Retrograde

by Osamu Dazai, Leo Elizabeth Takada (Translator)

Three stories of the ruined and the Osamu Dazai at his most tormented. This collection unearths the Japanese literary legend’s most controversial and exhilarating early-career writing with strikingly original translations. “Retrograde” traces the life of an anguished youth in reverse; “Das Gemeine” features an aspiring literato with a dark past who hitches his wagon to an eccentric violinist; “Blossom-Leaves and the Spirit Whistle” tells of an old woman recalling the final breaths of her beautiful, sickly sister. Experience the twisted agony of the prose that propelled Dazai to the top of the literary world.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Short Stories, Japanese Literature, Japan, Literature, Audiobook

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2025

About the author

Osamu DAZAI (native name: 太宰治, real name Shūji Tsushima) was a Japanese author who is considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th-century Japan. A number of his most popular works, such as Shayō (The Setting Sun) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human), are considered modern-day classics in Japan.
With a semi-autobiographical style and transparency into his personal life, Dazai’s stories have intrigued the minds of many readers. His books also bring about awareness to a number of important topics such as human nature, mental illness, social relationships, and postwar Japan.

Reviews

[Zoja Tolkacevova · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Beautiful prose” my ass

First things first, this book consists of Retrograde(four short stories),
Das Gemeine and Blossom-Leaves and the Spirit Whistle(both novellas). And i have some thoughts….


The writing of OD is very straight forward and simple to read, but the plot freezes you in a way you think you read the sentence wrong. I liked his descriptions of scenery and people at first but only when its welcome, they were times where it didnt fit in the text and it just made me stop myself.
Reading this book didnt give me anything and take me anywhere, the way the book is written is as if you spent 3 hours in a lecture with a pretentious professor who has the most boring, monotone voice you ever heard. I don’t know if it has to do with the translation or if i read it wrong? I’m honestly surprised this had such good reviews.

In one of the reviews i read for this book, a reviewer described his characters as “wannabe badboys”..hun the word you’re looking for is loser, but i love me a pretentious loser so that was fine from my side.

There’s not many things i liked in this book but it was certainly an introduction to Dazai, i’ll be definitely be reading more of him to see whats so special about him.

1.5*

[Carm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Retrograde. It’s Dazai. It’s tortured. It’s self-deprecating. It’s gorgeous. This newer translation was my first time reading these stories and, if you’re unfamiliar with Osamu Dazai, they’re an excellent introduction to one of the best to ever do it.

Favorite stories: Das Gemeine & Blossom-Leaves and the Spirit Whistle

[Anisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What is this melancholy? Where the hell did it come from?" - Osamu Dazai, Retrograde; "A Thief"

[Ionnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very grim.

[Cassius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.
This creates many interesting stories, that for all their meanderings, feel very short and easy to get through. I found their settings...not worthy, they're vivid and interesting, but in some ways don't feel utilized or plot relevant. Their characters definitely pull the plot forward, but I do wonder why these stories were chosen. I understand this to be about people at their lowest but the third story feels oddly out of place compared to the other two specifically when thinking about the characters. I think the plots, due to their structure, can be disregarded in this review.
I also think this book could have benefitted from an introduction. I know, I know unpopular opinion. But an introduction really breaks down the choices, and background behind this novel. And I felt like I could have used some explanation as to the structure of the novel.

[Kathryn Hemmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Retrograde collects five short stories and one novella written by a young Osamu Dazai and gorgeously translated by Leo Elizabeth Takada. This new translation is an admirable achievement that breathes fresh life into classic stories from the 1930s.

The collection’s novella, Das Gemeine, follows a 25yo student studying French literature who aspires to become a writer himself, but his foray into a literary lifestyle ends in a tragedy that may not have been entirely unintentional.

The five shorter stories in the collection read like something that the youthful narrator of Das Gemeine might actually have written. Each of these stories is only a few pages long, and their unguarded sincerity contributes to their charm.

My favorite of the stories, “Blossom-Leaves and the Spirit Whistle,” is about two sisters in love with an idealized version of a man who only exists on paper until the strength of their shared storytelling summons his ghost to appear under their window. This aesthetically luxurious story is classic Dazai, and I appreciate its clever touch of Todorovian fantasy.

In their “Translator’s Afterword,” Takada describes Dazai’s writing style as “a casual conversation with someone familiar,” and they explain that they want their translation to feel as if they’re “doing this just for you,” the reader. Takada gets the tone exactly right, rendering Dazai’s straightforward prose into an invitation to sympathize with the writer and his characters.

One Peace Books has put admirable love and care into the layout and typeset of this book, giving the words on the page exactly the room they need to breathe. Retrograde is a lovely object to hold in your hands, so much so that it might even spark the same enthusiasm for literature that Dazai so aptly captures in his early fiction.

[Harry Palacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stories: a student grows weary in poverty, takes a French literature exam lights a cigarette scorns wealth… next a young man greets an aged violinist who he hangs onto they conspire to create a literary magazine … death is tragic especially taking one’s life by train… the Japanese writer is desolate and will do many unruly things out of lovelessness and despair… a dying sister writes herself love letters and her brother after reading them writes back and a maybe it’s a sign from god or her father but the confirmation that there really was a lover despite rationality is looming

[Krabs373 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Osamu Dazai tells a chilling story of a young man at death, through a series of vignettes going back in time. While each informs the other, none of them contain recurring characters other than the protagonist, nor do they really reference each other. It is all broken fragments of a life that make you question if there really is a through line in this world. What does connect the stories is the alienation the protagonist has with the outside world and how his perceptions of how life should be are always proven wrong by a reality that seems it couldn't care less about him.

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the different short stories. My favorite had to be Das Gemeine. Surprisingly my least favorite of the three had to be retrograde. It was a bit hard to follow. That may have been my own problem but out of the three it didn't stick out to me. They were a typical Dazai style story and I enjoyed it quite well.

[Ayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 overall.


"You seem to know nothing about the sharp, stabbing sadness an artist feels after exposing his carefully crafted work to the public. You don't know the emptiness that comes after laying it all out at the shrine of Inari. You've only just passed through the first torii gate."

[C Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy reading Dazai! I particularly liked the second story in this small collection, as well as the translator's notes at the end. In general, these stories really showcase Dazai's themes of performance, something I would love to analyze more deeply when I have the chance.

[Ville Verkkapuro]

The style is on point, clear and simple and therefore powerful. But otherwise the substance here felt, to me, flat and uninteresting. Could be that I need a bit distance now. But yes, good and dark and real and rough and tough Dazai, but not transcendent nor thought-provoking for me today.

[Paul Narvaez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of five short stories and one novella. My favorites were "Retrograde"and "Das Gemeine" (especially, the self-parody contained in the latter).

I find Dazai becomes a bit of an obsession. his humor and his sense of alienation are virtues in his literature I crave.

[Cayde Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s just an alright book -not good but not bad. Much of this “seems” like it was written as a semi-memoir, at least this is how I was interpreting it. The way usually he writes is quite well, but this time I was not enthralled. Still, his usual works do quite well.

[Nix Pikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book enough. The translation was definitely amazing, some parts made me cringe because Dazai can’t help but write hopeless losers. He was in one of the stories for some reason?
A fun and depressing ride.

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

“So long I have waited; blooming again— Once-white peach blossoms are blushing in red.”

[Elsa]

one or two oddities language-wise but this still felt like a good introduction to dazai's writing. I'll read no longer human at some point!

[Dao Chau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to say about it. It’s a collection of entertaining short stories that are rife with Dazai’s style. Das Gemaine does some fun storytelling and ends nicely.

[AJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was definitely not his best. I liked the last story, but I had read it before in a different collection. The first two were really lackluster.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like ‘Retrograde’ the most of Dazai’s works I’ve read so far. You can almost miss it, but it’s a full life told in four vignettes.

[Noah Gapinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, The first short stories under retrograde where okay, The Novella was great.

[Lia · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.25? 3.5?

i feel like these are a really smooth read but i didn’t get the impression of a standout. i like the ease of his language though

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[marissa s · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was depressing and revelatory as is my usual description of dazais work

das gemeine was my favorite short story

it took me a while to get this finished through all my schoolwork and stuff

[kadee]

The scent of blue flowers in the basement is a tickling antidote. How happy I am to come on such a lovely day. Let me take part in the celebration! Oh, let me join you!

[Mollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tbh used this to get out of my reading slump since i enjoy his work

[Lora Masencup · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine I think they're too short to get much out of especially when he wants to spend time describing things

[Ronnie Jimenez · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

peculiar yet intriguing stories

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes a particular kind of author to write himself into one of his stories as a character and tear himself to pieces, highlighting every flaw and every blemish, but that’s Osamu Dazai for you, with his unique blend of self-loathing and societal angst. Among the short stories in this small collection are colourful ideas and characters that point to his larger works such as No Longer Human and Justice With a Smile so fans of Dazai have a lot to enjoy here.

[hirumei · Rating 4 out of 5]

🐣 First Time Babysitting
This wasn't my first rodeo, but I still took a while going over the ad. You know, just to make sure this was indeed something I wanted to handle on my own.

"On September 16, 2025, One Peace Books will release Retrograde, a collection of first-time and original translations of some of Osamu Dazai’s most controversial and exhilarating writing. “Retrograde” is the topsy-turvy tale of an anguished youth from the brink of death back to his early days. This story famously failed to win the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, leading to the start of Dazai’s unsurpassed literary anger and agony. The novella “Das Gemeine” tells of an aspiring literato who hitches his wagon to an eccentric violinist, dripping with irony and featuring a surprising autobiographical portrayal. The collection finishes with “Blossom-Leaves and the Spirit Whistle,” a fable told with uncharacteristic romance about an old woman recalling her sister’s final breaths as the cherry blossoms scatter from the trees. All three feature Dazai’s inimitable pathos and wit, and his unsurpassed resentment toward a cruelly modernizing Japanese society."

My first thought: this guy is gonna trauma dump on me, isn't he? But then again, who am I kidding? I love some good angst and anxiety.

In books only.

🌱 The Green Flags
My mind is swirling. With theories. With thoughts. With images. With songs. As I kept flipping through the pages, each scene developed itself cinematically, allowing me to see everything through my mind's eye with ease.

Dazai has a vibrant and yet dark style. His characters are the bad-boy wannabes and his prose is like a winter night sky. He definitely paints his own confessions into his characters, letting them perpetually agonize over the same things.

Tender moments aren't forgotten either. Dazai paints a beautiful relationship between two sisters and their longing.

🚩 The Red Flags
There were moments when all the drama was cut short or the characters played with my mind. Those moments made me think of Faulkner, and his own anguished character souls.

Full review here: https://witsandtwists.wordpress.com/2...
And let's not forget a thank you to the publisher for the ARC!