No Longer Human
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| No Longer Human | |
|---|---|
| Author | Osamu Dazai |
| Original title | 人間失格 |
| Translator | Donald Keene |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese, English |
| Genre(s) | Short novel |
| Publication date | 1948 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Preceded by | A Cherry |
| Followed by | Goodbye |
No Longer Human (人間失格 Ningen Shikkaku) is a Japanese novel by Osamu Dazai. Published after "Run Melos" and "The Setting Sun", "No Longer Human" is considered Dazai's masterpiece and ranks as the second-best selling novel in Japan, behind Kokoro.[1]
This novel, despite being serialized as a work of fiction in 1948, is narrated in the first person and contains several elements which betray an autobiographical basis, such as suicide—a recurring theme in the author's life. Many also believe the book to have been his will, as he took his own life shortly after the last part of the book (it was serialized) was published, in June 13, 1948. This is not accurate, though, as he had started work on it long before.
"No Longer Human" paints the portrait of the life of Ōba Yōzō (大庭葉蔵), a troubled soul incapable of revealing his true self to others and who is instead forced to uphold a facade of hollow jocularity. The name of the main character, Ōba, is actually taken from one of Dazai's early works, "Petals of Buffoonery" (道化の華).
Ōba refers to himself throughout the book using the reflexive pronoun "Jibun" (自分), whereas the personal pronoun "Watashi" (私) is used both in the foreword and afterword to the book by the writer, whose name is unclear.
Dazai might have been a sufferer of Complex post-traumatic stress disorder whilst writing the book.[2] Mike Lew has praised the book for expressing male sexual trauma.
Contents |
[edit] Plot outline
The novel is composed of three chapters, or "memorandums", which chronicle the life of Ōba from early childhood to late twenties.
- First Memorandum - Overcome by an intense feeling of alienation and finding it nearly impossible to socialize with those who surround him, Ōba can't but resort to buffoonery in order to establish interpersonal relationships and engage in a vain attempt to forget the abuse he was subjected to by a female servant during his childhood.
- Second Memorandum - Ōba becomes increasingly concerned over the potential penetrability of his cheerful facade. He neglects his university studies. Under the influence of a fellow artist he meets at a course, Horiki, he descends into a vicious cycle of drinking, smoking and harlotry, culminating in a one-night stand with a married woman with whom he intends to commit double suicide by drowning. Though he survives, she dies, leaving him with nothing but an excruciating feeling of guilt.
- Third Memorandum - Several years later, Ōba is expelled from University and falls into a relationship with a young and naïve woman. Ōba stops drinking and things seem to work out well until Horiki shows up, turning Ōba to self-destructivity again. Feeling distant from his wife, Ōba is once again driven to the verge of committing suicide, but unable to do so, he becomes an alcoholic and a morphine addict. He is eventually interned in a mental institution, and, upon release, moves to an isolated place, concluding the story with numb self-reflection.
[edit] Movie
Osamu Dazai's "Ningen Shikkaku" has been adapted to film in 2009, since it happens to be the 100th anniversary of Dazai's birth. The film is directed by Genjiro Arato, the producer responsible for the award-winning Zigeunerweisen in 1980. Filming started in July, with a release projected for February 20, 2010. The film stars Toma Ikuta (24) as Ōba Yōzō, a young man who finds it hard to relate to the world around him, but masks this sense of alienation with a jovial demeanor, still his life spirals toward self-destruction. Actress Satomi Ishihara (22) plays one of the several women in his life, and the only one he marries.
Other filmmakers in Japan have also been paying tribute to Osamu Dazai's work by adapting it to the big screen. Like "Ningen Shikkaku", his 1945 novel "Pandora no Hako" ("Pandora's Box") has also been turned into a movie and is directed by Masanori Tominaga.
[edit] Anime
Another adaption of the story was told in the four first episodes of the anime series Aoi Bungaku that was released in 2009.
[edit] See also
- List of books portraying paedophilia or sexual abuse of minors
- Usamaru Furuya published a manga version of No Longer Human in Comic Bunch magazine beginning in 2009's volume 10.
[edit] References
- ^ "Takeshi Obata Illustrates Cover for Best-Selling Japanese Novel". ComiPress. August 22, 2007. http://comipress.com/news/2007/08/22/2529. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ Betrayed as Boys: Psychodynamic Treatment of Sexually Abused Men, Japanese edit pp. 448-451 by Naoko Miyaji (2005, mainly Richard Gartner) ISBN 4-86182-013-8
