Content Warning: This review and book contain mentions of assault, sexual abuse, death, suicide, misogyny, misanthropy, and possible narcissism. There are spoilers in this review.
I read No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai as part of an online book club I’m sometimes in. Initially I had a lot of reservations as I heard it was “really depressing.” Only a few days ago I learned that the author committed suicide shortly after its publication. Truth be told I’m not that opposed to reading about depressed characters. This book is less in the realm of depression and more in the realm of dysfunction and total misanthropy. No Longer Human puts you into the shoes of someone with a history of neglect, abuse and sexual assault who is manipulative and outright awful, but confident in many ways. He is also very much afraid of people. It’s this mix that I find is uncommon.
Themes and Impressions
1. Misogyny
No Longer Human is written from a series of notebooks by the protagonist. Though it is most certainly an account of someone with mental issues, it also features a high degree of intense misogyny that threw me off guard in the beginning. Over time it seems to become more pronounced, too. Sometimes it’s hard for me to separate writer and protagonist. This is especially true when there’s something suspicious about the way the writing is coming through. After coming to the conclusion that something was off-putting about this book, I learned through some Googling that it was indeed semi-autobiographical.
According to Ōba Yōzō women are incomprehensible, terrible, and simple creatures. He compares them to “entrails.” He goes to extreme lengths to cast aside some, disregard others, and even end the life of one. Yet it is not just his actions, but his language and depiction of women that is jarring.
I do wonder what degree of cultural difference I am missing when reading translated fiction. Because even aside from the misogyny and misanthropy, I did not like this book. I read a translated copy and there is no doubtably many cultural aspects to this story that I haven’t caught. I imagine myself taking an English Lit class, as I have done many times in the past, and how much context the prof would lay out for us. This kind of information can frame the background and some of the dialogue to feel more comprehensible. Having not done any of that, I’m going simply with the text as who I am and what I know.
2. Trauma, addiction and mental illness
No Longer Human features accounts of drug addiction, mention of prostitution, attempted double suicide (or homicide?), alcoholism, long suspicious monologues about how terrible women are, manipulation, disregard for human life, and traumatic experiences. All of these things happen in concert with his relationships, friends, and life in general. However, it never seems like they impact his ability to live a regular life.
Many people have mentioned that he had complex trauma. I disagree with that analysis because people with complex trauma do not generally behave the way he does. There is much more shame, internalized blame, feelings of worthlessness, isolation and feeling hopeless than features in this book. The fear of others and paranoia is common though. No Longer Human does no doubt feature a lot of trauma, but I find that the character displays many traits of vulnerable narcissism. This is a kind of narcissist that displays high levels of social anxiety and sensitivity to rejection, meanwhile lacking empathy and care for others. Ōba takes steps forward in his life though many appear to be for no real reason, and he spends a lot of time “clowning around” (what we call ‘masking’) in order to fit in, but his views of people are that they are awful and always will be, and for that reason can never really love him and are not worth treating well or respecting. Admittedly, I found it depressing how much Ōba was getting away with prior to getting admit to a mental institution.
3. Yes, Misogyny Again
And back to the subject of women because that is what I apparently blog about most: this character writes a kind of simplicity and emptiness in all of the women. It makes me wonder about how this could have been written truthfully, rather than some skewed perspective that was getting no push-back at the time. Because if he’s coming across every woman as being this same person with similar traits, is he in some kind of denial? Or is he on a mission to just blame everything terrible about his life on women in general?
I feel like I should have something else to say about this, considering it was and still is so well-received, but I don’t really. If you want to read something about someone who is absolutely awful I feel like you could get a much darker account. And if you want to read something about someone who struggles with various mental illnesses I feel like you could find better versions of those too.
If you’d like to read this book, you can get a copy at Bookshop.org and support independent bookstores in the USA, or you can get a copy at the Book Outlet if you’re in Canada.
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