Category: Tough Topics

The text prominently deals with or draws attention to tough topics; see the post’s tags for more information. Tough topics can (among others) refer to abortion, abuse, anxiety, bullying, cancer, child custody, depression, drugs, eating disorders, LGBTQ, loss of a child, loss of a parent, mental illness, post traumatic stress (PTSD), rape, self-esteem, self-harm, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or suicide.

Categories
1946-1999 All Novel Short Length (up to 2 hrs) Tough Topics

No Longer Human

Book cover

This book is a semi-autobiography of Dazai Osamu where he talks about his alienation from society.

Year of Release: 1948

Author(s): Dazai Osamu

Preview:

Further information (link): https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3923956W/No_longer_human

ISBN: 978-0811204811

ebook URL: https://www.amazon.it/Longer-Human-English-Osamu-Dazai-ebook/dp/B09XLQLL4K

Audiobook URL: https://fulllengthaudiobooks.com/osamu-dazai-no-longer-human-audiobook/

Online text: https://booksvooks.com/no-longer-human-pdf-osamu-dazai.html

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

The book is divided in three parts:
-in the first one, the main subject is the protagonist’s alienation from society
-in the second one the main topic is his first suicide attempt
-the third one mostly talks about his depression



Further comments for teachers:

I chose this book because, even if it covers plenty of difficult topics, I find the protagonist relatable in a lot of things. While I really love this book, which made me reflect a lot about life and mental health, I must admit that it isn’t something for everyone since the author’s way of thinking is very peculiar and it also talks a lot about things such as suicide that might be sensitive for some people.

This book also received two movie adaptations and several manga adaptations, with the most famous one being drawn by Junji Ito.