No Longer Human

By Osamu Dazai, Donald Keene (Translator)

A young man battles alienation amidst clashing cultures and personal despair.

3.9/5 Goodreads · 280,426 ratings

177 pages· 33,652 words

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Bookroo's summary

Oba Yozo feels disconnected from humanity, trapped between his Japanese heritage and Western influences. As he grows, he masks his alienation with humor, yet spirals into despair. Can he find meaning in a world that feels foreign? His journey through life's cruelties and fleeting connections raises questions about identity and belonging. Will Yozo ever reconcile his inner turmoil with the world around him, or is he destined to remain an outsider? This poignant tale explores the struggle to fit into a society that demands conformity, offering a timeless reflection on the human condition.

From the publisher

Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being. 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. His 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.Still one of the ten bestselling books in Japan, No Longer Human is an important and unforgettable modern classic: “The struggle of the individual to fit into a normalizing society remains just as relevant today as it was at the time of writing.” (The Japan Times)

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