A review by zhakoreading
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

4.5

if the world, like the sea, had depths of a thousand fathoms, this was the kind of weird shadow which might be found hovering here and there at the bottom. It was a laugh which enabled me to catch a glimpse of the very nadir of adult life.

He could only consider me as the living corpse of a would-be suicide, a person dead to shame, an idiot ghost.

Even if released, I would be forever branded on the forehead with the word “madman,” or perhaps, “reject.”

Disqualified as a human being.

I had now ceased utterly to be a human being.

Depressing read with beautiful prose, but could easily be interpreted as “pretentious” and over the top at times. However, considering it’s partially Dazai’s personal thoughts and experiences, it’s hard to judge them and see them as such.

I would say you have to be in the right mood and mindset to grasp the concept and believe Yozo and his psychology fully.