Book Review: No Longer Human

By Dazai Osamu  

3 Stars  

At first sight, the son of the famous politician, Oda Yozo, may have the hands and legs of a human, the shape of a human… but delve deeper, get to know him, and you see that his mind is hardly that of a human’s - it is strangely alien. Ever since he was a young child, he had always wondered about the nature of humans and what makes them tick the way they do. They never truly did make sense to him, despite appearing to be one himself. As he grows up, this sense of separation from the human race grows even more exacerbated, leading him down a rabbit hole of self-deprecation and alienation.   

If, growing up, you never felt the most connected to our society as a whole, you will be able to empathize with what this book has to offer. One of its greatest strengths is the fact that its social commentary is very profound. It talks about what society itself is, and what it means on an individual level as well as as a whole. I liked that No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu represents - to me - the ravings of a depressed man too far shunned by the society he lived in to understand his own humanity. But the ravings work in its favour, makes the book more engaging, because Dazai Osamu himself is aware that he is a fake - that he is no longer human. This makes for some really engaging narration and thought-provoking conflicts. 

Reviewed by Ayesha as part of the Teen Reviewer, opens a new window program

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