BOOK REVIEW: NO LONGER HUMAN BY OSAMU DAZAI

 Whoa!! This is going my very first book to review. Instead of call it a review, I think it more like opinion or feeling about the book. I don’t really know how to review something. So yes. This is my very first writing on my opinion of one book that I read. Jeng jeng jeng, buku tersebut ialah

NO LONGER HUMAN BY OSAMU DAZAI

Before we go further, I will give the details of the book and that include price, type of cover, where to buy and etc.

 

Publisher: TUTTLE

Translated by: Donald Kenee

Cover: Paperback (a very good one, it feels like a cardboard to me. Well basically, it won’t ruin easily)

Price: RM 60.00

Where: Kinokuniya

you will find quite number of version from different publisher with different picture cover. I think the translator are the same. I chose based on the cover. The version that I bought has this particular depressing vibe, in which to me fit the novel very well. Oh yes, different covers are sold in different price as well. Another factor obviously is the budget. The other covers, even it is paperback, cost lil bit higher. You can find the book at Asian Literature section. Very easy to spot.

So about the book. Im interested about the author when I watched anime “Bungou Stray Dogs”. You know that the anime characters were named after the Japanese most popular novelists and poets. And Osamu Dazai is the most loved, favorable character in the anime.

 SYNOPSIS

Is the story of a young man caught between the disintegration of the traditions of his aristocratic provincial family and the impact of modern western ideas. Large autobiographical, this novel explore Dazai’s feeling of being “disqualified from being human”-a sense of loss and anomie that remain strong in Japan even today among those who struggle to reconcile their attachments to tradition with the necessities of living in a global economy.

Ok. Ape aku nak tulis ni. Hahahaha. Da cakap dah, I don’t have what it needs to be a book reviewer. Actually kan, before I bought the book, I google jugak la buku ni pasal ape. Ok trivia, buku ni is the number two bestseller book in Japanese history from first di published until today. Lama tu. And the most interesting trivia is, the author committed suicide right after he finished writing the novel. The author Osamu Dazai was known to be suicide maniac. He attempted suicide few times before but failed. The most tragic attempt was a double suicide with a girl whereas they decided to jump into the river together. Dazai was saved but the girl died in that event. Because of that, I became intrigue. They said the book was written as Dazai’s final will. To cut it short, I bought it out of curiosity on why he desperately wanted to die.

 The title is depressing, so do the cover. No Longer Human can be translated as “disqualified from being human”. How come one to have that feeling whilst he lives as a human himself. And yes, the whole book is depressing. The book was written correctly to justify the negative and dark side of human. Majority of the books written to give encouragement or to motivate the readers toward something. But this book is different. It touched on the most uncomfortable theme to be delivered to the readers. A very negative perspective of human life. But, it spoke the truth. Whatever written inside, whatever the feeling portrayed by the main character was indeed the real feeling, the real emotion of human beings. Yes, this book tells you exactly what is depression and it is accurately describe how it feels to be depressed.

Expectation of being human. Main character of the novel, namanya Yozo. Dia cuba live his life according to the standard set by the society. Macam mana aku nak cakap. Korang pernah tak, rasa yang everyday, whatever kind of face that you show to the society is nothing but only a mask that you intentionally put to hide the real person of who you are. That is what Yozo felt everyday in his life. Yozo ni dia tak rasa dia tu manusia yang normal. Perasaan die kosong. Bagi die hidup ni is nothing. Dia takut sangat kalau apa yang dia rase ni orang lain tahu and they will never acknowledge on his existence in this world. Thus, he keeps on wearing a mask, a clown mask. He regarded himself as a clown and act like one. He acts like a fool, make a funny joke, silly joke only wanted to be accepted as normal human being like others while in fact deep inside he felt nothing like a living thing. Bagi dia, hidup dia kosong. There was one part of the novel, where he transferred to different school and still bawak character dia as a clown. Tapi. There was one day he met this one person, and apa yang paling dia takuti, somehow jadi kenyataan. Dia takut someone might discover yang dia sebenarnya faking himself. He afraid someone might discover that he is not actually a fool, that he pretended to be one just to be accepted as a normal human being. However, at his new school,  there is someone actually discovered the truth about himself. Incident ni happened during physical training period. Ala some sort like pendidikan jasmani. Di mana dalam latihan tu, all the students need to drill on a horizontal bar. Yozo, the clown, act like a fool purposely failed the training and everyone laughed at his “clumsiness” except for one person. That person, named as Takeiuchi, whispered dekat Yozo said that “you did it on purpose”. And this simple statement creep him out. He trembled all over. He has been found out. So yozo ni rasa takut, nervous, like how come this boy knows about it. Dia takut yang other people would discover the truth as well. So what he did. He purposely befriend with the Takeiuchi boy so that he wont spread the words to other and Yozo dark secret will never be revealed. To that extent he deliberately lived his life as a clown. Ini cerita waktu zaman sekolah dia. The breaking point is waktu dia dewasa, where his life dah turned upside down. He failed miserably to become a human. He indulged in women, liquor and final destruction of his life when he addicted to drug. Lots of miserable things happened and I wont reveal it here. There is no positive thing in this book honestly. But, even so, the book, to me it is a great book. The reality of life that one should realize is the darkness that lies within the soul.

 At some point, apa yang novel ni cerita is actually the real thing that we, as a human feel. Pernah tak korang fake yourself just to be accepted. You want to blend with the group, you want to be likeable, you don’t want to be left behind. To get all those things, you put a mask , a suitable mask and act like what is expected by the group. Deliberately fake yourself.  We all do that. In the past , in the present or maybe in the future. Slowly, you tend to be into the character sampai jadi part of you. Different people, and you put different mask until you reached the point where you no longer recognize the real you. The act of “be yourself” is not easy. I was like that,nope I think im still like that. And its tiring. Faking yourself is tiring. They said "its okay to be yourself", but at the same time they also said "when you wanna change yourself". Not everyone can really accept who you are. There is, but it is hard to find. The older you get, the more you realize all these are pointless. faking yourself? for what. To be acknowledge by others? again for what. Your life is yours. You are the director and you are the main character. Why need for others to decide how to live your life. Be the most unique person, not the mainstream one.

 This book is not suitable if you are looking for self encouragement. This book is for you to realize that the essence of being a human is not only fill with positive side of life, but you have to acknowledge the downside, the negative part of it.

There is a live action, a one off movie. Tapi movie tu bukan pasal buku ni. But about Osamu Dazai, before he come out with this masterpiece. Lepas baca buku ni, you can watch the movie and you can understand why they said the book is the last will of Osamu Dazai.

My Rate 4/5. Because of its uniqueness.

Goodreads rate: 4.12/5