No Longer Human

Author(s): Osamu Dazai

Novel | Translated fiction | Japan | New Directions

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.

Review: "Dazai offers something permanent and beautiful."
"No Longer Human is his masterpiece, though all his work is worthy. Dazai was an aristocratic tramp, a self described delinquent, yet he wrote with the forbearance of a fasting scribe. " -- Patti Smith


 


 


Author Biography: Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) was a 20th century Japanese novelist.


Product Information

Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) was a 20th century Japanese novelist.

General Fields

  • : 9780811204811
  • : New Directions Publishing Corporation
  • : New Directions Publishing Corporation
  • : 0.204
  • : January 2010
  • : 202mm X 132mm X 13mm
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Osamu Dazai
  • : Paperback
  • : English
  • : 895.6344
  • : 176
  • : FA