s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all]’s review of No Longer Human > Likes and Comments

.

Also one of those novels where the translation was quite shoddy (if you're reading the same English edition I read). I should try Dazai in Japanese sometime.

I read it as a continuation of Notes from Underground, or rather as a negative example of the Jesus-like character in Prince Myshkin / Alyosha, whose passivity and acceptance of his lot is usually presented quite positively in their respective novels.

I recall I shivered with existential pangs when reading this, leaving me completely paralysed by midnight of New Year's Eve. Hope you're hanging in there friend.

This is such an excellent review. It made me order this book. Thank you :-)

Kristine wrote: "This is such an excellent review. It made me order this book. Thank you :-)"

Thank you so much, that makes my day! I hope you enjoy it, well as much as one can enjoy a book like this haha

Swaroop wrote: "s.penkevich,
I remember liking this book a lot - thank you, for your nice and thoughtful review! 🙂🏵️🍁🌱"

Thank you so much!

You've done it! A very well written and thorough review, S.! I don't think I'll be able to type up anything as close to how good this is . I'm procrastinating it still because of my conflicted thoughts about it. But I can confirm that I share very similar sentiments about Dazai's book as you do.

Emily wrote: "You've done it! A very well written and thorough review, S.! I don't think I'll be able to type up anything as close to how good this is . I'm procrastinating it still because of my conflicted thou..."

Thank you so much! I really struggled to finally get this one out haha (leaving time between reading and writing didn’t help) but thank you because most of this came out of our discussions! I look forward to yours when you get there, it’s really a difficult book to pin down right?

Someone's written a book about me? A fantastic review by-the-way.

Kenny McCool wrote: "Someone's written a book about me? A fantastic review by-the-way."

Haha for real, for the first half of this book I was like “wtf? Get out of my head!” I think you would dig this one. And thanks!

Wonderfully thorough review. Excellent compliation of thoughts.

Melissa (LifeFullyBooked) wrote: "Wonderfully thorough review. Excellent compliation of thoughts."

Thank you so much! This is quite the book.

Comment #2 No Longer Human ... is this a book about tRump supporters?

Oh, & I did buy this based on your recommendation.

Kenny McCool wrote: "Oh, & I did buy this based on your recommendation."

Excellent! Excited to see what you think.
And hahaha it might as well be! Though I guess in context it’s more like looking at society and saying “if this is humanity then I’m not human” which….

Great review, Steve, you wrote such an in-depth analysis of the book. I read it quite a few years ago and left me with a numbing experience- I did not feel anything or to do anything for a while, such a powerful author. Perhaps, I have to read it again, I read his another book- The Setting Sun and also enjoyed it greatly, Schoolgirl is also a little beauty by him :)

Gaurav wrote: "Great review, Steve, you wrote such an in-depth analysis of the book. I read it quite a few years ago and left me with a numbing experience- I did not feel anything or to do anything for a while, s..."

Thank you so very much! Numbing for sure, I sort of had a hard time diving into another book after this one it left such a big impact. Oooo, good to know, I definitely want to read more. And Schoolgirl is short which is my ideal haha. Thank you!

Great review. I had a hard time summing up my thoughts for it because I found Yozo to be super unlikable at some points but also felt so much empathy for him at the same time

Isabella wrote: "Great review. I had a hard time summing up my thoughts for it because I found Yozo to be super unlikable at some points but also felt so much empathy for him at the same time"

Thank you so much! Yea, same, I quite liked him for awhile so some of the later stuff almost feels like a betrayal. Especially everything with his wife. Which I guess all plays into an idea that even unlikable people can be deserving of empathy but whew…this gets bleak and pretty bluntly misogynist. Glad you enjoyed though, definitely a complex novel!

Oh gosh yeah the stuff with his wife was terrible to read. Especially the way he at first loved her for her “innocence” which was gross in itself but then he later blamed her assault on that same innocence. I also wonder if this was possibly some kind of a reflection of how he felt about himself when he experienced his own assault by the servants when he was a kid.

Isabella wrote: "Oh gosh yeah the stuff with his wife was terrible to read. Especially the way he at first loved her for her “innocence” which was gross in itself but then he later blamed her assault on that same i..."

Yea I always am a bit unsure how to best grapple with depictions like that as it can be said, sure, it’s accurate for how a patriarchal society operated and thought particularly in a period of history. Murakami is an issue there because I don’t think he even recognizes how he is perpetuating it (when Mieko Kawakami directly confronts him about it in an interview he seems mostly confused), though I wonder here how much of it is being used to condemn the narrator’s thoughts. Like, how much of this is autofiction too. When I read Schoolgirl, which i think came earlier(?), a bit theme in that is how damaging misogyny is to women in Japanese society, so I’m hoping Dazai is at least self aware about it? It was definitely pretty disturbing though, like when he says he can’t consider sex workers to be human.

But wow, yea that is a good point as well. Like some internalized shame coming across in the narrative. Hmmm, i wonder if there is a biography about him, I’d be interested to read it.

I'm a bit late, but just wanted to say I love the way you write! You write so beautifully and meticulously. There is so much attention and care put into every word you write. This novel was one of my favourite books because of how it captured depression, alienation and isolation so well, but there are some problematic parts in the book too which probably is due to the time period it was written in. I like that you mentioned both aspects to give a really measured review. It's a really complex and intricate novel that is very much personal to the author. Just wanted to say, I really love your reviews and really revere you as a writer! Keep writing your thoughts! :D

Tima wrote: "I'm a bit late, but just wanted to say I love the way you write! You write so beautifully and meticulously. There is so much attention and care put into every word you write. This novel was one of ..."

Thank you so much, that truly just made my day! Glad you enjoyed this book as well, I quite enjoyed your review. And thank you, definitely a book not without issues but also in ways that are…highly indicative of the time and larger themes? I found Schoolgirl by him to be really interesting as well and does show he put a lot of thought into issues of how women had less social privilege and mobility. But thank you again, it really means a lot when someone reads the ramblings I post here :)

s.penkevich wrote: "Tima wrote: "I'm a bit late, but just wanted to say I love the way you write! You write so beautifully and meticulously. There is so much attention and care put into every word you write. This nove..."

I'm glad to know that I made your day! I sort of aspire to be able to write reviews like you one day. I'm really honoured to know that you enjoyed my review! Thank you! I have Schoolgirl and it's on my tbr, so that's interesting to know! Haha, I would hardly call your musings as 'ramblings'. They go a lot into depth and really analyze the books, and I wish I could do that when I read a book. I mostly just take a book at a superficial level, so I really admire people who can really dig deep into the themes and present them in a digestible way.

Tima wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Tima wrote: "I'm a bit late, but just wanted to say I love the way you write! You write so beautifully and meticulously. There is so much attention and care put into every word ..."

Well thank you :) I think I find the more I talk out a book the more I figure it out as go, so if anything you are just reading my investigation into the book in real time haha. But thank you, your reviews are great as well!

s.penkevich wrote: "Tima wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Tima wrote: "I'm a bit late, but just wanted to say I love the way you write! You write so beautifully and meticulously. There is so much attention and care put int..."

Haha, that sounds like a fascinating process! I can definitely see your thoughts expanding the more you talk about it. I think I mostly just interpret the book through reading, and then I gain more insight the more reviews I read about the book. Gaining different interpretations of a book is something I findriveting and grounds my understanding of book more, so I'm definitely very thankful and admire people who write interesting reviews! -- Aah, thank you so much! I'm still only figuring out how to reviews, and I for some reason, don't have a lot to say about the books I read. I should probably write down my thoughts as I read the book instead of after I completely finish the book, as I might forget some of the thoughts I had on the earlier portions of the story. -- Hope you have a nice day! :D

Tima wrote: "Haha, that sounds like a fascinating process! I can definitely see your thoughts expanding the more you talk about it. I think I mostly just interpret the book through readingt..."

Thanks! If this is helpful, I found that even underlining passages helped to compose my ideas later, I even use different little notations (like a star or a circle) for different themes. I used to try to outline them before writing but now I just sort of free association write it all in one go and never look back at it haha. But your reviews are always quite great!

s.penkevich wrote: "Tima wrote: "Haha, that sounds like a fascinating process! I can definitely see your thoughts expanding the more you talk about it. I think I mostly just interpret the book through readingt..."

Th..."

Aah, I've been meaning to underline the passages that I found intersting. Thank you for the advice, I shall try to do it in the following books I read. Haha, I think you're flattering me too much. My reviews only barely scratch the surface. Though, thank you for the compliment! I verily appreciate it. :')

Extraordinarily perceptive review.

That was such an awesome review. Loved it and it also made me understand this book a lot better. After I finished this book I was left thinking that I was missing a lot and the review I wrote felt clumsy. This is exactly the type of review I was looking for.

A very insightful review, S. I enjoyed reading it. :)

Zaki wrote: "That was such an awesome review. Loved it and it also made me understand this book a lot better. After I finished this book I was left thinking that I was missing a lot and the review I wrote felt ..."

Thank you so much! Your review is quite excellent as well, sorry for the response delay by the way. Yea there’s so much going on it this book, but he presents it all so effortlessly and succinctly it was quite amazing. And very bleak haha glad you enjoyed though!

Melissa wrote: "A very insightful review, S. I enjoyed reading it. :)"

Thank you so much :)

Fantastic review S! I just finished this today, and this book sent me into a few hours of depression.
I first learnt about this book from my little cousin who was going through a depressive episode a few years ago. She told me she read this very bleak book called No Longer Human and felt this immense sadness. Had I had any idea what the book was actually about maybe I would be able to help her better 😞 Fortunately she is doing much better now, and promised no more reading Dazai!
I felt so much existential dread oozing through the pages. And I was also thinking of Camus and Sartre.
I was listening to That’s Just The Way I Feel while reading this review, thank you for sharing. It’s a great song. So sad about Berman!

Daisyread wrote: "Fantastic review S! I just finished this today, and this book sent me into a few hours of depression.
I first learnt about this book from my little cousin who was going through a depressive episod..."

Thank you so much! Yeaaaa this book hits hard doesn’t it? Just leaves you sort of numb and shaking for a spell. But so beautifully written all the same. Immense sadness is a good way to put it. Glad to hear your cousin is doing better now though, depression is the worst. Have been there myself from time to time. ooo yes, Camus is a good comparison now that you mention it. Kind of reminds me of The Fall in some ways.

Oh yay I’m glad you liked the song though too! I love that album, I just stopped at a rest area on a long drive to go camping and I think I’m going to put that on for the rest of the trip.

May I please enroll in your 'How to Write Beautiful and Persuasive Reviews' class?

Vaishnavi wrote: "May I please enroll in your 'How to Write Beautiful and Persuasive Reviews' class?"

Haha well thank you, and of course!

Oh I love this book so much!! Not me using Da Vinci for the VERY first time, with the most wholesome teacher ever and telling him about this book 🥺 ahhhhh agahdhdh

Wow, s., psychologically astute, painful insights on people pleasers (I obviously relate). Many veils have fallen for me this year, and with them the awareness of how acutely we all create bubbles in which to live comfortably, often at the expense of Truth. I’m not quite sure what to do with all this clarity, it’s stunning. All that said, I think I will read this book. Somehow while reading your review I thought of Kafka…

Sana | ثناء wrote: "Oh I love this book so much!! Not me using Da Vinci for the VERY first time, with the most wholesome teacher ever and telling him about this book 🥺 ahhhhh agahdhdh"

Haha wait I love this though, gotta spread the good word of Dazai any way you can!

Jennifer wrote: "Wow, s., psychologically astute, painful insights on people pleasers (I obviously relate). Many veils have fallen for me this year, and with them the awareness of how acutely we all create bubbles ..."

Ha YEA the people pleaser aspect hit way too close to home. Oh yea, that’s always sort of a devastating revelation, and just like how many aspects of society in general are just agreed upon rules with no basis in authenticity, and if you ever figure out a way to move forward with this clarity please let me know and write a book because we are all wondering together I think haha. I hope you enjoy this one, it’s pretty powerful (a pretty powerful punch right to the face too…) and Kafka is a good comparison. Someone else mentioned Camus and I see that as well, especially The Fall. Which I think sort of shelves this amongst a lot of big classics like Notes from the Underground, Hamsun, Kafka, Camus, etc, which I’ve found makes this a really good recommendation to the right person at the bookstore (as this still seems lesser known). And thank you!

Damn. I was avoiding it, now I gotta read it!

What a beautiful review! ✨

Aswin wrote: "Damn. I was avoiding it, now I gotta read it!

What a beautiful review! ✨"

It’s so good! I hope you enjoy! And thank you

I remember reading this at an age I could not comprehend most of what was happening (I do not know what I was doing) but still being so affected by it. I have been wanting to read the book again, and this review is so beautifully crafted I'm in awe.

This reminded me of that quote,
"Who prays for Satan?
Who in eighteen centuries
Has had the common humanity
To pray for the one person
Who needed it the most."
I never realised I could relate it to Yozo.
Stunning review

Hey man, talk like a normal person, I can’t understand all this mumbo jumbo, I would say read a book but you’ve read them all!

Phenomenal review. A thorough, beautifully written excavation of some difficult stuff.