Appreciate what you have, we're not all born the same.

'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai is a series of notebooks depicting the short life of a troubled Japanese boy, set in Tokyo after WW1. Ōba Yōzō is born different to everyone else and has a feeling of alienation and estrangement from society. He tries to mask this via acting, expression through art and ultimately self destruction. It is strongly autobiographical and follows many of the events that occurred in Dazai's life.

I summarised the book as follows. "Wow! This hits hard and yet doesn't have the emotional burden of a Russian/German equivalent novel. I think this is because the Japanese style is elegant & whilst depressing still shows moments of gaiety and everyday life. It's a beautiful book with an amazing title written by an unfortunate but very talented man."

I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!

Timeline:
(0:00) - Intro
(0:30) - Synopsis
(3:01) - Alienation: Estrangement from a social group
(7:43) - Liberation: Release from imprisonment & oppression
(14:20) - Observations/Takeaways
(20:50) - Summary


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