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Summary
Mine has been a life of much shame. I can't even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. Oba Yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a "clown" to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness.Semi-autobiographical, No Longer Human is the final completed work of one of Japan's most important writers, Osamu Dazai (1909-1948). The novel has come to "echo the sentiments of youth" (Hiroshi Ando, The Mainichi Daily News) from post-war Japan to the postmodern society of technology. Still one of the ten bestselling books in Japan, No Longer Human is a powerful exploration of an individual's alienation from society.
Reviews and Comments
16 reviewsLe debut etait affreusement long, j’ai fais de nombreuses poses avant de prendre gout a l’histoire qui était très intéressante a partir du milieu. J’ai beaucoup aimé le personnage et lire sa façon de voir les choses est très cultivant.
Osamu n'a jamais pu s'intégrer dans la société. Il vivait désespéré, mais ne pouvant rendre les autres tristes il se vêtit d'un masque jouant le rôle du bouffon. Ce rôle devient sa plus grande honte lorsque quelqu'un découvre sa mascarade. Il n’éprouve en réalité aucune émotion vis à vis des autres. Sa tentative de double-suicide amoureux traduit bien ce mal-être qui dépeint l'absurdité de la société japonaise.
