No Longer Human

A completely new translation of Osamu Dazai's great masterpiece by award-winning translator Juliet Winters Carpenter. "A journey to hell with Osamu Dazai, Japan's ultimate bad boy novelist" --Damian Flanagan, The Japan Times No Longer Human is the story of Yozo Oba, who, from early childhood, finds it impossible to form meaningful relationships with family or friends. As a child he copes by acting the fool--mocking himself while entertaining others. As an adult he turns to alcohol, sex and drugs, which lead to his eventual self-destruction. Originally written in 1948 and based closely on Dazai's own life, the timeless and universal themes of social alienation, failure and one man's inner torture at his inability to feel like a normal human still resonate with young people everywhere, making this an enduring international classic. This contemporary translation will be welcomed by all fans of modern Japanese literature as well as by readers familiar with Osamu Dazai. After Soseki Natsume, Osamu Dazai is Japan's most popular writer. Dazai is enjoying a surge in interest among young people today thanks to the success of the manga, anime and film series Bungo Stray Dogs , whose protagonist, a detective named Osamu Dazai, is based on the real-life author. "Dazai's brand of egoistic pessimism dovetails organically with the emo chic of this cultural moment and with the inner lives of teenagers of all eras." --Andrew Martin, The New York Times

A completely new translation of Osamu Dazai's great masterpiece by award-winning translator Juliet Winters Carpenter. "A journey to hell with Osamu Dazai, Japan's ultimate bad boy novelist" —Damian Flanagan, The Japan Times No Longer Human is the story of Yozo Oba, who, from early childhood, finds it impossible to form meaningful relationships with family or friends. As a child he copes by acting the fool—mocking himself while entertaining others. As an adult he turns to alcohol, sex and drugs, which lead to his eventual self-destruction. Originally written in 1948 and based closely on Dazai's own life, the timeless and universal themes of social alienation, failure and one man's inner torture at his inability to feel like a normal human still resonate with young people everywhere, making this an enduring international classic. This contemporary translation will be welcomed by all fans of modern Japanese literature as well as by readers familiar with Osamu Dazai. After Soseki Natsume, Osamu Dazai is Japan's most popular writer. Dazai is enjoying a surge in interest among young people today thanks to the success of the manga, anime and film series Bungo Stray Dogs , whose protagonist, a detective named Osamu Dazai, is based on the real-life author. "Dazai's brand of egoistic pessimism dovetails organically with the emo chic of this cultural moment and with the inner lives of teenagers of all eras." —Andrew Martin, The New York Times

"No Longer Human" er en gribende og fascinerende fortælling om en ung mand, der er fanget mellem traditionsopbruddet i sin aristokratiske, Nordjapanske familie og de vestlige idéers stærke indflydelse. Rodløs og splittet mellem fortid og mulig fremtid føler den unge mand sig fremmedgjort og umenneskelig. Den moderne bogklassiker "No Longer Human" er skrevet af Osamu Dazai, der af utallige grunde regnes for en af Japans bedste forfattere fra det 20. århundrede.

Osamu Dazais No Longer Human ist ein Meisterwerk der japanischen Literatur und Kultbuch. Es wurde durch Verfilmungen und als Manga des berühmten Zeichners Junji Ito zum Millionenseller - und machte den Autor und seinen Protagonisten Yozo zum Idol. Yozo sehnt sich nach einem Gefühl der Zugehörigkeit und dem eigenen Platz in der Welt. Seit der Kindheit fühlt er sich außen vor, nur als Familienclown ist ihm Aufmerksamkeit sicher - und so wird er vom notorischen Possenreißer zum sarkastischen Intellektuellen. In einer feinsinnigen Mischung aus Ironie und Verletzlichkeit entblößt er seine Wünsche, Schwächen und Sehnsüchte. In je tiefere Verzweiflung er gerät, desto scharfsichtiger wird dabei sein Blick auf die menschliche Suche nach Bedeutung. Voller Witz und Sarkasmus durchleuchtet Osamu Dazai in No Longer Human die Fragilität der menschlichen Existenz und entfaltet erzählerisch die Wirkkraft eines widerständigen Denkens.

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)

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)

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. Plagued by a maddening anxiety, the terrible disconnect between his own concept of happiness and the joy of the rest of the world, Yozo Oba plays the clown in his dissolute life, holding up a mask for those around him as he spirals ever downward, locked arm-in-arm with death. Osamu Dazai's immortal and supposedly autobiographical work of Japanese literature, is perfectly adapted here into a manga. The imagery wrenches open the text of the novel one line at a time to sublimate Yozo's mental landscape into something even more delicate and grotesque. This is the ultimate in art by Ito, proof that nothing can surpass the terror of the human psyche.

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. Plagued by a maddening anxiety, the terrible disconnect between his own concept of happiness and the joy of the rest of the world, Yozo Oba plays the clown in his dissolute life, holding up a mask for those around him as he spirals ever downward, locked arm-in-arm with death. Osamu Dazai's immortal and supposedly autobiographical work of Japanese literature, is perfectly adapted here into a manga. The imagery wrenches open the text of the novel one line at a time to sublimate Yozo's mental landscape into something even more delicate and grotesque. This is the ultimate in art by Ito, proof that nothing can surpass the terror of the human psyche.