Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

262 reviews

mazzoccatoadele's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

ada_elisabeth's review against another edition

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

I've been meaning to read this book for two years, so when I saw it in a Barnes & Noble when picking up a gift for a friend, I decided that now would finally be the time. 

I'm so glad I read this. It was dramatic, melancholic, and deeply philosophical. It was one of the best explorations of the human experience I've ever read. It was one of the few translated books that I found to have beautiful writing. It was, in an odd way, comforting. 

This book does a great job of balancing the intensity of Yozo's life and emotions; although it is often a very calm, slow-paced story, there are moments (especially towards the end) when it begins to spiral and peak in the best way possible.

I am sure I will revisit this book (and this review) in the future, because I loved it and I could think about it probably for the rest of my life, but for now, we're on to other things. 

Since I still haven't started school yet, there may be time for one final book of Sad Book Summer, but if not, this was a remarkable way to close the season out. It wasn't tender or gentle in the way that many other sad books are, and it had almost no positivity or happiness in it, but sometimes, that's the only thing I want to read. I think this may very well be my favorite book of the year. 5/5. Incredible.

There were too many amazing quotes for me to pick just one favorite, so here are my top three: 

"There are all kinds of unhappy people in the world." 

"I wonder if I have actually been happy."

"It is curious, but the cathedrals of melancholy are not necessarily demolished if one can replace the vulgar "What a messy business it is to be fallen for" with the more literary "What uneasiness lies in being loved." 

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Content Warnings

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

micahsch17's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Mental illness and Misogyny

perth_is's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

wmwmw's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

A very complicated but interesting book

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit

casacacti's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

sendnunes's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

cyrussolaris's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

this book stole my glasses, sucker punched me, and called me a little bitch… 

it’s a new favorite, will be rereading.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

girlapostle's review against another edition

dark sad medium-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

3.75

 This is a hopeless, bleak, and exasperating look into the mind of someone who gravely suffers from depression among other things. The first half of the book had me in an eternal eyeroll because it's like yeah ok self-proclaimed lady killer welcome us into your dark and twisted mind. The narrator (and I guess essentially the author) really does not try to convince readers that he is at all redeemable, he is just stating life as he sees it and I think when I realized that at the end of the book it made it a much better read. I think what really frustrates readers in the first half is that the author is in a pretty decent socio-economic position and has the means to take his life by the reins and change its course - but he doesn't and doesn't intend to. And that's kind of how depression is, you're just stuck in this hell hole of bleak thoughts and inaction.

The second half of the book continues to be just as bleak and depressing but I had an easier(?) time not eyerolling because when you're an alcoholic and a drug addict, the reader can at least pin your shitty actions on something and the empathy for the narrator is easier to come by. It is a worthwhile read in my opinion but definitely not something I would outright recommend to someone if they were asking lol 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Sexual violence

hkveit's review against another edition

dark sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt