A review by space_owl_
Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai

4.0

I listened to an audiobook version of this just a few days after finishing Sayaka Murata's Earthlings. It was a great pairing because they share similar perspectives on the isolation of growing up at odds with the societal interests surrounding you. This book specifically comes from a postwar perspective that differentiates it, but a bigger difference between the two for me is that the main character in Schoolgirl seems to be stuck in an inner monologue about this and doesn't seem to feel she'll ever escape it, while in Earthlings the main character is more inclined to act out to embrace her preferred version of reality. Rather than hoping she can push through and "become normal," she decides to run headfirst into her truth.

I love the small moments in this book. The ending is particularly beautiful. There's a moment where she contemplates this moment in her life as a moment that all people have to go through and wonders why there is nobody to help. Everyone around her seems to accept isolation and pain as an inevitable part of growing up, but she wonders... why? Why not try to help alleviate that pain, rather than chalk it up to something they must push through because eventually, it'll go away?

I intend to sit down and give this one a more thorough read because it feels like something that has more to offer a more dedicated mind than driving a food scrap pickup route while listening to the audiobook version. :P