Status Updates From Early Light

“I must seem a horrible character to you, but the fact is that I want to die so badly I can’t stand it. Ever since I was born I have been thinking of nothing but dying. It would be better for everyone concerned if I were dead, that’s certain. And yet I can’t seem to die. There’s something strange and frightening, like God, which won’t let me die.”

"I wonder if when the devil makes his first appearance in somebody’s house he acts in such a lonely and melancholy way."

"The sins of the father are visited on the child. It was divine retribution."

One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji is very quaint despite how nihilistic and pessimistic it can get at times. It subverts the assumed sublimity of Fuji to something much more personal and intimate for each person; it no longer is a landmark of beauty but a memory, a piece of art, a dreadful sight. By reflecting how the narrator feels about Fuji, we receive a deep characterization of the mountain. Beautiful, really.

Reread time. First story is equally harrowing, uplifting and self-pitying. Probably the most annoying part of Dazai’s stuff is how self-pitying it can be. They feel absolute in their positions in life and see no possible way out. It’s relatable, somewhat, but Jesus man just buck up and be the change you want to see.