No Longer Human — Once again BookTok let me down.
No Longer Human was published in 1948 by Osamu Dazai, one of the most prominent authors from Japan. The story revolves around anxiety, depression, social isolation, and narcissism.
This book reminds me so much of The Alchemist, brimming with optimism, communal harmony, and hope. The Alchemist is, one can say, the antonym of No Longer Human. But why did I juxtapose these two books — The reviews and how well they were received.
I picked up The Alchemist because the reviews hyped it up so much. “Deeply profound”, “Gripping writing style”, and “soul opener” were some of the many phrases used to describe it. When I read The Alchemist, I did not resonate with any of those reviews. I felt the book was nonsensical. According to the author, the world is green and fair, everything happens for a reason, every ending is justifiable.
He trivialized nothingness under the guise of wisdom. Not to mention the way women were nothing but a background overlooked (something No Longer Human shared as well). They were one-dimensional beings, whose role was to aid the protagonist. And while he wanders the world, she rots waiting for him.
Paulo Coelho can’t even get away with justifying these shortcomings. The time period we live in, structure our thoughts. But it was published in 1988. Women no longer played the role of an atmosphere for men to exist and thrive. Not to mention, his style of writing reeked of mediocrity.
I don’t want to turn the book review for No Longer Human into a Coelho critique. Even though the context of the two stories lies opposite to each other, I see a similarity in the way they were celebrated. I know it’s easy to reject a book and critique away the author. Some books definitely only appeal to readers in a certain state of mind.
No Longer Human revolves around a timid wounded animal that doesn’t know how to stop bleeding is responsible for driving multiple women insane. He cannot comprehend anything other than his pain. Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand he was depressed and dealing with loads of mental health issues, and that’s probably the reason why he thought he wasn’t human enough to exist. I sympathize with the author. He wrote his heart out, and it’s speculated to be his autobiography by some, for he killed himself soon after the book got published.
I just don’t think the book is as morose or deep as people make it out to be. People often exaggerate how sad a book actually is, or we simply have different opinions on what is considered depressing.
If you want to read something about an absolutely awful person who lacks accountability, empathy and reeks with narcissism, you could get a much darker account.
If you want to read something about someone who struggles with various mental illnesses, you could find better versions of those too. This book did not stand out in any way.
And I can’t stand people who say they resonate with the protagonist Oba, as I found it depressing how much Oba was getting away with prior to getting admitted to a mental institution.
I love to read about twisted, lone, and depressed individuals. And No Longer Human did not cut it.
