They’re also making moody TikToks embracing the darkness of NLH’s philosophy.Īnime as a gateway drug to such harrowing material, not on my bingo card!Īnyway, my mother always told me that every mind is its own universe. It seems that Zoomers are gravitating towards the novel thanks to an anime, Bungo Stray Dogs, which features a character bearing Dazai’s name. Coincidentally, the New York Times released some commentary on NLH the same day I originally wrote this piece.

I also didn’t know the novel was experiencing a resurgence. But I went in blind, not knowing it was the second-best selling novel in Japan or of the gravity within its pages. Had I known the story was semi-autobiographical and that the author committed suicide shortly after publishing this book, I probably wouldn’t have made the purchase. In order to make sense of my own chaos I decided to peer into the abyss of No Longer Human by Japanese author Osamu Dazai. Seems like many people are feeling unmotivated these days, for a variety of reasons: I’m currently going through a hard time, and looking up Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami clued the Amazon algorithm that perhaps I’d also enjoy THIS depressing yarn.

You see it coming and you know it will hurt, but behind that title is a bloody haymaker of prose that’ll really knock your lights out. This book is probably the single most depressing impulse purchase I’ve ever made!Ī simple looking cover containing five short words beheld an unfathomable tale of social isolation that pummeled my face like a good 1-2. To think I was adding a treat to my shopping cart-how naive. They turn planned shopping trips into nice little adventures with a surprise twist at the end. Impulse purchases are supposed to be fun, right?

Dazai book