You might recognize Osamu Dazai from the popular anime series “Bungo Stray Dogs,” but he isn’t just a well-made character, he’s an icon in the Japanese literature industry.

Dazai was an extremely celebrated Japanese novelist and author. His true name is Shūji Tsushima. He was born in 1909 and passed away in 1948 due to unfortunate circumstances.

As a seasoned reader, I would say that his books are a hit or miss. You either like them or you don’t. Many people find them uninteresting, or what modern bookworms call, a “hard read,” but when I first read the book, I was absolutely captivated.

I came across his famous book, “No Longer Human,” a few years back while scrolling through Kindle recommendations, and it did not disappoint.

The book is a semi-autobiographical book about a man named Yozo Oba (Osamu Dazai) and his childhood, including the hardships he went through. Some of the characters were not real, but his story most certainly was. 

It was one of his last books, published during the year he passed away. The book is written with advanced grammar, which may make it slightly difficult to comprehend. No Longer Human revolves around the fact that Yozo didn’t feel human. He felt like an outcast but on a whole different level. It describes how he lived through each stage of life. It is heart-wrenchingly honest–the content of the book depressing and profound, yet it carries power well beyond its words.

The depth and the underlying implications behind his writing have the power to change your views on many different things–positive and negative–which is why the book is recommended to be read by people in good mental health. 

Tabling the inconveniences, “No Longer Human” was by far the best book I’ve ever read, and I certainly recommend it to the right audience.