No Longer Human - Osamu Dazai [In-person Meeting]

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

N.B. this meeting will be held in person in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden. There is also an online session held on Thursday if you are not in London or are not able to attend in person for any other reason.

Small warning - we have been reading some dark and difficult books this year that align with our theme of 'Crisis of Values'. This one is particularly dark and takes the themes of alienation, depression and nihilism further.

That being said, No Longer Human is an important and popular postwar Japanese novel that confronts the angst and anxiety of cultural collision, the breakdown of self and the consequences of failures to connect with others. Let's dissect these difficult themes together.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from GoodReads:

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.
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. Oba Yozo's 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.