No Longer Human
by Osamu Dazai
Open Library readers: 4.10 / 5 from 125 ratings. Separate from ratings here.Catalogue checked 2026-10-02.
Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human, this leading postwar Japanese writer's second novel, tells the poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. In consequence, he feels himself "disqualified from being human" (a literal translation of the Japanese title). Donald Keene, who translated this and Dazai's first novel, The Setting Sun, has said of the author's work: "His world . . . suggests Chekhov or possibly postwar France, . . . but there is a Japanese sensibility in the choice and presentation of the material. A Dazai novel is at once immediately intelligible in Western terms and quite unlike any Western book." His writing is in some ways reminiscent of Rimbaud, while he himself has often been called a forerunner of Yukio Mishima.
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Bibliographic source: Open Library- Who wrote No Longer Human?
No Longer Human is by Osamu Dazai. The catalogue records its first publication in 1948. A later edition may have a different publication date on its copyright page.
- How long is No Longer Human?
The catalogue records 185 pages for a representative edition. Pagination varies with the publisher, format, type size and translation, so check the edition you intend to read.
