Osamu Dazai

Here to slake the unquenchable thirst of Dazai's legions of loyal fans are eleven works of short fiction and vignettes, most of which have never before appeared in English. Beginning with "Memories" (which tells a tale of teenage love, based on the autobiographical events that inspired Dazai's famed No Longer Human), and ending with "Good-Bye" (the chapters of a comic romance that the author left unfinished when he took his own life), the short works here show the range and breadth of an author best known for his meditations on squalor and despair. But there is laughter here too, as in "Tengu," a tongue-in-cheek critique of august hucksters of haiku. And there is also suspense on display: "A Bluff Illusion" presents a literary murder story in which a harmless prank escalates into a deadly pose. "A Warning on Worldly Pleasures" retells Saikaku's famous story about the temptation of a holy ascetic, and "A: Autumn" unfolds a quiver of epigrams (seemingly) drawn at random from the author's notes. All are masterfully translated by Ralph McCarthy. Spanning the breadth of Dazai's delightfully multifaceted, if tragically foreshortened, career, Good-Bye is a must-have for any Dazai fan.

Osamu Dazai, mistr introspektivní prózy a neúprosného sebepozorování, v této sbírce povídek otevírá okno do světa lidské osamělosti, trapnosti i tichých gest soucitu. Jeho hrdinové, často na okraji společnosti nebo uvěznění ve vlastních pochybnostech, promlouvají s odzbrojující upřímností a obnažují nejniternější pocity hanby, touhy i marného vzdoru. Dazai dokáže spojit melancholii s jemným humorem, drobný každodenní okamžik s existenciální otázkou a osobní prohru s nečekaným zábleskem lidskosti. Každá povídka je fragmentem jeho typicky syrové, ale zároveň citlivé poetiky, která čtenáře vtahuje svou bezprostředností a schopností vystihnout křehkost člověka v konfrontaci s okolním světem i sebou samým.

Osamu Dazai, mistr introspektivní prózy a neúprosného sebepozorování, v této sbírce povídek otevírá okno do světa lidské osamělosti, trapnosti i tichých gest soucitu. Jeho hrdinové, často na okraji společnosti nebo uvěznění ve vlastních pochybnostech, promlouvají s odzbrojující upřímností a obnažují nejniternější pocity hanby, touhy i marného vzdoru. Dazai dokáže spojit melancholii s jemným humorem, drobný každodenní okamžik s existenciální otázkou a osobní prohru s nečekaným zábleskem lidskosti. Každá povídka je fragmentem jeho typicky syrové, ale zároveň citlivé poetiky, která čtenáře vtahuje svou bezprostředností a schopností vystihnout křehkost člověka v konfrontaci s okolním světem i sebou samým.

Three stories of the ruined and the lost: Osamu Dazai at his most tormented. This collection unearths the Japanese literary legend's most controversial and exhilarating early-career writing with strikingly original translations. "Retrograde" traces the life of an anguished youth in reverse; "Das Gemeine" features an aspiring literato with a dark past who hitches his wagon to an eccentric violinist; "Blossom-Leaves and the Spirit Whistle" tells of an old woman recalling the final breaths of her beautiful, sickly sister. Experience the twisted agony of the prose that propelled Dazai to the top of the literary world.

Na první pohled může Cugaru spisovatele Osamu Dazaie působit „jen" jako laskavý a přívětivý cestopis. Mladý muž se po deseti letech vrací z Tokia do rodného kraje, aby čtenáře provedl krajinou nejsevernější části ostrova Honšú. Jak je však u Dazaiových děl zvykem, i zde se skrývají hlubší témata, která jsou pro autora typická: hraní rolí v nefunkční rodině, pocit vykořeněnosti, rozpolcenost a celková životní bezútěšnost. Spolu s mistrem slova a prožitku tak vyrážíme na další dlouho doznívající cestu - nejen krajinou, ale i hlubokým nitrem člověka, kde se odráží všechny křehkosti a protiklady lidské duše.

Na první pohled může Cugaru spisovatele Osamu Dazaie působit „jen" jako laskavý a přívětivý cestopis. Mladý muž se po deseti letech vrací z Tokia do rodného kraje, aby čtenáře provedl krajinou nejsevernější části ostrova Honšú. Jak je však u Dazaiových děl zvykem, i zde se skrývají hlubší témata, která jsou pro autora typická: hraní rolí v nefunkční rodině, pocit vykořeněnosti, rozpolcenost a celková životní bezútěšnost. Spolu s mistrem slova a prožitku tak vyrážíme na další dlouho doznívající cestu - nejen krajinou, ale i hlubokým nitrem člověka, kde se odráží všechny křehkosti a protiklady lidské duše.

A completely new translation of one of Osamu Dazai's best-loved novels, by award-winning translator, Juliet Winters Carpenter. The Setting Sun tells the story of Kazuko, a strong-willed young woman from an aristocratic family that has fallen into poverty since the war. The book follows Kazuko's journey as she and her family struggle to adapt to the harsh new conditions of a Japan destroyed by American fire-bombings. In addition to having to move from the city to the countryside, where she has to work in the fields to support her family, she has to deal with a divorce, her mother's illness, and the return of her drug-addicted brother from the army. An inspiring portrait of one woman's determination to survive in a society in the grip of a social and moral crisis, this classic work will appeal to those with an interest in modern Japanese literature as well as to those familiar with Osamu Dazai from the popular manga and anime series Bungo Stray Dogs, where he is the lead character.

No one really understands how we suffer. One day, when we’re adults, we may come to recall this suffering, this misery, as silly and laughable, but how are we to get through the long, hateful period until then? No one bothers to teach us that. Osamu Dazai was a master raconteur who plumbed?in an addictive, easy style?the absurd complexities of life in a society whose expectations cannot be met without sacrificing one's individual ideals on the altar of conformity. The gravitational pull of his prose is on full display in these stories. In “Lantern,” a young woman, in love with a well-born but impoverished student, shoplifts a bathing suit for him?and ends up in the local newspaper indicted as a crazed, degenerate communist. In “Chiyojo,” a high-school girl shows early promise as a writer, but as her uncle and mother relentlessly push her to pursue a literary career, she must ask herself: is this what I really want? Or am I supposed to fulfill their own frustrated ambitions? In “Shame,” a young reader writes a fan letter to a writer she admires, only to find out, upon visiting him, that he’s a bourgeoise sophisticate nothing like the desperate rebels he portrays, and decides (in true Dazai style): “Novelists are human trash. No, they’re worse than that; they’re demons. . . They write nothing but lies.” This collection of 14 tales?a half-dozen of which have never before appeared in English?is based on a Japanese collection of, as Dazai described them, “soliloquies by female narrators.” No One Knows includes the quietly brilliant long story Schoolgirl and shows the fiction of this 20th-century genius in a fresh light.

For fans of No Longer Human, Osamu Dazai's darkly bewitching novel about the small redemptions of being a pathetic, miserable writer A fictional writer in his thirties named Osamu Dazai has just sent his publisher a terrible manuscript, filling him with dread and shame. Shortly afterward, while moping around a park in suburban Tokyo, he spots someone drowning in a nearby aqueduct. He doesn’t want to become a witness to a suicide and eventually decides to flee the park. But as he is leaving, he trips over the boy who had been drowning, and the two begin an unlikely conversation that turns into an intellectual spat. Hoping to ingratiate himself with the boy?a high-school dropout?Dazai finds himself agreeing to perform in the boy’s stead that very night as the live narrator of a film screening... So begins the madcap adventure of The Beggar Student, where there is glamor in destitution, and intellectual one-upmanship reveals glimmers of truth. Replete with settings incorporated into the popular anime Bungo Stray Dogs and with echoes of No Longer Human, this biting novella captures the infamous Japanese writer at his mordant best.

"Dazai's brand of egoistic pessimism dovetails organically with the emo chic of this cultural moment and with the inner lives of teenagers of all eras." -Andrew Martin, The New York Times Best-known for his novels No Longer Human and The Setting Sun, Dazai was also an acclaimed writer of short stories, experimenting with a wide variety of styles and bringing to each work a sophisticated sense of humor, a broad empathy for the human condition and a tremendous literary talent. The twenty stories in this collection include: Memories - An autobiographical tale in which Dazai relates episodes from his own childhood and adolescence, showing his relationship with his family and his tendency towards introspection and self-dramatization On the Question of Apparel - A comic tour-de-force in which Dazai examines the hold that fashion has over him and how it relates to his own pathetic self-image A Poor Man's Got His Pride - A retelling of a story by 18th-century master of burlesque fiction Ihara Saikaku, about a fallen samurai who lives in poverty The Sound of Hammering - A love story set against the backdrop of the rebuilding of Tokyo after the city was totally destroyed during World War Two And sixteen other stories! By turns hilarious, ironic, introspective, mystical and sarcastic, these stories present a fully rounded portrait of a talented writer who tried several times to take his own life and ultimately succeeded. An introduction by translator James O'Brien gives the background to Dazai's life and shows how the stories in this book, whether autobiographical or fictional, contribute to an understanding of one of Japan's greatest writers. **Recommended for readers 16 years & up. Not intended for high school classroom use due to adult content.**

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.

Bringing together novelist Osamu Dazai’s best autobiographical shorts in a single, slim volume, Self-Portraits shows the legendary writer at his best?and worst “Art dies the moment it acquires authority.” So said Japan’s quintessential rebel writer Osamu Dazai, who, disgusted with the hypocrisy of every kind of establishment, from the nation’s obsolete aristocracy to its posturing, warmongering generals, went his own way, even when that meant his death?and the death of others. Faced with pressure to conform, he declared his individuality to the world?in all its self-involved, self-conscious, and self-hating glory. “Art,” he wrote, “is ‘I.’” In these short stories, collected and translated by Ralph McCarthy, we can see just how closely Dazai’s life mirrored his art, and vice versa, as the writer/narrator falls from grace, rises to fame, and falls again. Addiction, debt, shame, and despair dogged Dazai until his self-inflicted death, and yet despite all the lies and deception he resorted to in life, there is an almost fanatical honesty to his writing. And that has made him a hero to generations of readers who see laid bare, in his works, the painful, impossible contradictions inherent in the universal commandment of social life?fit in and do as you are told?as well as the possibility, however desperate, of defiance. Long out of print, these stories will be a revelation to the legions of new fans of No Longer Human, The Setting Sun, and The Flowers of Buffoonery.

Román nazerá na spoločenský a morálny úpadok vládnucej japonskej vrstvy, najmä aristokracie. Krehkosť, emočná sila a poetika textu zaistila dielu, podobne ako autorov román Odepsaný (vydal Slovart, 2022), nadčasovosť, a výraz „trieda zapadajúceho slnka" sa dokonca ujal aj v hovorovej japončine.

The Flowers of Buffoonery opens in a seaside sanatorium where Yozo Oba-the narrator of No Longer Human at a younger age-is being kept after a failed suicide attempt. While he is convalescing, his friends and family visit him, and other patients and nurses drift in and out of his room. Against this dispiriting backdrop, everyone tries to maintain a light-hearted, even clownish atmosphere: playing cards, smoking cigarettes, vying for attention, cracking jokes and trying to make each other laugh. While No Longer Human delves into the darkest corners of human consciousness, The Flowers of Buffoonery pokes fun at these same emotions: the follies and hardships of youth, of love and of self-hatred and depression. A glimpse into the lives of a group of outsiders in pre-war Japan, The Flowers of Buffoonery is a darkly humorous and fresh addition to Osamu Dazai's masterful and intoxicating oeuvre.

Mine has been a life of much shame. I can't even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being. Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. His attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a "clown" to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness. Still one of the ten bestselling books in Japan, No Longer Human is an important and unforgettable modern classic: "The struggle of the individual to fit into a normalizing society remains just as relevant today as it was at the time of writing." (The Japan Times)

This powerful novel of a nation in social and moral crisis was first published by New Directions in 1956. Set in the early postwar years, The Setting Sun probes the destructive effects of war and the transition from a feudal Japan to an industrial society. The influence of Osamu Dazai's novel has made "people of the setting sun" a permanent part of the Japanese language, and his heroine, Kazuko, a young aristocrat who deliberately abandons her class, a symbol of the anomie which pervades so much of the modern world.