Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

410 reviews

ada_elisabeth'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

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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perth_is's review against another edition

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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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ellies_92's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

È un libro molto scorrevole, non vedevo l'ora di finirilo. 
L'epilogo
mi è piaciuto, ma al tempo stesso mi lascia con un'inspiegabile sensazione di incompiuto: probabilmente speravo in un lieto fine che non è arrivato, ma comprendo che questo era l'unico finale possibile: il libro riesce a toccare le corde che tocca anche grazie al suo essere così crudo e autentico, un vero lieto fine avrebbe stonato.

Non mi aspettavo il commento finale nell'epilogo
su quanto Yozo fosse "bonaccione, così divertente" perchè credevo che superata l'adolescenza avesse gettato la maschera all'inizio del declino, ma nonostante tutto, il suo dolore era così profondo e ben celato che ciò che traspariva al di fuori era davvero solo la maschera che si era sapientemente costruito fin da bambino. E il commento sottolinea quanto davvero fosse incompreso da chi gli stava intorno.

Ad ogni modo questo libro secondo me ha un potente potere didattico e riesco a cogliere un messaggio di speranza, nonostante tutto: lungo tutto il corso del libro ci si trova a sperare che Yozo si redima, che cambi vita, perchè nella sua disperazione e nel suo sentirsi alienato è così profondamente e unicamente umano che è impossibile non empatizzare con lui. Verrebbe persino voglia di entrare nel libro ed abbracciarlo. Vedo Yozo come un
animo sensibile rimasto vittima in primis di una società che non ha saputo capirlo, e inoltre della propria convinzione di non poter essere felice come gli altri, nonostante avesse tutte le carte in regola per riuscirci. Cosa c'è più umano di ciò?
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casacacti's review against another edition

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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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soymagu7's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sendnunes's review against another edition

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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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lairybob'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? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Be prepared to enter a depressive episode during/after reading this. Also, don’t know if it’s just me but reading this as a woman made me a little more lesbian afterwards. 
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cyrussolaris's review against another edition

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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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jk_reads's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.5

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boyreadinginacherrytree's review against another edition

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dark reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I felt like when I was reading the book that the language felt disconnected and emotionless which felt intentional considering the character. There were sentences and paragraphs that were linguistically very interestering and I think from a language perspective it's a very interesting book. However, in my personal opinion, I did find parts of the book quite boring in a way I just wanted to put the book down and read something else. Whether that was intentional or not I'm not sure, I think it could have been to express the characters lack of expression but there were parts I didn't find boring so I'm not really sure. I think it was a read to remember, mostly in terms of language, but I don't think I'd read it again, just not so much my kind of book.
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