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A Shameful Life

(Ningen Shikkaku)
3.94 goodreads logo

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( 263,324 ratings, 33,713 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A Shameful Life follows Yozo, a young man battling isolation and despair as he struggles to find meaning in a world he cannot understand. Presented through journal entries, his story reveals a descent into madness marked by failed relationships, suicide attempts, and a relentless fear of exposing his true self. The novel, weaving fact and fiction, offers a poignant exploration of the human heart’s turmoil.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3499
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in classic Japanese literature, psychological fiction, and dark, introspective narratives.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A new, definitive translation of the postwar classic know to the west asNo Longer Human-a tortured vision inspiring the likes of Junji Ito and Bungo Stray Dogs

Galleys/e-galleys to national media outlets, trade publications, audience-focused websites and reviewers, selected booksellers, literary magazines and bloggers, especially those focusing on works in translation, such as Conversational Reading, Literary Saloon, This Space, Three Percent, Translationista, Center for the Art of Translation, Words without Borders, Translator's Home Companion, and more. Galleys/e-galleys also sent to AV Club, Book Forum, Book Riot, Booklist, BookPage, Choice Book Reviews, Foreword, Library Journal, Lithub, Longitude, Midwest Book Review, Panels, Paste, Portland Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Rain Taxi, San Francisco Book Review, SF Chronicle, Shelf Awareness, The Common Magazine, The Guardian, The LA Review of Books, The New York Journal of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and more. Digital galleys on Edelweiss Special outreach for reviews and interviews with the translator to English-language Japanese media including NHK, The Japan Times, The Asahi Shimbun, Japan Today and more. Spcecial outreach to literature publications and journals such as The American Literary Review, Chicago Review, Lit Hub, New York Journal of Books, The Literary Review, World Literature Review, and more. Academic outreach to Japanese studies and Literature departments. Promotion at Association of Asian Studies, ALA (Postcards and other materials) Giveaways through websites focused on key audiences of Japanese literature and translation. Social media marketing with excerpts from the book on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit and target audience focused forums.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Osamu Dazai is one of the most famous—and infamous—writers of 20th-century Japan. A Shameful Life (Ningen shikkaku) is his final published work and has become a bestselling classic for its depiction of the tortured struggle of a young man to survive in a world that he cannot comprehend.

Paralleling the life and death of Dazai himself, the delicate weaving of fact and fiction remorselessly documents via journals the life of Yozo, a university student who spends his time in increasing isolation and debauchery. His doomed love affairs, suicide attempts, and constant fear of revealing his true self haunt the pages of the book and reveal a slow descent into madness.

This dark tale nevertheless conveys something authentic about the human heart and its inability to find its true bearing.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Winner of the William F. Sibley Memorial Subvention Award for Japanese Translation. Roger Pulvers, acclaimed translator and author, praises the enduring power of Dazai's work and the excellence of Mark Gibeau's translation.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781611720440

Publisher: Stone Bridge Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 January 2019

Country: United States

Imprint: Stone Bridge Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Mark Gibeau

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 178.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 152

About the Author

Osamu Dazai, Dazai and his lover drowned themselves in the Tamagawa Canal in western Tokyo.

Mark Gibeau is a literary translator and scholar of postwar Japanese literature. His previous translations include fiction by Yasunari Kawabata, Jun'ichir Tanizaki, Shgor Yamamoto, Sakumi Tayama, Mitsuyo Kakuta, Saky Komatsu among others. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University, Canberra.

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