamu experienced a similar harshness.

Content Warnings

manel_'s review against another edition

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dark fast-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

Content Warnings

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