No Longer Human
Publisher,Tuttle Publishing
Publication Date,
Format, Paperback
Weight,
No. of Pages, 160
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A completely new translation of Osamu Dazai's great masterpiece by award-winning translator Juliet Winters Carpenter. No Longer Human is the story of Yozo Oba, who, from early childhood, finds it impossible to form meaningful relationships with family or friends. As a child he copes by acting the fool—mocking himself while entertaining others. As an adult he turns to alcohol, sex and drugs, which lead to his eventual self-destruction.
Originally written in 1948 and based closely on Dazai's own life, the timeless and universal themes of social alienation, failure and one man's inner torture at his inability to feel like a normal human still resonate with young people everywhere, making this an enduring international classic.
This contemporary translation will be welcomed by all fans of modern Japanese literature as well as by readers familiar with Osamu Dazai. After Soseki Natsume, Osamu Dazai is Japan's most popular writer. Dazai is enjoying a surge in interest among young people today thanks to the success of the manga, anime and film series Bungo Stray Dogs, whose protagonist, a detective named Osamu Dazai, is based on the real-life author.
About the Author
Born Shuji Tsushima, Osamu Dazai (1909–1948) was a Japanese novelist and author. A brilliant student, he entered the French department of Tokyo University in 1930, but later boasted that in the five years before he left without a degree, he had never attended a lecture. Dazai was famous for confronting head-on the social and moral crises of postwar Japan. His last book, No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku in Japanese), is considered a modern-day classic and is his most popular work outside Japan.
About the Translator
Juliet Winters Carpenter studied Japanese literature at the University of Michigan and the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo. She is a two-time recipient of the Japan–United States Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, first in 1980 for her translation of Kobo Abe's novel Secret Rendezvous and again in 2014–15 for her translation of Minae Mizumura's A True Novel.
Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.27 x 20.32 cm
